| Oak Grove High School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
| 9494 Oak Grove Parkway Jefferson County; mail via Bessemer, Alabama, 35023 United States |
|
| Information | |
| School district | Jefferson County Board of Education |
| Principal | Alan Pruden |
| Grades | 6 - 12 |
| Team name | Tigers |
| Website | http://oakgrovehigh.jefcoed.com/ |
Oak Grove High School is located in rural Jefferson County, Alabama, roughly 16 miles (26 km) west of Hueytown. The school is operated by Jefferson County Board of Education. The current high school (grades 6-12) was completed in 2000. It replaced the former Oak Grove School which served all grades K-12 prior to 1998. Its location was on Lock 17 Road and today that site is Oak Grove Memorial Park. The current principal is Alan Pruden. Its vice principal is Rosemary Johnson.
The F5 tornado that struck Jefferson County just before eight o'clock in the evening on April 8, 1998, devastated the original Oak Grove High School on Lock 17 Road. The school was damaged beyond repair with the elementary school portion destroyed. No one inside the school was killed, but a group of cheerleaders practicing at the school's gymnasium escaped disaster with only minor injuries when a wall kept a section of the roof from falling on them. During the two years it took to construct the new school, the high school students were relocated more than sixteen miles away to the campus of Bell School in Hueytown. The elementary and middle school grades were relocated to the old McAdory Elementary School in McCalla which was more than twenty miles away. When the school was rebuilt, the County School Board made the decision to construct a separate campus for the elementary school grades. That school is located across the road from the new High School. They have also won 10 straight water polo state championships.
The Oak Grove High School list of accomplishments includes the Tigers winning the 1983 2A State Football Championship under then coach Ronnie Gilliland. The 1983 squad posted a record of 12-3 including the championship game victory over Cottonwood by the score of 6-3. Today the school competes in a variety of sports at the 4A level. In 1988, the Tigers marching band participated in the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California.