South High School (Willoughby, Ohio)

South High School is a public high school in Willoughby, Ohio. It is one of two high schools in the Willoughby-Eastlake City School District. The school was created when the Willoughby Union High School was split into South High and North High School.

Willoughby South High School
Address
5000 Shankland Road

Willoughby
,
(Lake County)
,
Ohio
44094

United States
Coordinates41°37′30″N 81°25′14″W
Information
TypePublic, Coeducational high school
School districtWilloughby-Eastlake City Schools
SuperintendentSteve Thompson
PrincipalRobin Hopkins
Teaching staff68.00 (FTE)[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment1,192 (2018–19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio17.53[1]
Color(s)Columbia Blue and Gray[2]   
Athletics conferenceWestern Reserve Conference
MascotWilloughby South Rebel
NicknameWilloughby South Rebels
Team nameRebels[2]
RivalEastlake North High School
AccreditationNorth Central Association of Colleges and Schools[3]
Athletic DirectorJames Mormino[2]
WebsiteSchool website

Located approximately 10 miles east of Cleveland, Willoughby South High School is located close to scenic and historical Downtown Willoughby. The total enrollment is between 1,200 and 1,400 students in grades 9-12. The principal is Robin Hopkins and the two assistant principals are David Miller (11-12 grades) and Christopher Plush (9-10 grades). James Mormino is the athletic director.

Willoughby South, along with its sister school (and rival), Eastlake North High School, have been awarded the Blue Ribbon School award by the US Department of Education (the highest award attainable by American Schools), and both schools have competed in the Ohio Academic Decathlon competition multiple times.

Athletics

Willoughby South is a member of the Ohio High School Athletic Association and part of the 8-team Premier Athletic Conference.

Sports include:

SportBoysGirls
Baseball✓
Softball✓
Basketball✓✓
Soccer✓✓
Cross-Country✓✓
Golf✓✓
Wrestling✓
Volleyball✓
Swimming✓✓
Track & Field✓✓
Tennis✓✓
Football✓
Cheerleading✓✓
Lacrosse✓
Hockey?

Academic Decathlon

Willoughby South has won the Academic Decathlon state competition 8 times and has attended several national competitions.[4]

Notable alumni

Professional football player

Flag controversy

For many years, the flag of South High was the Confederate Battle Flag used in the American Civil War. The school has since then adopted a new flag, which is simply a re-coloration of the Confederate Flag. The original decision to name the school the "South Rebels" stemmed from the original Union High, with "South Rebels" seeming to some to be the logical name for the school after the "Union" was split. However, opponents argued that the school's name and logo seemed to celebrate the Confederacy, whose reasons for seceding from the Union had strong ties to the institution of slavery, and that the school was named during the Civil Rights Era.

In October 2010, a shirt depicting a re-coloration of the Confederate Flag was sold in the spirit shop. The principal decided to pull the shirts. The spirit shop offered to refund any money students paid for the shirt or to replace them with a less inflammatory version. However, many students chose to keep the Confederate flag shirt as an expression of historical remembrance.[6]

Shooting incident

On September 2, 2008, a student brought a gun to school and fired two rounds within the school, one piercing the ceiling, another shattering a trophy case. The student then put the gun to his head, but was talked out of doing himself any harm by the Vice Principal of Willoughby South, Jeff Lyons.[7]

Removal of Confederate Rebel Mascot
Former Confederate soldier mascot

On August 17, 2017, days after the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Willoughby-Eastlake City Schools announced the decision to remove the Confederate soldier mascot while keeping the name "Rebels" and also the school colors of grey and blue.[8]

References
  1. "South High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  2. OHSAA. "Ohio High School Athletic Association member directory". Retrieved 2010-04-02.
  3. NCA-CASI. "NCA-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement". Archived from the original on March 15, 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-02.
  4. "State/Ohio - AcaDec Scores and Information Center". acadecscores.gilslotd.com.
  5. "Betty Thomas Movie Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com Inc. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  6. "South High T-shirts pulled".
  7. "In Ohio Town, A School Tragedy Averted". NPR. September 3, 2008.
  8. "Willoughby South High School drops rebel mascot, keeps name". Cleveland.com. August 17, 2017.
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