Clayton High School (Missouri)

Clayton High School
Established	1908
Type	Public co-ed secondary
Principal	Louise Losos
Students	817
Grades	9–12
Location	1 Mark Twain Circle, Clayton, Missouri, USA
Coordinates	38.6502°N 90.3462°W / 38.6502; -90.3462
Colors	Blue and orange
Mascot	Greyhounds
Yearbook	'Clamo'
Newspaper	'Globe'
Website	Clayton High School

Clayton High School is a public high school in Clayton, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, that is the only high school in the School District of Clayton.

History

The first Clayton High School classes met in the upper floors of the Forsythe School beginning in 1908. In 1911, the school graduated its first class. The first Clayton High School building opened in September 1917 at 7500 Maryland Avenue. In 1952, the building was sold to Famous-Barr and the site was used for a Famous-Barr parking lot. The current location at 1 Mark Twain Circle opened in 1954, the first class graduating in June 1955. There are currently 1050 enrolled.

Accolades

It was ranked by Newsweek as the 89th-best public high school in the nation in 2011, which was the highest in the state of Missouri.

The District participated in the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) to compare the District’s students at an international level and see how they match up against the highest performing countries in the world. The results showed CHS as "first in the world in reading," "first in the world in science," and "second in the world in mathematics." As a result of this accomplishment, the Missouri Commissioner of Education Chris L. Nicastro extended a congratulations to Clayton High School. However, the claims to be "first in the world" have garnered some criticism as distortion of statistics. The principal claim is that the average of one school is being compared to the average of a whole nation; thus, the only valid conclusion is that Clayton High would be an above-average school in any nation in the world, not that Clayton is necessarily the absolute best.

Clayton High School's fight song, written in 2008 by Cooper Minnis and named for the school's mascot, is "Greyhound Pride." Before "Greyhound Pride" was written, the school's fight song was "On Wisconsin."

On Friday, May 6, 2011, around 300 Clayton students left class to protest the dismissal of the Head Football Coach after an alleged self-reported violation of MSHSAA by-laws 236.5 and 236.6 regarding workout policies with middle school athletes.

Current status

Graduation rate

As of 2011, approximately 98% of all Clayton High Schoolers graduate high school and go on to a successful college [1].

Activities

The school won the 2004 Missouri Class 4 state championship in football.

The Globe, Clayton's student-run publication, is a forty-eight page, full-color bi-quarterly newsmagazine. The Globe is a member of the National Scholastic Press Association's Hall of Fame, as well as a winner of the Missouri Interscholastic Press Association's All-Missouri designation, Quill and Scroll's Gallup Award, Columbia Scholastic Press Association's Silver Crown, and NSPA's Pacemaker.

The school maintains an active Speech and Debate team competing in competitions throughout the state. It is ranked in the top ten percent of the nation by the National Forensics League.

Alumni

• Jairus Byrd, 2005, NFL Pro Bowl Safety, Buffalo Bills
• Andy Cohen, 1986, Bravo Producer and TV personality
• Erin Daniels, 1991, actress
• Scott Foley, actor (Felicity, The Unit)
• Derrick Frost, 1999, NFL punter
• Rocco Landesman, 1965, award-winning Broadway producer
• Ryan McAdams, 2000, Fulbright Scholar and accomplished conductor
• Robert Stuart Nathan, 1966, television producer
• Peter Palmer, actor
• Louise Post, 1985, lead singer of the rock band Veruca Salt
• Kathryn Sansone, 1980, personal trainer and author
• Louis Susman, 1955, Ambassador to the Court of St. James (England) 2009–
• Nicholas Worth, 1956, character actor