| Eastern High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Louisville, Kentucky, United States | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public Secondary Magnet |
| Established | 1950 |
| School district | Jefferson County Public Schools |
| Principal | Lana Kaelin |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Number of students | ~2,200 |
| Student to teacher ratio | 33:1 |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Color(s) | Blue and White |
| Mascot | Eagle |
| Rivals | Ballard High School |
| Publication | The Eagle's Quill |
| Newspaper | The Eastern Eagle |
| Website | Eastern High School |
Founded in 1950, Louisville Eastern High School is located off Old Shelbyville Road in Middletown, Kentucky. With an enrollment of over 2,200 students, this school has been the pilot for education partnerships with companies such as IBM, Dell, CompTIA, Adobe, and Microsoft.
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Eastern has been repeatedly ranked in the top 1,300 high schools in the United States by Newsweek.[1]
| Year | Ranking | Equity and Excellence Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 789 | 28.9% |
| 2007 | 662 | 32.2% |
| 2006 | 706 | 26% |
| 2005 | 300 | N/A |
Eastern offers varsity and Jr. varsity teams in baseball, basketball, cheerleading, chess, cross country, field hockey, football, golf, lacrosse, ping pong, softball, soccer, swimming, track and field, tennis, volleyball & wrestling. Within the past decade Eastern has won state championships in girls' track as well as boys' soccer. The James A. Sexton athletic complex, which includes a football, baseball, softball, soccer, and field hockey field, as well as tennis courts, is regarded as the best in the city of Louisville.
The boys basketball team was the state runner up in 1957, losing the championship game to Lexington Lafayette 55-52. In 1997 Eastern's boys basketball team won the state championship & finished the season with a 35-2 record. In 2003 & in 2006 the boys basketball team won the LIT (Louisville Invitational Tournament).
In the 2008-2009 season, the boys basketball team won the LIT & made it to the Elite Eight in the state tournament, losing to Central High School of Louisville Kentucky. They are coached by Jason Couch.
The girls track team has won 9 state championships (most recently in 2006) & has been the state runner up 6 times. The boys track team won the state championship in 1990 & has been the state runner up 5 times.
The boys soccer team won the state championship in 1996.
Eastern has won several state tennis championships and won the 1955 state golf championship.
Eastern has won the state chess titles 3 times, the last coming in 1989.
Eastern's wrestling team has been the state runner up twice, in 1979 & 1993.
Eastern's cheerleading team placed 2nd in the NCA High School Cheerleading Championship in 2004.
The volleyball team has been repeatedly ranked second in the state for public schools for a couple of years now.
Eastern's fight song lyrics:
It is Rumored that a Band Director at Eastern wrote what is now the University of Kentucky fight song. Although this is a rumor that spreads throughout the Band Hall. It is Ironic that the tunes are so similar compared to other high schools in the surrounding Jefferson County / Louisville area.
(to the tune of the University of Kentucky fight song, "On, On, U of K")
On, on Eastern High,
For you its do or die!
Hold that ball and hit that line,
Every Eagle star will shine!
We'll fight, fight, fight
For the blue and white
As we roll to that goal varsity!
We will kick, pass and run
'Til the battle is won
And we bring home the victory!
The Eastern Eagles football team represents Eastern High School in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association. They play their home games at Eagle Field in Middletown, Kentucky. Ken Whalen is the current head coach of the Eagles. Jon Davis, a player from Eastern High School signed to play football with the University of Illinois on 2/2/11.
The Eastern Eagles basketball team has made many state appearances, the most recently noticed were in 2008-09 and 2010–11 years. In the 2011 year, ranking top 15 in the country, the Eastern eagles made it to the final four, just losing by 2 points in the last seconds of the game to Christian Co.
Notable Eastern Eagles basketball players are:
Eastern is the only school within the Jefferson County Public Schools to offer "Ballroom Dancing" classes & has 36 different technology classes.
The school opened in 1950 on its present site in Middletown, Kentucky. The library was later added to the front of the school, giving the building a layout in the shape of the letter "E". The school has been part of the Jefferson County school system since before the county system aborted the old Louisville city school system. The school was co-ed from its start and was integrated long before busing was ordered in Jefferson County.
Court-ordered busing began in Louisville and Jefferson County schools in 1975. As the 1975 school year began, 900 National Guard troops were sent to Jefferson County schools by Governor of Kentucky Julian Carroll at the request of Louisville mayor Harvey I. Sloane and Jefferson County judge-executive Todd Hollenbach. Several anti-busing riots occurred elsewhere in Jefferson County. Eastern saw some protests against busing but was relatively tranquil because the school was already desegregated.
In 2009, James A. Sexton, principal at Eastern for 20 years, retired. His place was taken by Lana Kaelin. also known for its eastern mile relay team who set the state record in 1985 at the state championships.