Summerville High School

Summerville High School is a public high school in Summerville, South Carolina.

History

In 1924, a brick building on Main Street, which is now Rollings Middle School of the Arts, was the only high school in the Summerville area. As Summerville's population increased rapidly in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a larger campus was needed. In 1969, the present building on Boone Hill Road was opened to students. From the first day of classes, the new facility was too small. Because of the unexpectedly high enrollment, several mobile units were set up on the campus.

In 1970, Summerville High School and Alston High School were combined to integrate the school district. Attendance continued to increase throughout the 1970s. In 1972, double sessions were used until an additional underclassman campus was completed in 1975. Another classroom wing was created by the spring of 1978.

In 1992, Fort Dorchester High School was opened, splitting the school's student body. As a result, the Gregg underclassman campus was renovated as a middle school, and the switch to a single campus was completed in 1998. Construction of a fine arts hall and cafeteria expansion was completed in the fall of 2001.^[2]

In 2008, Ashley Ridge High School was opened to further ease congestion in the Dorchester District 2 school system. When attendance zones where realigned for the opening of the new high school, the Ashley Ridge zone contained mostly students who would have attended Summerville high school, whereas only a small portion of the Fort Dorchester attendance zone was diverted.

Statistics

As of 2004, Summerville has a 78.9% graduation rate. However, the school boasts a 97.3% passing rate of the state's standardized exit exam.^[3]

Demographics

Athletics

Wrestling

The Green Wave won 5 State Championships under Steve Laprad as head coach between 1979 and 1993. Summerville has won 12 state championships in total ('81, '87, '88, '92, '93, '98, '01, '02, '04, '05, '06, '08). Coach Laprad had a 211-8 dual meet record over his coaching career. The program boasts 87 individual state champions, several high school all-Americans, an NCWA national champion (Quinn Tolbert), a JuCo national champion (Kelly Revells), 3 NCAA all-Americans (Quinn Tolbert, Andrew Young, Bryant Blanton), an NCAA national champion (Bryant Blanton), a USA Wrestling national assistant coach of the year (Darryl Tucker), and a USA Wrestling man of the year (Kenny Walker - 2002).

Football

The team has won 12 state championships, 10 of them under coach John McKissick. In the 1998 season, the Greenwave went undefeated, rounding out the season defeating Gaffney High School to win the State Championship. ^[5]

Basketball

Summerville won the Class 4A boys championship against Spartanburg in 2007-2008, with a score of 50-48.

Louis Mulkey, one of the team's assistant coaches, was one of nine firefighters who perished in the Charleston Sofa Super Store fire. A black helmet with a golden shield, sat on bench seat 4 with the team during every game of the season, in Mulkey's honor during the 2008 and 2009 season.

Baseball

Summerville has won a total of four 4A baseball state championships, most recently in 2003.

Track and Field

In 2010, the girls team competed in the AAAA State Championships and was the state Runner-Up team. In 2011, the Lady Green Wave won the State Meet. 1985 Green Wave standout Wade Brantley achieved All-American status and a world ranking in the Decathlon and was named the University of South Carolina's track athlete of the decade for the 1980s.

Soccer

The girl's soccer team won the 4A state title in 1996. The boy's soccer team won the 4A state title in 1999.

Swimming

Summerville boys (2003,2004) and girls have each won two 4A State Championships.

Cheerleading

The Summerville cheerleading squad have won 2 state championships (2008, 2009).

Marching Band

The Summerville Marching band (SHSCPE) went undefeated in the 2014 season and came out 1st place grand champions in the entire state.

Notable alumni

• Mark Blount, 1994 (Transferred to Oak Hill Academy (Virginia)), NBA Basketball Player, Minnesota Timberwolves
• Converse Chellis, 1961, South Carolina Treasurer
• Savanna D'Amico, 2004, "Looking For Stars" TV show
• Dustin Fry, 2002, Former center for the St. Louis Rams^[6]
• A.J. Green, 2008, 1st round pick (4th overall) in the 2011 NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals
• Keith Jennings, 1985, former NFL football player
• Stanford Jennings, 1980, former football player, Cincinnati Bengals^[7]
• Kevin Long, 1994, former football player, Tennessee Titans^[8]
• Louis Mulkey, 1991, Charleston firefighter, one of the "Charleston Nine"
• Jamar Nesbit, 1995, football player, New Orleans Saints^[9]

References

External links

• http://dorchester.shs.schoolfusion.us/ Official Webpage

Coordinates: 32°59′39″N 80°13′05″W / 32.9940598°N 80.2181504°W / 32.9940598; -80.2181504