Nathan B. Forrest High School (Jacksonville, Florida)
| Westside High School | |
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| Location | |
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Jacksonville, Florida USA |
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| Information | |
| Type | Public school |
| Motto | "Exceeding expectations" |
| Established | 1959 |
| Principal | Dr. Gregory Bostic |
| Staff | 100 |
| Number of students | 1,417 (2014-15) |
| Color(s) | Gray Black and Red |
| Mascot | Wolverine |
Westside High School is a public high school in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the Duval County School District and serves Jacksonville's Westside. The school was established in 1959 and was originally named Nathan B. Forrest High School, after Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. The fact that the school was named for Forrest was a point of significant controversy until the Duval County School Board changed the name in 2014.
The school opened as New School 207 in 1959 in Jacksonville's Wesconnett neighborhood, at the site of present-day J. E. B. Stuart Middle School. Built during the era of racial segregation, it was originally a white-only school. The school's name was a contentious issue from the beginning, with three groups supporting different names. Incoming students, who had already dubbed the football team the "Vikings", voted to name it Valhalla High School, while another faction wanted to name it Wesconnett High School after the neighborhood. The United Daughters of the Confederacy wanted the school named for "a distinguished Southern leader", eventually settling on Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest. After multiple votes failed to find agreement, the Duval County School Board voted to name the school Nathan B. Forrest High School on September 17, 1959.
In 1961 the school board branched off Forrest's junior high school, forming what is now Jefferson Davis Middle School. The measure allowed Forrest to avoid double sessions. In 1966 the board relocated Forrest to its present location on Firestone Road, converting the old building into J. E. B. Stuart Middle School. Around this time the school also adopted more Confederate symbolism, changing its athletics nicknames to the "Rebels" and featuring Confederate flags and the song "Dixie" at sporting events. The use of Confederate imagery became a recurring point of contention as the school integrated.
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