Bossier High School (Louisiana)

Bossier High School is a co-educational college preparatory high school in Bossier City, Louisiana, United States.[3]

Bossier High School
Address
777 Bearkat Drive Bossier City , Louisiana 71111 United States
Information
Type	Public school, college prep
Motto	Lead All Students to Find Success
Opened	1917
Principal	David Thrash
Staff	39.00 (FTE)[1]
Grades	9–12
Gender	Co-ed
Enrollment	621 (2018–19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio	15.92[1]
Color(s)	Green   White
Athletics conference	LHSAA
Nickname	Bearkats
Newspaper	The Bossier Bear Facts
Yearbook	Les Memoires
Affiliation	Bossier Parish Schools
Website	bossierh.bossierschools.org
Bossier High School
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	777 Bearkat Drive, Bossier City, Louisiana
Coordinates	32°31′09″N 93°43′47″W
Area	3.5 acres (1.4 ha)
Built	1938-39
Built by	James T. Taylor
Architect	Samuel Wiener
Architectural style	International Style
NRHP reference No.	04001078[2]
Added to NRHP	September 30, 2004

Its former building on Colquitt Street, a Classical Revival-style building constructed in 1923, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 as Bossier High School (Colquitt Street). Its current location on Bearkat Drive, with its International Style architecture, also was listed on the National Register, in 2004.[2]

History

Bossier High School was officially recognized as an accredited educational institution by the Louisiana Department of Education in 1917. The first school was located on Traffic Street in North Bossier, the present site of Bossier Elementary School. In 1923 a new high school was built to serve the city's rapidly expanding population, and this was expanded in 1928, but still was inadequate. In 1938 a new location was chosen on the historic site of Fort Kirby Smith, a Civil War Fort. Fort Kirby Smith was one of several defensive positions pieced together by the Confederate Army during the American Civil War (1861-1865) to protect Shreveport during the Red River Campaign. According to Gary Joiner's Through the Howling Wilderness: The 1864 Red River Campaign and Union Failure in the West, it was located to prevent an attack from the north, the east, as well as the southeast from Union aggression.[4] After the surrender of Shreveport in 1865, Fort Kirby Smith was dismantled and abandoned.

The present Bossier High School, a three-story building located at 777 Bearcat Drive, was built in 1938–39. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.[2] It was designed by architect Samuel Wiener in International Style. Due to rapid population growth, the city's Bossier High School (Colquitt Street) built in 1923 and 1928 became over-crowded, and this school was built to replace it. The former school was then devoted to serving elementary school levels. It was built by contractor James T. Taylor of Fort Worth, Texas. The listing included three contributing buildings.[5]

Construction of Bossier High was completed in 1940 and is the present site.

Athletics

Bossier High School's biggest rivals include Airline High School and Parkway High School.

Louisiana High School Athletic Association state championships

• Boys Basketball – 2016, 2011[6]

Notable alumni

• Hoffman Franklin Fuller, valedictorian, Class of 1950; inductee of the Bossier High Hall of Fame, 2009, tax scholar.[7]
• Arlene Howell, (Eurlyne Howell when she attended BHS), actress and Miss USA 1958.[8]
• Buddy Roemer, former U.S. Representative and Governor of Louisiana
• Jalan West, College Basketball Player[9]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Bossier Parish, Louisiana

References

1. "Bossier High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
3. "Bossier High School: Home Page". bossierschools.org. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
4. [Joiner, Gary D. Through the Howling Wilderness: The 1864 Red River Campaign and Union Failure in the West, University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, 2006.]
5. "Bossier High School" (PDF). State of Louisiana's Division of Historic Preservation. 2004. Retrieved June 16, 2017. with six photos and two maps
6. LHSAA. "Louisiana High School Athletic Association Web site". Retrieved 2016-10-09.
7. "Hall of Fame: Bossier High School honors alumni," The Forum Newsweekly magazine, October 21, 2009.
8. "Eurlyne Howell". The Monroe News-Star. Louisiana, Monroe. July 24, 1958. p. 2. Retrieved February 3, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Northwestern State's Jalan West granted sixth year of eligibility". Sports Illustrated. 9 May 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2016.

External links

• Official website
• Media related to Bossier High School at Wikimedia Commons