Bloomington High School South
 | This article about school may require cleanup. (June 2009) |  |
| Bloomington High School South | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
1965 S Walnut St. , , 47401 | |
| Coordinates | 39°08′34″N 86°31′46″W / 39.142874°N 86.529374°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Public high school |
| Established | 1965 |
| School district | Monroe County Community Schools |
| Superintendent | Dr. Judith A. DeMuth |
| Principal | Mark Fletcher |
| Faculty | 100 |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Enrollment | 1730 |
| Color(s) | |
| Team name | Panthers |
| Rivals | Bloomington High School North |
| Newspaper | The Optimist |
| Website | Official Website |
Bloomington High School South (sometimes BHSS or simply South) is a high school in Bloomington, Indiana.
Academics
The school currently uses a schedule consisting of three 12-week trimesters. Each class period is 65 minutes, with a 45-minute SRT period on Mondays, 45-minute Panther Plus Periods on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. SRT is essentially a homeroom and Panther Plus Periods are a time for students to get help with classes they are struggling with. On Wednesdays students come in 45 minutes late and there is no extra period.
Extra-curricular
A wide range of extracurricular activities are available to students. Academically, students may participate in Academic Decathlon, Academic Super Bowl, Art Club, Environmental Club, Science Olympiad, Student Council, National Honor Society, JETS, Black Culture Club, Business Professionals of America and Math League, among other activities.
Athletics
A full range of athletic activities are also available including golf, soccer, cross country, track, tennis, basketball, swimming, diving, volleyball, football, bowling, softball and baseball. Many athletic teams have achieved state and national recognition, including 1998's football team, which won the IHSAA state competition and featured Rex Grossman as quarterback, who went on to play in Super Bowl XLI for the Chicago Bears, as well as playing briefly for the Houston Texans, the Washington Redskins, the Cleveland Browns and the Atlanta Falcons.
Music
In addition to academic and athletic offerings, Bloomington High School South is also known for its competitive show choir, Sounds of South, and its marching band, the Panther Regiment.[citation needed] The Bloomington South and Bloomington North string orchestras together form the Hoosier Youth Philharmonic, which has performed nationally and internationally, including a concert at Carnegie Hall March 14, 2012.[1] South also has a theatre program, Theatre South, and an improv club.
History
Originally BHS was a prep school for Indiana University until university high school was built in the 1930s, but later turned into a graded school . It was housed, for many years, in a three-story brick building at Seminary Square Park, and was considered Bloomington's central high school in 1864. BHS got more students over time and slowly evolved. The Gothic year book began in 1909 and The Optimist newspaper in 1911. Both were started by BHS and are still published in 2012.
University High School opened in the fall of 1938. It was run by the I. U. School of Education and was part of the Bloomington public school system. The whole University School included classes K-12 and was housed in a building on the Indiana University campus.
In 1965, a new high school building was built for BHS on South Walnut Street. When BHS vacated Seminary Square, the old building was turned into a middle school called Central Junior High School. On April 6, 1967, one of the middle school students burned down the building, completely destroying it, and the present park was created on the site.
In 1972, University High School and Unionville High School (the closest county high school outside the city of Bloomington) were closed along with Smithville High School. "South" was added to BHS to create "Bloomington High School South," (BHSS) complete with mascot and school colors (purple and white), similar to that of the former BHS.
Later, the fall of that same year, as a result of the 1968 school consolidation plan which formed the Monroe County Community School Corporation, Bloomington High School North (BHSN) was built with students from the closed University and Unionville High Schools along with some transfer students from BHSS.
The zonal boundary that determines which Bloomington high school a student will attend forms a jagged line that criss-crosses the city. The map is such that one student who actually lives north of another, may in fact attend "South", while the other attends "North". This geographic divide was contentious given the MCCSC school board decided to send the most prominent socioeconomic neighborhood (Hyde Park) to North to reduce in economic/academic inequity. The map can be obtained from the Monroe County Community School Corporation. The two schools have remained contentious rivals in most sporting events since the creation of BHSN in 1972.
Athletics
The 2009-2010 record for the Panthers was 20-2, with their losses coming to Center Grove High School and Pike High School. They played Bloomington North in the first round of the 2011 Sectional round of the state tournament at Bloomington South. Previous Records: 2009-2010: 23-1 2008-2009: 26-0 (State Champions).
Notable alumni
- David Shuster: Emmy Award-winning journalist.
- Rex Grossman: former NFL quarterback
- Hoagy Carmichael: Musician
- Meg Cabot: Writer
- Jordan Hulls: Pro Basketball Player
- Ronnie Schneider: ATP Tennis Player
- Adam Jeffrey: Kelley School of Business
See also
- List of high schools in Indiana
- Conference Indiana
- Southern Indiana Athletic Conference
- Bloomington High School North
- Bloomington, Indiana
References
- ^ April Toler, "MCCSC Musicians to Play at Carnegie Hall," The Herald-Times (February 24, 2012), pp. A1 and A6.
External links
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