Bolton High School

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Bolton High School is a secondary educational institution located in the Garden District of Alexandria, the seat of Rapides Parish and the largest city in central Louisiana. The school is named for its benefactor, James W. Bolton (1869-1936), an Alexandria banker who was one of the most prominent civic and political leaders of central Louisiana during the first third of the 20th century.

Photograph of the front of Bolton High School by Michael Silver, Class of 2007.

During the long era of segregation, Bolton was the only high school for white students in Alexandria and neighboring Pineville, a smaller city located to the east of the Red River. African Americans attended historically black Peabody Magnet High School. The construction of Pineville High School and Alexandria Senior High School (sometimes known as ASH) thereafter provided new options.

Bolton has a tradition of academic and extra-curricular excellence and performance. On its website, the school claims "a demanding academic program, coupled with opportunities to excel in athletics, music, forensics, publications, and academic competition, helps prepare our students to meet the challenges they will face as productive adults." Bolton has had the highest average ACT composite in Rapides Parish for the past five years. This year Bolton's average ACT composite score is 22.4.

1 Modest beginnings
2 Renovations throughout the decades
3 Athletics
4 Bolton High School principals
5 Notable alumni
6 National Register of Historic Places
7 References

[edit] Modest beginnings

Bolton actually began in 1888 as a six-room framed structure for all then existing eleven grades. In 1900, a brick building replaced the original structure at a cost of $50,000. During the 1907-1908 academic year, Bolton enrolled only fifty-six students, with three instructors. Within seven years, enrollment grew to some two hundred, with eight faculty members.

James Bolton, a member of the Rapides Parish School Board, proposed a separate building for high school students. He therefore purchased land at Sixth and Beauregard streets for the consideration of the board. On that site, the original Bolton High School was constructed in 1915, a structure for up to four hundred students. For the first decade, enrollment increased from three hundred to nine hundred students. The overflow was handled through a church and temporary frame building.

[edit] Renovations throughout the decades

As board president, Bolton obtained the purchase of fifteen acres for a new school. The current building opened in the fall of 1926.

In 1953, the board approved a new football stadium that would seat some six thousand fans. A gymnasium and a new industrial arts building were completed. The auditorium was renovated, with band and choral rooms added. In 1964, the board authorized the enlargement of the cafeteria and the construction of a gymnasium for girls. Air conditioning was installed in the auditorium, the cafeteria, the home economics department, and in the rear section of the first floor of the main building. In 1967, a second parking lot was completed, and the choral room was modernized. In 1968, the U.S. Air Force ROTC program was added to the Bolton curriculum.

In 1990, Bolton High School underwent major remodeling, with the addition of a central heating and cooling system and fire doors. Ceilings were lowered, and new lighting was installed. In 1992, the football stadium was completely rebuilt because the presence of lead in the original paint made it impractical to have the old structure repainted.

In 1995, Bolton was wired for the Internet. In 2001, construction began on a new building for ROTC and journalism classes. The school has also modernized technologically, with computerized attendance, grading system, library service, and digital video equipment. Laptops have become nearly as common as textbooks.

As the result of several private and state grants, Bolton High School has issued mac laptops to many of their students. In addition to the school issuing laptop computers to students, Bolton High School now has wireless internet connection almost everywhere on campus. The school also renovated a classroom into the "Bolton Cyber Cafe." Though renovations are still in progress, the cyber cafe is open, and accessible before and after school, as well as at lunch, providing students without internet access at home with a place to use their laptops.

Also in 1995, Bolton added a Scholar’s Program and Gifted Curriculum giving students from all over Rapides Parish the chance to attend Bolton. Bolton was also made a magnet school. Bolton follows a modified block schedule. With seven credits available per year, a student can complete up to twenty-eight units over four years.

[edit] Athletics

The high schools sports teams, the Bolton Bears, are members of LHSAA. Bolton is surrounded by many places off campus and on-campus to serve its athletics department. Bringhurst Field is the "home" stadium where the baseball games are played. There is a tennis complex across Masonic Drive, and Bringhurst Golf Course, coined as the nation's oldest Par-3 Golf Course, nearby. There is a large football stadium and softball field on campus, plus a basketball court and a volleyball-sized gymnasium.

[edit] Bolton High School principals

Since 1915, Bolton has been served by eight principals:

Scott M. Brame- 1915- 1947. (An Alexandria junior high school bears his name.)
J.D. Smith- 1947- 1951
W.E. Pate- 1951- 1970
Joe Campbell- 1970- 1971
Jesse Doyle- 1971- 1991
Ron Akins- 1991- 2001
Penny Toney - 2001- 2005
William Higgins- 2005 - Present

[edit] Notable alumni

W. George Bowdon, Jr. (Class of 1939, 1921-2005) -- State Representative (1948-1952) and mayor of Alexandria (1953-1969)

Ed Cullen (Class of 1964) -- columnist for the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, National Public Radio commentator, and author of Letter in a Woodpile

Nelder Dawson (Class of 1945, 1928-2006) -- newspaper executive with Alexandria Daily Town Talk

Sylvan R. Fox (deceased) -- radio and television station owner in Alexandria

Virginia de Gravelles (Class of 1931) -- former Louisiana Republican national committeewoman

Charles W. DeWitt, Jr. (Class of 1965) -- state representative, 1980-2008

Eric W. Harris (Class of 1933, 1916-2007) -- Alexandria industrialist who in 1939 started the first chapter of the Jaycees in Louisiana

Ken Hollis (Class of 1960) -- Republican state senator from Jefferson Parish, 1982-2008

Gillis William Long (Class of 1940, 1923-1985) -- U.S. representative (1963-1965; 1973-1985)

Roy O. Martin, Jr. (Class of 1939, 1922-2007) -- Alexandria businessman and civic leader

Thomas Jefferson "TJ" Price (Class of 1936, 1919-2007) -- star athlete at Bolton and Louisiana State University ; decorated U.S. Army colonel of World War II and Korean War

Ned Randolph (Class of 1960) -- former mayor of Alexandria (1986-2006), state senator, and state representative

Arnold Jack Rosenthal (Class of 1940) -- former Alexandria city commissioner (1973-1977)

B. Dexter Ryland (Class of 1959, 1941-2005) -- judge of the Ninth Judicial District Court in Alexandria

Joe D. Smith, Jr. (1922-2008) -- businessman and retired publisher, general manager, and chairman of the board of Alexandria Daily Town Talk

Jock Scott (Class of 1965) -- former state representative (1976-1988), lawyer, and educator

John K. Snyder (Class of 1940, 1922-1993) -- former mayor (1973-1977; 1982-1986)

Daniel T. Barry (Class of 1971) -- former astronaut

[edit] National Register of Historic Places

In 1984, Bolton High School was entered into the National Register of Historic Places, according to the guidelines of the National Preservation Act of 1966.