Hewitt-Trussville High School

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hewitt-Trussville High School
Address
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
6450 Husky Parkway

Trussville, Alabama

United States
Information
TypePublic
Established1925
School boardTrussville City Schools
PrincipalMr. Tim Salem
Faculty89.40 (FTE)[1]
Grades9–12
Enrollment1,530 (2018–19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio17.11[1]
CampusRural
Color(s)Red and Gray   
AthleticsAHSAA Class 7A
NicknameHuskies
Feeder schoolsHewitt-Trussville Middle School
Websitehttps://www.trussvillecityschools.com/site/Default.aspx?PageID=17

Hewitt-Trussville High School (HTHS) is a four-year public high school in the city 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 Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 7A athletics.[2]

Recognition[]

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

  • SchoolDigger ranks HTHS 8th out of 351 high schools in the state of Alabama and 4th among high schools in the Birmingham area.[3]
  • HTHS is one of 12 Alabama schools included in the Washington Post's 2016 list of America's Most Challenging High Schools.[4]
  • Newsweek includes HTHS among the 20 Alabama schools selected for its list of America's Best High Schools.[5]
  • US News & World Report ranks HTHS 13th among Alabama high schools and classifies it as a silver medal school.[6]
  • 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 in 1992 and 2020. [7]

Student profile[]

Enrollment in grades 9-12 for the 2020-2021 School Year was logged at 1,548 students. Approximately 75% of students are white, 20% are African-American, 2% are Asian-American, 1% are Hispanic, and 1% are multiracial. Roughly 12% of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch.[8]

HTHS has a graduation rate of 97%, and 75% of students attend a four-year college or university upon graduation.[8] Approximately 95% of students meet or exceed proficiency standards in both reading and mathematics.[9] The average ACT score for HTHS students is 27 and the average SAT composite is 1280.[10]

Curriculum[]

Approximately 52% of students[11] take one or more of the following Advanced Placement courses:[12]

  • American Government & Politics
  • Art Studio
  • Biology
  • Calculus AB
  • Calculus BC
  • Chemistry
  • English Language & Composition
  • English Literature & Composition
  • Environmental Science
  • Latin
  • Macroeconomics
  • Microeconomics
  • Physics B
  • Physics C
  • Spanish
  • Statistics
  • US History
  • World history

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.[13] By 1938 the student population had outgrown the facility, leading Jefferson County Schools to request that a community center under construction in the Cahaba Homestead Village be used as a high school instead.[14] 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.[15]

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 early 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[16] in only three grades and was the sixth largest high school in the state of Alabama.[17] The Jefferson County Board of Education agreed to build a new high school that would serve students from Clay and Chalkville, reducing the HTHS student population by about 40%.[13] 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.[18]

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 360,000-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. However, more funding was required after a failed attempt to build an indoor swimming pool on the 2nd floor B-Wing.[19]

Athletics[]

List of competitive athletic teams[]

HTHS competes in AHSAA Class 7A athletics and fields teams in the following sports:[20]

Girls' Sports Boys' Sports
Basketball Baseball
Bowling Basketball
Cheerleading Bowling
Cross Country Cross Country
Golf Football
Indoor Track & Field Golf
Lacrosse Indoor Track & Field
Mountain Biking Lacrosse
Outdoor Track & Field Mountain Biking
Soccer Outdoor Track & Field
Softball Soccer
Tennis Tennis
Volleyball Wrestling

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.[21] Current facilities include the Bryant Bank Arena (HTHS gymnasium), Phil English Field (baseball stadium), softball field, soccer field and Hewitt-Trussville Stadium.

Championships[]

HTHS has won ten AHSAA state championships:

  • Softball (2019, 2021)
  • Baseball (2016)
  • Girls' Golf (2005)
  • Boys’ Indoor Track (2021)
  • Girls' Indoor Track (2021)
  • Girls' Outdoor Track & Field (1999)
  • Wrestling (1983, 1987, 1988)

HTHS football has won six regional championships (1983, 1992, 1993, 1995, 2008, and 2016). It has competed in the state football playoffs twenty-five times, reaching the semifinals three times and finals once. 2016 marked the first undefeated regular season.[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[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c "HewittTrussville High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
  2. ^ "AHSAA School Classification 2014-16" (PDF).
  3. ^ "Alabama School Rankings". SchoolDigger. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  4. ^ "Most Challenging High Schools in Alabama".
  5. ^ "America's Best High Schools, Newsweek".
  6. ^ "These Are the Best High Schools in Alabama". www.usnews.com. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  7. ^ "National Blue Ribbon Schools Listing, 1982-2013" (PDF).
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b "Hewitt-Trussville – The Washington Post". apps.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  9. ^ "Hewitt-Trussville High School in TRUSSVILLE, AL | Best High Schools | US News". www.usnews.com. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
  10. ^ "Niche Best School Districts Rankings".
  11. ^ "How Does Hewitt-Trussville High School Perform on Tests?". www.usnews.com. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  12. ^ "HTHS Curriculum Guide" (PDF).
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b Lloyd, Gary (2014). Trussville, Albany, New York : A Brief History. Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: The History Press. ISBN 978-1626191853.
  14. ^ "voicesfromtheschoolhouse – Brief history of education in Trussville, Alabama". voicesfromtheschoolhouse.wikispaces.com. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
  15. ^ "Ground broken at Cahaba Elementary School". The Trussville Tribune. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
  16. ^ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey", 1996–97 v.1a.
  17. ^ "Alabama High School Football History". www.ahsfhs.org. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
  18. ^ "Hewitt-Trussville High School | Doster Construction". www.dosterconstruction.com. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
  19. ^ "Trussville High most expensive ever in Alabama". Retrieved 2015-09-06.
  20. ^ "Hewitt-Trussville High School -". Hewitt-Trussville High School. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  21. ^ "Jack Wood Stadium home bleachers almost completely demolished". The Trussville Tribune. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
  22. ^ "Alabama High School Football History". www.ahsfhs.org. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  23. ^ "HTHS List of Student Clubs & Organizations".

External links[]

Coordinates: 33°39′57″N 86°35′27″W / 33.6658983°N 86.5907087°W / 33.6658983; -86.5907087

Retrieved from ""