Hillcrest Christian School

Hillcrest Christian School is a private school founded in 1971, and stands on South Siwell Road, Jackson, Mississippi, USA. Initially, the current campus was known as Council McCluer which was a separate school opened the same year as Hillcrest.

For much of its early life, the school was located at Sykes Road and Wheatley Drive in south Jackson, and operated as a K-9 school. In 1986 the school purchased the former McCluer Academy property on Siwell Road, where it established a high school and relocated the middle school. The school ultimately moved all operations to that campus and sold the Wheatley property in the late 1990s following the construction of an elementary school building at the Siwell campus.

Education

Hillcrest educates pupils in all grades from Kindergarten 3 to Grade 12.^[1]

95% of the pupils are white and there is a 1:10 student:teacher ratio.^[2]

Hillcrest Christian School has also has a variety of clubs and organizations. The Hillcrest National Honor Society is known throughout the Jackson area. In YMCA Youth Legislature, the school has experienced success. Over the past ten years, over 10 students have been named Outstanding Senator and/or Representative. Also, Hillcrest has been represented in positions such as House Floor Leader and Youth Governor.

Alumni

The National High School Baseball Coaches Association 2006 'Slugger Senior State Players of the Year' for Mississippi was Justin Reed from Hillcrest.^[3] Reed is Mississippi's first junior Olympics finalist and now plays professionally.^[4]

Taryn Foshee won the 2003 Miss Clinton pageant while a pupil at Hillcrest Christian School and received a commendation from the Mississippi Legislature.^[5] Subsequently she became the 2006 Miss Mississippi and then finished 3rd runner-up in Miss America 2007.^[6] She is a current student at Mississippi State University.

Other notable alumni

• Stephen Head, minor league first basemen for Cleveland Indians and winner of Boo Ferris Award, given to Mississippi's top collegiate baseball player.
• Seth Smith, outfielder for Oakland Athletics
• Scott Savage- Former drummer for Multi Platinum, Grammy and Dove award winning band Jars of Clay
• Jeff Savage- Recording artist. Grammy-nominated and Dove-award-winning producer and songwriter for such multi-platinum selling groups and artists as TobyMac, dcTalk, Jars of Clay, Natalie Imbruglia, and Plumb.

Arts

Hillcrest Christian School has a diverse fine arts program that includes Symphonic and Marching Band, Praise Band, Choral Music, 2-D Art and 3-D Art, Drama, and Elementary Drama and Music.

Success

The Choral Music and Instrumental Music programs have a history of success at regional and national festivals and competitions. The Hillcrest "One Spirit, One Sound" Marching Band has also been successful, posting all-superior ratings at regional and state marching competitions. Most recently, the band has scored all-superior at the 2006 Pinson Valley Marching Competition and Best Overall at the 2005 West Alabama Marching Festival. In concert band, Hillcrest posts evenly impressive results. Last year, after participating in the 2006 St. Louis, Missouri Heritage Festival, the band received their second invitation to the Festival of Gold, national competition, held in Boston Symphony Hall. The band first attended the Festival of Gold in April 2005, posting a 4th place finish nationally.

Athletics

All Hillcrest teams participate in the Mississippi Private School Association's Division AAA. Hillcrest fields teams in football, basketball, baseball, golf, tennis, track, and cross-country.

Baseball

Coached by former Mississippi State standout Shane Kelly, the Cougars won the 2006 MPSA Academy AAA Division I title, beating Jackson Academy. They also won the Academy AAA Division II State Championship in 2007, beating Magnolia Heights School. Also, under the leadership of Coach Paul Wyczawski, the current pitching and recruiting coach at Murray State University, the Cougars won several state titles in the 1990s, including three consecutive state AAAA titles from 1996 to 1998.

Since 1989, Hillcrest has had more than 35 student-athletes play in the collegiate ranks. Several of these athletes include:

• David Hayman: Hillcrest Class of 1992, All-SEC OF, and former professional baseball player.
• Jeremy Dixon: Hillcrest Class of 1993, All-GSC at Delta State University, and former professional.
• Glenn Morris: Hillcrest Class of 1998, former record holder for saves at the University of Mississippi.
• Dustin Cliburn: Hillcrest Class of 1999,record holder at Meridian Community College, Former Ole Miss player, Played for Bourne Braves in the Cape Cod League.
• Seth Smith: Hillcrest Class of 2001, Ole Miss graduate, and current Colorado Rockies player.
• Stephen Head: Hillcrest Class of 2002, Ole Miss graduate, and current minor league player for the Cleveland Indians.
• Justin Reed: Hillcrest Class of 2006 and current minor leaguer in the Cincinnati Reds organization.
• Logan Power: Hillcrest Class of 2004, former player for the University of Mississippi and the school's all-time RBI leader.
• Cody Satterwhite: Hillcrest Class of 2005 and current professional baseball player.

In the past 20 years, Hillcrest teams have appeared in the MPSA State championship twelve times, including championships in 1989, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2006, 2007 & 2008.

Basketball

The Cougars won the MPSA Overall Championship in the 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2007 seasons.

References

1. ↑ Hillcrest Christian School, Official site
2. ↑ "Hillcrest Christian School", Great Schools
3. ↑ "Slugger Senior State Players of the Year", Baseball Coaches Association.
4. ↑ Yancy Porter, "Jr Olympics Finalist Chooses Ole Miss", The Ole Miss Spirit, August 3, 2005.
5. ↑ "Senate Concurrent Resolution 573", Mississippi Legislature, 2003.
6. ↑ Chris Joyner, "Miss Mississippi makes it to top 5 in Miss America pageant", Hattiesburg American, February 15, 2007.