Hewitt-Trussville High School

Hewitt-Trussville High School (HTHS) is a four-year public high school in the Birmingham, Alabama suburb of Trussville. It is the only high school in Trussville City Schools and is named for the early local educator Robert Hewitt. School colors are red and gray, and the athletic teams are called the Huskies. HTHS competes in AHSAA Class 7A athletics.^[1]

Recognition

HTHS has been recognized by a variety of sources as one of the best high schools in Alabama:

• SchoolDigger ranks HTHS 12th out of 357 high schools in the state of Alabama and 4th among high schools in the Birmingham metropolitan area.^[2]
• HTHS was one of only 12 Alabama schools included in the Washington Post's 2015 list of America's Most Challenging High Schools.^[3]
• Newsweek included HTHS among the 20 Alabama schools selected for its list of America's Best High Schools.^[4]
• HTHS was named a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education, the highest recognition a school can receive from the department.^[5]

Student Profile

Enrollment in grades 9-12 for the 2013-14 school year is 1,396 students. Approximately 84% of students are white, 11% are African-American, 2% are Asian-American, 1% are Hispanic, and 1% are multiracial. Roughly 11% of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch.^[6]

HTHS has a graduation rate of 95%.^[7] Approximately 95% of its students meet or exceed proficiency standards in both reading and mathematics.^[8] The average ACT score for HTHS students is 27 and the average SAT composite is 1820.^[9]

Curriculum

Approximately 25%^[10] of students take one or more of the following Advanced Placement courses:^[11]

Students can also take advantage of six different career-focused academies:

• Academy of Business & Finance, which includes dual enrollment in UAB courses and a paid internship
• Biomedical Sciences Academy, based on the nationally-recognized Project Lead the Way curriculum
• Electrical Construction Academy, leading to both NCCER and OSHA certifications
• Engineering Academy
• Hospitality & Culinary Arts Academy
• Information Technology Academy, leading to the Microsoft Office Specialist or Adobe Certified Associate credential

History

Originally called R.G. Hewitt High School, HTHS was established in 1925 on Chalkville Road and graduated its first students in 1927.^[12] By 1938 the student population had outgrown the facility, leading the Jefferson County School Board to request that a community center under construction in the Cahaba Homestead Village be used as a high school instead.^[13] This building, located at 301 Parkway Drive, would serve as Trussville's high school until a new high school campus was constructed on Trussville Clay Road. Classes moved to the new campus in January 1984, at which point the facility was renovated to house Hewitt-Trussville Middle School.^[14]

The new HTHS campus was designed by Adams/Peacher/Keeton/Cosby, Inc. with Moore Engineering & Construction serving as the general contractor. In 1996 the large, illuminated signage visible from I-59 was added to the southern facade. The front wing contained the gymnasium, auditorium, cafeteria, band room and administrative offices. The rear wing contained academic classrooms with the five hallways being distinguished by color (the red, orange, green, yellow & gray). The interior featured a pair of outdoor courtyards.

During the late 1980s and 1990s, HTHS struggled to accommodate a rapidly-growing student population from the Trussville, Clay, and Chalkville areas. By 1995, HTHS enrolled over 1,500 students^[15] in only three grades and was the sixth largest high school in the state of Alabama.^[16] The Jefferson County Board of Education agreed to construct a new high school that would serve students from Clay and Chalkville, reducing the HTHS student population by about 40%.^[12] Although overcrowding was temporary resolved with the construction of Clay-Chalkville High School in 1996, the continued rapid growth within Trussville resulted in the need for a new building, which opened in October 2008. The existing school was then converted into Hewitt-Trussville Middle School, which now occupies the building. The current HTHS building is located on a 127-acre site on Husky Parkway between Trussville-Clay Road and Deerfoot Parkway, across I-59 from the previous campus. The school is able to accommodate about 1,600 students with room to grow to 2,400 students in the future. The school also includes a fine arts center, auditorium, field house and multiple athletic fields.^[17]

The final design for the school was approved by the Trussville Board of Education in September 2006. On Tuesday, November 14, 2006, the Trussville City Council rezoned the parcels at 5601 and 5555 Trussville-Clay Road from agricultural to institutional use to allow for the construction of the new building. The school was designed by Davis Architects and encompasses 285,000-square feet. Its design includes white columns and a clock tower, and at a final cost of $70 million, the school was the most expensive high school ever built in Alabama upon its opening in October 2008.^[18]

Athletics

List of Competitive Athletic Teams

HTHS competes in AHSAA Class 7A athletics and fields teams in the following sports:^[19]

Facilities

Jack Wood Stadium, adjacent to the building at 301 Parkway Drive, was used until 2013 for football games and track and field events, as well as annual commencement exercises. In 2014 a new stadium was opened on Husky Parkway, and Jack Wood stadium was demolished as part of the construction of Cahaba Elementary School.^[20] Current facilities include the HTHS gymnasium, baseball stadium, softball field, soccer field and Hewitt-Trussville stadium.

Championships

Prior to the creation of the new class 7A, HTHS competed at the 6A level, where it has won six AHSAA state championships:^[21]

• Girls' Golf (2005)
• Girls' Indoor Track (1999)
• Girls' Outdoor Track & Field (1999)
• Wrestling (1983, 1987, 1988)

The HTHS football has won five regional championships (1983, 1992, 1993, 1995, and 2008). It has competed in the state football playoffs twenty-five times, reaching the semifinals three times and finals once.^[22]

Student Activities

HTHS sponsors a variety of student activities, including many nationally-affiliated clubs and organizations. The following is a list of many of these:^[23]

Notable Alumni

• Jay Barker, former quarterback for the University of Alabama and NFL player with the Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, and Carolina Panthers
• Brandon Cox, former quarterback for Auburn University
• Lee Guess, former wide receiver for Auburn University
• Brent Key, former right guard for the Georgia Tech football team and current assistant head coach for the University of Central Florida
• Irene Latham, author of poetry and fiction for young adults
• Victor McCay, artist and actor known for his roles in Argo, The Ring Two, and Enough
• Mike Mordecai, former baseball player with the Atlanta Braves, Montreal Expos, and Florida Marlins
• Resha Riggins, Miss Alabama 1990
• Jason Standridge, baseball player with the Tampa Bay Rays and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (Japan)
• Justin Tubbs, former point guard for the University of Alabama and East Tennessee State University basketball teams

External Links

• HTHS official website
• HTHS profile on Niche.com
• HTHS Athletics Facebook page
• HTHS Athletics Twitter
• HTHS Husky Football official website
• HTHS football history from ahsfhs.org website

References

Coordinates: 33°39′22″N 86°35′39″W / 33.65606°N 86.59416°W / 33.65606; -86.59416