Wenonah High School

Wenonah High School is a four-year public high school in Birmingham, Alabama. It is one of seven high schools in the Birmingham City School System. School colors are Old gold,and white. The mascot is the Dragon. Wenonah competes in Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) Class 5A athletics.[2]

Wenonah High School
Address
2800 Wilson Road SW

Birmingham
,
Alabama

United States
Information
School typePublic
MottoWhere champions are made
Established1948
School districtBirmingham City Schools
PrincipalDr. Willie Goldsmith Jr.
Faculty48
Teaching staff43.00 (FTE)[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment661 (2018-19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio15.37[1]
Color(s)White, and Old gold  
AthleticsAHSAA Class 5A
NicknameDragons
Feeder schoolsArrington Middle School

Jones Valley Middle School
Websitehttp://www.bhamcityschools.org/Domain/13

Student Profile

Enrollment in grades 9-12 for the 2013-14 school year is 782 students. Over 99% of students are African-American and roughly 85% of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch.[3]

Wenonah has a graduation rate of 53%. Approximately 82% of its students meet or exceed proficiency standards in mathematics, and 77% meet or exceed standards in reading. The average ACT score for Wenonah students is 20.[4]

History

After Wenonah School was destroyed by fire in 1946, the Tennessee Coal & Iron (TCI) Company donated a parcel of land consisting of approximately 16 acres (6.5 ha) to be used for a new elementary and high school. Construction began in late 1946, and in the fall of 1947, students in grades 8-12 from Riley Elementary School and Galilee, Mt. Olive and Bryant Chapel AME Churches began classes in Wenonah Elementary School's first floor while construction on the second floor and high school was being completed.

The high school was built at a cost of $500,000 and included 15 classrooms, administrative office, lunchroom, athletic room, shoe repair, upholstery and radio repair shop, cosmetology, foods and clothing labs. It was opened in January 1948 with an enrollment of 415 students. Its first graduating class participated in commencement in May.

In 1956, seven classrooms, a library and gym were added to the school plant, and in 1968, a vocational program was started. In the spring of 1970, a new $300,000 facility was erected by the Jefferson County Board of Education to house the Wenonah Area Vocational School. The building was located on the southwest side of the Wenonah High School campus.

In 1973, Wenonah grew to a record enrollment of 1,400 students and in 1974 was annexed into the city of Birmingham. Administration of Wenonah was taken over by the Birmingham Board of Education.

In 1981, a new gym was constructed and equipped at a cost of more than $1 million. By 2000, the Wenonah physical plant had grown to include an elementary school, a state technical school and a junior college.[5]

Construction started on the current Wenonah campus in 2005 and was completed in 2007 at a cost of $41 million. The site of the new school is located northeast of the previous facility.

Campus

The current Wenonah campus is a 183,000-square-foot (17,000 m2) facility that accommodates up to 1,200 students. It includes a 750-seat auditorium with theatrical lighting and sound systems. The main academic building features a media center, computer laboratories, and classrooms.

A career-technical wing contains an electronics classroom and lab, a fully equipped commercial kitchen and a family and consumer science classroom. There are also classrooms and labs for welding and cosmetology. The wing also includes classrooms for the band and choir, as well as the cafeteria.

The school includes a gymnasium for practice and physical education classes. The "new gym" that was part of the old school, a free-standing building, has been renovated and expanded to be a 1,400 seat-competition gym. In 2014, the gym was named the Willie High Basketball Arena in honor of Willie High, Sr.

The school includes a football stadium with a six-lane track, concession stands, restrooms and irrigation system. The stadium, which seats 4,500, was completed in December 2007. In 2012, a Field House Training Facility was opened. In 2014, the stadium was named the Bell-Cullpeper Stadium, in honor of Robert Bell and L. C. Cullpepper.[5]

Athletics

Wenonah competes in AHSAA Class 5A athletics and fields teams in the following sports:[6]

  • Baseball
  • Basketball (boys and girls)
  • Cheerleading
  • Cross Country (boys)
  • Football
  • Indoor track and field (boys)
  • Outdoor track and field (boys and girls)
  • Softball
  • Volleyball

Wenonah has won state championships in the following sports:

  • Boys' basketball (1977, 1990, 1993, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2019)
  • Girls' basketball (1949, 1986, 1990, 1993, 2004, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)

Wenonah's football team won regional championships in 1985, 1989, 1995, 1997,2015, and State 5A Runner-up in 2016.[7]

Notable alumni

Principals
  • Leon Kennedy, 1948 - 1966
  • William Jackson, 1966 - 1967
  • William Hawes, 1967 - 1987
  • Sidney Moore, 1987 - 2002
  • Regina Carr-Hope 2002–2017
  • Willie Goldsmith, Jr., 2018–Present

References

  1. "Wenonah High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  2. "AHSAA School Classification 2014-16" (PDF).
  3. "Wenonah High School". SchoolDigger. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
  4. "Wenonah High School in Birmingham, AL - Niche". K-12 School Rankings and Reviews at Niche.com. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
  5. "Wenonah High School - Bhamwiki". www.bhamwiki.com. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
  6. "This is the home of wenonahdragonathletics.com". This is the home of wenonahdragonathletics.com. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
  7. "Alabama High School Football History". www.ahsfhs.org. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
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