Hillside High School (Durham, North Carolina)

Hillside High School
Hillside High School in 2008
Address
3727 Fayetteville St

27707

United States
Coordinates35°57′11″N 78°54′13″W / 35.95306°N 78.90361°W / 35.95306; -78.90361
Information
Former namesJames A. Witted High School (1887–1921)
Hillside Park High School (1922–1943)
TypePublic
Motto"Rebuilding and Redefining Academic Excellence!"
Established1887 (137 years ago) (1887)
School districtDurham Public Schools
CEEB code341055
PrincipalWilliam T Logan
Faculty90.25 (FTE)[1]
Enrollment1,331 (2018–19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio14.75[1]
Color(s)Navy blue and white
  
MascotHornet
Nickname"The Hornet's Nest", HHS, The Hill
Websitehillside.dpsnc.net
Hillary Clinton holding a campaign rally at Hillside High School, March 2016

Hillside High School (abbreviated HHS) is a four-year high school located in Durham, North Carolina. Hillside is one of seven high schools in the Durham Public Schools system. Of more than 300 historically black high schools that once operated in the state before desegregation, only five remain today, with Hillside being the oldest. Hillside is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

History

The largest black schools in Durham prior to the building of Whitted School in 1887 were the Ledger Public School in Hayti, under the supervision of Miss Ledger, and the Hack Road Public School, where James Whitted was superintendent.

Whitted School

In 1887, the Whitted School existed as the James A. Whitted High School, in honor of its first principal. The school, which was located on the corner of Blackwell and Pettigrew Streets, burned in 1888 and was located in a Bull Factory warehouse. In 1890, 161 pupils attended the school's six grades. Whitted taught the upper grades, William G. Pearson taught the middle grades, and two female teachers taught the first and second grades.

The first class graduated from the ninth grade of Whitted school in 1896. Also in 1896, a permanent brick building was constructed on Proctor and Ramsey Street for black children at a cost of $8000. In 1899, the building was destroyed and reconstructed, but students were housed in churches during that school year. In 1901, another black school, West End, was built. At this time 707 students were enrolled in the Durham black graded schools. In 1909, the East End School was constructed.

Only nine grades existed at Whitted from 1896 until 1911, but in 1911 a tenth grade was added. The 11th grade was added in 1918. From 1919 until 1920, first graders were housed in "dog houses," which were temporary shacks near the brick school building.

The Whitted School, which was in poor condition, burned in 1921, and students had to attend double sessions at East End and West End Schools.

Hillside Park

John Sprunt Hill, a leading Durham citizen, donated land for a new building on Pine and Umstead Street, which was named Hillside Park High School in honor of the donor and due to the fact that the school was located next to Hillside Park, a public city owned black park. The class of 1944 was the first to graduate under the 12 year system. A public address system was installed in the school in 1943 at a cost of $150.

The "Park" was dropped from the name Hillside High School in 1943.

Repurposing and building

In 1950, because of overcrowding in the high school, the Hillside High School students moved into what was then called Whitted Junior High School, located near the campus of North Carolina Central University (NCCU) and now the site of an NCCU science classroom building, and the Whitted Junior High School students moved into the old Hillside Park High School building closer to downtown Durham. The schools buildings also swapped names. Hillside High School at this time only enrolled grades 10, 11 and 12 and Whitted Junior High School enrolled 7, 8 and 9.

Additions of an auditorium, cafeteria, auto shop, classroom and gymnasium were made to accommodate the large number of transferred high school students in 1949. A classroom annex was added to the Hillside building in 1962. In 1966 a new library was added. A new band room was constructed in 1975.

After 1995

Hillside was relocated to a new building in 1995.

Eunice Sanders was Hillside's principal from 2002–2006, resigning after the 2005–06 school year to move to an administrative position within the Durham Public Schools Central Office.[2] Earl Pappy was the principal of Hillside from 2006–2009.[3] He was followed by Hans Lassiter who served as principal from 2009–2012.

The current principal is William Logan.

Programs

Hillside offers the International Baccalaureate and AVID programs to academically gifted students. This school offers career pathways in engineering and cosmetology. It also offers many Advanced Placement classes. Hillside High recently created a freshmen academy to help incoming freshmen matriculate and excel in their academics.

Performing arts

Hillside High School 2008 Production of Disney's Beauty & The Beast

Hillside has established an arts program. The Hillside High School Drama Department produces an average of 4 plays each school year. In addition to the Drama Department, Hillside also has a marching band which performs across the United States.

The school's band

Athletics

  • Boys Sports: football, cross country, soccer, basketball, wrestling, indoor track, baseball, outdoor track, tennis
  • Girls Sports: indoor track, outdoor track (3A State Champions 2001–2005), softball, basketball, volleyball, tennis, cross country, soccer
  • Co-ed Sports: Golf
  • Traditionally Hillside's rivals are: Durham High School (closed in 1993), Southern High School (North Carolina), Charles E. Jordan High School, and James B. Dudley High School.
  • Hillside Boys football 1943 (undefeated, untied, and unscored upon).
  • Hillside Boys basketball team won the 1965 North Carolina 4A State Championship verses West Charlotte.
  • Hillside Boys 1966 basketball team, nicknamed the "Pony Express", average over 100 points a game in four 8 minutes quarters.
  • Hillside 2010 football team went 16–0 and won the North Carolina 4A State Championship game 40–0 over Davie County at BB&T field in Winston-Salem, NC
  • Hillside Girls Basketball Team went 25–2 in 1996 to win the Girl's 4-A State Championship.

Notable people

References

  1. ^ a b c "Hillside High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  2. ^ "Longtime DPS administrator to support student services". Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-12-01.
  3. ^ "Hillside principal resigns".
  4. ^ NCCU Athletics Presents Hayes with Lifetime Achievement Award. meacsports.com. Retrieved Aug 26, 2020.
  5. ^ "University of North Carolina". tarheelblue.cstv.com.
  6. ^ "Rodney Rogers". Basketball-Reference.Com. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
  7. ^ Charles Romes Stats. Pro-Football-Reference. Retrieved Jan 11, 2020.
  8. ^ Hallelujah! Swing School empowers students by honoring the past. The Durham VOICE. Retrieved Aug 26, 2020.
  9. ^ "Hillside grad thanks teacher Wendell Tabb, Spike Lee for Oscar nomination". heraldsun. Retrieved 2018-04-23.

External links

  • School Profile[dead link]
  • Hillside High School's Official Web page


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