Walnut Hills High School (Cincinnati, Ohio)
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Walnut Hills High School is a public college-preparatory high school in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Operated by the Cincinnati Public Schools, it houses grades seven through twelve and maintains a culturally diverse student body. Newsweek named it the 65th best public high school in America in 2006[1].
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[edit] History
The school was the third district public high school established in the city of Cincinnati, following Hughes HS and Woodward HS, and was opened in September 1895 on the corner of Ashland and Burdett Avenues in Cincinnati. As a district high school, it accommodated the conventional four years(grades 9-12). It began with twenty teachers and 684 students.
In 1919 Walnut Hills became a classical high school (college-preparatory school) and was expanded to accommodate six years(grades 7-12). Students were drawn from the entire city, rather than from a defined district within the city. As a classical high school, its organization was modeled on eastern college preparatory schools in general, and on Boston Latin School in particular.
A new building on Victory Parkway was built, and occupied in 1931. The front of the building was inspired by Thomas Jefferson's designs at the University of Virginia and modeled after U. Va.'s library building. It remains in use today. The original Ashland and Burdett location became the Burdett School in 1932; it was closed in 1979. Abandoned for many years, the building was renovated in 2005 as the Schoolhouse Lofts.
Four temporary classrooms, called "The Colonies" were installed in the 1950s to accommodate the increasing student population. In 1960, a one-story Annex added 17 classrooms, including a language laboratory, to the school. In 1976, a Fine Arts Complex was added, partially replacing existing facilities near the main Auditorium including a secondary facility that had been called the "Small Auditorium." In 1998, the Annex was razed and an Arts and Science Center containing 30 classrooms replaced it in 1999. This addition was unique in that its construction was funded entirely with nine million dollars of donations from the school's alumni, after the voters in the Cincinnati Public School District rejected a tax levy that would have paid for it.
The Robert S. Marx stadium, a 2000 seat all-weather football and soccer field, was dedicated on 1 September 2006. At the same time the 8-lane William DeHart Hubbard Track was dedicated. Construction of both facilities was funded by the Cincinnati Public Schools. They are named for successful alumni who had distinguished themselves in athletics during their student years.
As is usual in American high schools, students in grades 9, 10, 11, and 12 are called Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors, respectively. At Walnut Hills after 1919, students in the 7th Grade are called 'Effies' and those in the 8th grade are called 'E-flats.' This derives from a different scheme for naming classes that was in use in the early part of the 20th century. Then, the 12th grade was the A-class, 11th grade was the B-class, and so forth, with the 8th grade the E-class and 7th grade the F-class. The other remnant of this system surviving into the late 20th century was the event called the "B-A Prom," which was the Junior-Senior Prom.
[edit] Appearance in Media
Walnut Hills was a location shot of a 1981 made-for-tv movie called "The Pride of Jesse Hallam" starring Johnny Cash and Brenda Vaccaro. Many students were used as extra's. It was also a location shot for the movie Traffic (2000 film).
[edit] Academics
Walnut Hills has long admitted only students who pass a standardized test. College-preparatory programs are also available in the city's other high schools. Admission to the college-preparatory program, whether in a district high school or at Walnut Hills, requires passing a standardized test.
In keeping with its classical format, emphasis is placed on ancient Greek and Roman history and culture. For example, lower school students (grades 7-9) must complete at least 3 years of Latin instruction. The classical emphasis is complemented by a broad range of academic options in the higher grades, with more Advanced Placement courses being offered than in any other school in the country, according to the Curriculum Guide. The high school was also ranked no. 65 in Newsweek Magazine's best US schools in 2006.
[edit] Student Publications
The first student publication at Walnut Hills was The Gleam. It began publication in January 1896, according to a summary in the 1905 Remembrancer. The Gleam began as a monthly school newspaper and student literary journal. Its name, selected by W. H. Venable, first head of the English Department, comes from the last line of Tennyson's poem, Merlin and The Gleam.
The school yearbook is called the Remembrancer and was first published in 1899. It has sometimes been published as the Remembrancer Number of The Gleam, even as late as the 1920s. More often it has been a separately edited and published work.
Over the years, The Gleam placed more and more emphasis on student literary efforts and less on news. About 1922, a mimeographed, one-page newspaper called The Chatterbox began weekly publication. After a few years, accumulated subscription funds permitted purchase of a multigraph press. In March 1932 The Chatterbox moved to conventional print reproduction. For the 1932-33 academic year it became the official school newspaper and The Gleam became purely a literary journal, reducing its publication frequency to three issues per year. Both publications were initially obtained by payment of a single, annual subscription. Eventually, The Chatterbox and The Gleam separated completely.
The Gleam was reduced to one issue per year some time before 1960, but increased for a time to two issues during the 1980s. The Chatterbox continued weekly publication into the 1980s and reduced to publication every second week sometime thereafter.
[edit] Athletics
The sports teams have played in a number of leagues since the demise of the Public High School League in 1984. Today, in most sports, they play in the Cardinal division of the Fort Ancient Valley Conference. Exceptions are club teams like the rugby team, which plays a unique schedule, and the quiz team, will continue to use the old Buckeye/Cardinal divisions for regional qualification reasons.
The school colors are blue and gold. The motto is "Sursum ad summum", which is Latin for "Rise to the Highest". The mascot is the eagle, and the sports teams are known as "The Eagles."
In recent years the school's most notable teams have been their academic, volleyball, boy's tennis, and girl's track teams, and their marching band.
[edit] Ohio High School Athletic Association Team State Championships
[edit] Other Athletic Accomplishments
- Boys Tennis Singles 2003 Eric Thomas
- Boys Tennis Doubles 2001 Eric Thomas & Jonathan Khoury
- Girls Track & Field Cincinnati HS City Records - 100m Hurdles - Amanda Mullins-Hall, 13.94(2002); Triple Jump - Tamara Fennell, 37' 5"(2002); 4x200m Relay, 1:40.93(2005); 4x400m Relay, 3:49.70(2005).
[edit] Alumni
Famous alumni include:
- Stan Aronoff (1950), politician and long time member of the Ohio Senate
- Theda Bara (1903), early movie star of the silent screen
- Ric Bucher, ESPN NBA correspondent and co-author of a book with Yao Ming
- Elisabeth Bumiller (1974), New York Times White House correspondent
- Valerie Celis, Supermodel
- Stanley M. Chesley, attorney who won Bhopal, MGM Grand, and Beverly Hills Supper Club class action settlements, now partner at Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Chesley in Cincinnati
- Jim Dine (1953), pop artist
- Paula Froelich, Columnist Page Six of NY Post
- Marilyn Hughes Gaston, M.D., former Assistant Surgeon General of the United States
- Dick Gordon, SE/WR for the Chicago Bears 1965 - 1971
- Charles Guggenheim (1942), four-time Academy Award winner for documentaries
- John Hoebbel (architect of Carew Tower)
- William DeHart Hubbard (1921), first African-American to win an individual gold medal in the Olympics (long jump - 1924 Paris Summer Games)
- Miller Huggins, managed Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees, inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964
- James Levine (1961), pianist, conductor, Musical Director of the Metropolitan Opera and the Boston Symphony Orchestra
- Charles Manson, infamous mass murderer (attended briefly)
- Robert S. Marx (1906), Ohio Superior Court Judge, "Father of the Disabled American Veterans"
- Stanley B. Prusiner(1960), 1997 Nobel Prize for medicine
- Jerry Rubin (1956), 1960s-era radical and later a social activist
- Robert Shmalo, international ice dancing competitor
- Itaal Shur, Grammy Award winner (2000) for co-writing "Smooth" the song that bought Carlos Santana back into the spotlight and the top of the charts.
- Rick Steiner, Broadway Producer
- Helen Hollingshed Taylor, former associate commissioner of the Head Start bureau and former executive director of the National Child Day Care Association
- Tony Trabert, tennis star of the 1950's, won 1955 French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open.
[edit] External links
- School Website
- Fort Ancient Valley Conference
- Walnut Hills Football
- Walnut Hills Girls Track
- Walnut Hills High School Library
