West End High School
| West End High School | |
| |
|
Birmingham City Schools |
| Years | 1930–2008 |
|---|---|
| Location | 1840 Pearson Ave. SW, (map) West End |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Principal | Allen Lewis |
| Enrollment | 676 (2008) |
| Colors | royal blue and orange |
| Mascot | Lions |
| Website | birmingham.schoolinsites.com |
West End High School was a high school in the Birmingham City Schools system located on a 12.5-acre site at 1840 Pearson Avenue Southwest in West End. The red-brick school was built in 1930 to designs by the noted firm of Warren, Knight & Davis with David O. Whilldin and an outside consultant. It adjoined Robert E. Lee Elementary School.
West End's athletic teams were known as the Lions. The school's yearbook was entitled the Resume.
The school, which was open originally to white students only, was integrated in September 1963.
On June 27, 1982 West End alumnus and astronaut Henry Hartsfield Jr carried a West End banner into orbit aboard the space shuttle Columbia.
In 2001 then-superintendent Johnny E. Brown proposed merging West End High School and Wenonah High School into a new high school in Oxmoor Valley. The Board of Education approved the name 'Martin Luther King, Jr High School" for the new building, but the consolidation plan was successfully opposed by community groups who feared that vacating the old buildings would damage their neighborhoods.
Part of the school was damaged by a fire which broke out in the basement on January 24, 2003. It was suspected that the fire was intentionally set.
Closing
Under a 2008 school consolidation plan proposed by acting superintendent Barbara Allen and approved by the Board, West End High closed after that academic year with students transferring to Wenonah, Parker and Jackson-Olin High Schools.
The closing was marked by a ceremony on June 7 with a parade, pep rally, picnic and alumni basketball game. A contract with Meredith Environmental Inc. for demolition of the school building was approved by the Board of Education on December 9, 2008.
Principals
- Allen Lewis (-2008)
Notable alumni
- Kathy Kemp, Birmingham News columnist
- Henry Hartsfield Jr, astronaut
References
- Ruisi, Anne (May 2001) "Neighborhood leaders remain opposed to plans to close school." Birmingham News
- Crowder, Carla (September 2001) "Big, new West End School opposed." Birmingham News
- Kemp, Kathy (April 6, 2008) "Web helps West End High live on." Birmingham News
- Ruisi, Anne (May 18, 2008) "Birmingham's West End High School gets set to close its doors." Birmingham News
External links
- West End High School at birmingham.schoolinsites.com
- West End Online 1959-63 alumni website