Arlington High School (Arlington, Texas)

Arlington High School
Location
818 West Park Row Drive Arlington, Texas, Tarrant County, 76013 United States of America
Information
Type	Co-Educational, Public, Secondary
Motto	"How sweet it is to be in Colt Country."
Established	1904
Principal	Jennifer Young
Grades	9-12
Number of students	2939
Campus	2nd Arlington High School Building
Color(s)
Mascot	Arlie the Colt
Rival	Lamar High School
Accreditation(s)	Texas Education Agency
Newspaper	The Colt
Yearbook	The Corral
Team Name	Colts
Website	Official Arlington High School Website

Arlington High School, located in Arlington, Texas, is a secondary school serving grades 9-12. It is one of the six high schools comprising the Arlington Independent School District. The current principal is Jennifer Young; the mascot is the Colt and the schools’ colors are Kelly Green and White. At present, AHS has approximately 3000 students; this population is composed of former middle school students, whom previously attended Gunn, Bailey, and Carter Junior High Schools; comprising residents of Arlington, Dalworthington Gardens, and Pantego. Arlington High School has been accepted to be an International Baccalaureate School.

History

• 1902: The local schools were taken over by the city of Arlington from Carlisle Military Academy.

• 1904- 1922: High School, comprising grades 8 through 11, met at the South Side School which also housed 1st-7th grades. North Side School also had 1st through 7th.

• 1905: First graduating class of the High School made up of five girls.

• 1908: First graduating class with boys.

• 1922: Arlington High School built on Cooper St. and Abram St., separating grades 8 – 11 separating from first through seventh grades.

• 1923: Arlington High students chose Colts as the mascot and the colors of kelly green and white, replacing the former colors of black and crimson.

• 1942: A twelfth grade was added to the high school format for children beginning school that year. Students already in school simply skipped a grade.

• 1950: First live Little Arlie; “Sons of the White & Green” composed by Jane Ellis/Dean Corey.

• 1951: Arlington High defeats Waco La Vega for the Class AA State Championship title.

• 1956: Last class to graduate from AHS on Cooper St. and Abram St.

• 1957: First class to graduate from AHS on Park Row.

• 1958: Former AHS reopens as Ousley Junior High, 8th grade only.

• 1963: Last class to graduate when Arlington High was the city’s only high school. Sam Houston High School opens in fall 1963.

Sam Houston, AISD's second high school, opened in the northern hemisphere fall of 1963. The original boundary between Houston and Arlington High School was described by Cathy Brown of The Dallas Morning News as "a north/south zig zag." The boundary extended from a point near the intersection of Cooper at Mansfield northward to Arkansas Lane. From there, it extended east to Johnson Creek and then ran alongside the creek to Collins. After Collins the boundary traveled northward to the Arlington city limits.

In 1965 AISD desegregated, so Arlington High School desegregated.

• 1968: Ousley campus is sold to The University of Texas at Arlington; junior high relocated to Bailey Junior High on Bowen Rd.

In 1970, Lamar High School opened, relieving Arlington and Sam Houston. Cathy Brown of The Dallas Morning News said that "[t]he effect on Arlington High School was huge" since the housing in the Arlington zone north to division had been moved to Lamar. 12th grade students that had been zoned out of Arlington High School continued to attend Arlington High School, despite being in the Lamar zone, so the class of 1971 had almost 1,000 students. Each subsequent class size was smaller.

• 1972: Principal James Crouch introduces slogan, “How Sweet It Is To Be In Colt Country.” at an outdoor pep rally.

• 1977: Logo with sideways horseshoe representing the “C” in Colts used for first time.

Martin High School opened in 1982. Because Martin, located in southwest Arlington, had opened, the attendance zone of Arlington High School lost many newly-constructed houses for affluent people, as they had been rezoned to Martin. Brown also explained that "The Wimbledon area shifted west," The residents of Shady Valley area, still zoned to Arlington, were growing older, and the number of children was decreasing. The athletic teams at Arlington High School lost a lot of talent to Martin, due to the Martin rezoning.

• 1987: Colts lose to Odessa Permian in quarter finals begins the "Colt Stampede"

• 1992: Football makes the semi-finals for first time since 1950's

• 1997: Class of 2001 enters as freshmen; becomes first freshmen class in 40 years.

• 2008: Class of 2008 has first IB Students in Arlington (along with Bowie) to receive IB diploma

• 2008: Principal, James Adams retires after serving AISD for 38 years. Jennifer Young selected to serve as AHS Principal.

City Rivalry

• Arlington Lamar High and Arlington High, previously known as the "Peach Bowl"
• Arlington High and Arlington James Bowie High, "The Battle of Maverick Stadium" (At the time this was the home stadium for both High Schools)

Athletics

Arlington High is the only high school in Arlington to ever win a state title in football (1951). The head coach is Scott Peach, whose father was the head coach of Lamar High School. Arlington High has had the most successful football program in the school district over the last five years with three trips to the playoffs and a 6-4 playoff record. Arlington High's volleyball program usually goes to playoffs and has more Class AAAAA state titles (1970, 1976, and 1982) than any other high school in the North Texas area. AHS also has exceptional gymnastics, softball, cheerleading, baseball, cross country, golf, swimming, soccer, and tennis programs. Wrestling consistently sends its participants to compete at State level competition. Inter-scholastically, tennis and basketball are not as developed.

Football City Titles:

• 2009 Arlington Mythical Championship
• 2009 District Co-Champions (with Arlington Bowie)

Fine arts

Arlington High School has an involved and adept fine arts programs. Fine Arts programs are listed and explained below:

Theatre Department The Theatre Arts Department, currently directed by Elizabeth Martin and Eric Domuret, won the State Championship in UIL One-Act Play in 2005. Arlington High's play, "An Experiment with an Air Pump," was chosen 1st place among over 250 other high schools in their conference. It also earned high respect from many fellow students. Wanda Sessions retired as head of the department in 2008 after almost 30 years in the position. She has inspired a great number of students to pursue theatre and teaching as a career.

Orchestra Department The orchestra, currently directed by Linda Keefer, has won Sweepstakes at UIL for over 30th consecutive years. The orchestra program has been receiving Sweepstakes since 1979. During the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years, the Symphony Orchestra submitted a recording for the TMEA Honor Orchestra. The performances were placed as one of the Top 8 orchestras in the state. Nearly 300 students are in Orchestra department.

Band Department Directed by mainly Michael Hejny, the AHS band has been known for playing in places such as New York and Washington, D.C.. During the annual Independence Day Parade that takes place in Arlington, Texas the Arlington High School Band has been and contributed in being part in it every single year. The band program has also consistently taken the Sweepstakes at UIL for the last decade. It has been reported that the band has almost 190 students.

Choir Department The Arlington High School Choir, Colt Chorale has also enjoyed much success within recent years, attending the prestigious Texas Music Educators Association Convention in 2005 and winning numerous Sweepstakes in UIL. Arlington High Colt Chorale was also recognize by WFAA's Why Guy, their choir was broadcast in the WFAA morning news because of their success in entering TMEA. Most recent accomplishment was when Colt Chorale was invited to perform on March 7, 2007 at the American Chorale Directors Association Convention in Miami, Florida, which is the highest national honor that a choir can receive. Thanks to Dinah Menger, the head director of all choirs, Colt Chorale was able to successfully perform best at their ACDA performance in Florida. The choir has over 300 students and 80 of them are in the highest choir, Colt Chorale. Many students have enjoyed great success in music careers.

Feeder patterns

Duff, Hill, Swift, South Davis, and a portion of Dunn Elementaries feed into Bailey. Bailey sends all of its students into AHS. Key, Short, and Foster feed into Gunn. Gunn sends the majority of its students to AHS and the rest go to Bowie. Carter junior high sends a small portion of its population to AHS.

Notable alumni

• Neel E. Kearby '28 U.S. Army Air Corps Colonel and P-47 Thunderbolt pilot in World War II who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in combat.
• Morgan Woodward '44 Film and TV actor. Best known for his recurring role in Dallas as Marvin "Punk" Anderson.
• Jay Davern, '93, All-State, All-American Linebacker, TCU linebacker
• Rita Inos, '72, Educator and politician in the Northern Mariana Islands, first female candidate for Lieutenant Governor
• Ali Haji-Sheikh, '79, Collegiate and professional football player. Member of 1984 NFC Pro Bowl team.
• Bob McFarland, '59, Arlington attorney; Republican member of both houses of the Texas State Legislature, 1977 to 1991
• Gretchen Polhemus, '83, Miss USA 1989, 2nd runner up Miss Universe 1990
• Darrell Lance Abbott, '85, also known as "Diamond Darrell", "Dimebag Darrell", "Dimebag" or simply "Dime", of Hard-Rock Band Pantera.
• Amy N. Stewart, '87, author of From the Ground Up, Flower Confidential, Wicked Plants, and other books.
• Bowie Hogg, '96, Television contestant on season #1 of The Apprentice and school board member for the Arlington Independent School District.
• David Castro III, '98, Film & TV actor. Credits include "The Source", "Scarecrow Slayer", "May Day", "No Ordinary Hero", "Liar" and "America's Most Wanted".
• Brian Eppes, '98, Television actor. Played Michael on the children's television show Barney & Friends.
• Hunter Pence, '01, Philadelphia Phillies Right Fielder.
• Joe Jon Finley, '03, American Football player, Tight End for the San Francisco 49ers.
• Rogelio Funes Mori, '09, Professional Soccer Player for Argentine Club River Plate
• Richard "Ricky" Brown '95, UT Austin Four Year starting fullback, 3 years in he NFL, 3 years in NFL Europe,

External links

• Arlington High Alumni
• Arlington High School Homepage
• Arlington Independent School District Homepage