South High School (Minneapolis)
| South Senior High School | |
|---|---|
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| Address | |
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3131 19th Avenue South Minneapolis, Minnesota United States |
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| Coordinates | 44°56′44″N 93°14′37″W / 44.9456°N 93.2435°WCoordinates: 44°56′44″N 93°14′37″W / 44.9456°N 93.2435°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Public secondary |
| Established | 1885 |
| School district | Minneapolis Public Schools |
| Principal | Reinaldo Aponte |
| Faculty | 115 |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Number of students | 1,974 |
| Campus | Urban |
| Color(s) | Orange and Black |
| Athletics | Minneapolis City Conference |
| Mascot | Gallant Tigers |
| Newspaper | The Southerner |
| Website | south.mpls.k12.mn.us |
South Senior High School is the largest public school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, located in Corcoran neighborhood. Its student population is 1963, with a staff of 115 as of the 2009–10 school year. The school's principal is Reinaldo Aponte, who is assisted by three assistant principals and administration from each Small Learning Community.
South High School was formed in 1885 inside of four rooms in the attic of the old Adams School at Franklin Avenue and Sixteenth Avenue. It was in this setting that South High School began many traditions that continue to this day. The small student body of this school within a school began publishing the South High Observer, the direct predecessor to today's school paper: The Southerner. South High Theater presented its first play—Cox and Box—in 1892. Several years after its humble start South had its first graduation, totaling twenty-seven students. Within several years, South had outgrown the Adams School and the Minneapolis School Board began a search to find a new, larger location for the school.
They found a plot of land, purchased from a man named Frank Murphy, that had once housed an orchard and a cornfield. It was on this newly acquired land that the foundation for the new South High was laid. The building was completed on or around New Years Day, 1892, and in 1893, the 250 students of South High School and the 208 students of the adjoining middle school took the triumphant march to their new building, at 2445 18th (or Cedar) Avenue South.
The new building was a masterpiece. Built out of red brick and sandstone in a castle-like structure, in typical 1890s architectural fashion, it featured multiple turrets, twelve-foot ceilings, stained-glass bay windows and a six-story bell tower. After the last part of the building, the bell tower, was erected, it was decided by the School Board not to purchase a bell for it. The reasons for this are unclear, but it is thought that the large bell used to mark the beginning and ending of classes was ditched in favor of an electric bell system run by a motor. The bell tower would remain until the rest of the building around it was destroyed.
The student body kept growing at a fast pace; it had grown to between 750 and 800 students by 1909. The once spacious quarters of the school had become small, and the auditorium was sacrificed for more classrooms by dividing it up into four quarters using green curtains. Students had trouble concentrating with this setup, and the Minneapolis School Board decided changes needed to be made.
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