Bossier High School (Louisiana) Explained

Bossier High School
Motto:Lead All Students to Find Success
Streetaddress:777 Bearkat Drive
City:Bossier City
State:Louisiana
Zipcode:71111
Country:United States
Type:Public school, college prep
Gender:Co-ed
Affiliation:Bossier Parish Schools
Grades:912
Principal:Michele Tugwell
Staff:44.37 (FTE)
Ratio:16.20
Enrollment:719 (2022–23)[1]
Conference:LHSAA
Colors:Green and white
Nickname:Bearkats
Newspaper:The Bossier Bear Facts
Yearbook:Les Memoires
Module:
Bossier High School
Embed:yes
Coordinates:32.5193°N -93.7296°W
Built:1938-39
Builder:James T. Taylor
Added:September 30, 2004
Area:3.5acres
Refnum:04001078

Bossier High School is a co-educational college preparatory high school in Bossier City, Louisiana, United States.[2]

Its former building on Colquitt Street, a Classical Revival-style building constructed in 1923, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 as Bossier High School (Colquitt Street). Its current location on Bearkat Drive, with its International Style architecture, also was listed on the National Register, in 2004.

The school's attendance boundary includes sections of Bossier City, a portion of Shreveport in Bossier Parish,[3] and the Main Area of Barksdale Air Force Base.[4]

History

Bossier High School was officially recognized as an accredited educational institution by the Louisiana Department of Education in 1917. The first school was located on Traffic Street in North Bossier, the present site of Bossier Elementary School. In 1923 a new high school was built to serve the city's rapidly expanding population, and this was expanded in 1928, but still was inadequate. In 1938 a new location was chosen on the historic site of Fort Kirby Smith, a Civil War Fort. Fort Kirby Smith was one of several defensive positions pieced together by the Confederate Army during the American Civil War (1861-1865) to protect Shreveport during the Red River Campaign. According to Gary Joiner's Through the Howling Wilderness: The 1864 Red River Campaign and Union Failure in the West, it was located to prevent an attack from the north, the east, as well as the southeast from Union aggression.[5] After the surrender of Shreveport in 1865, Fort Kirby Smith was dismantled and abandoned.

The present Bossier High School, a three-story building located at 777 Bearcat Drive, was built in 1938–39. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. It was designed by architect Samuel Wiener in International Style. Due to rapid population growth, the city's Bossier High School (Colquitt Street) built in 1923 and 1928 became over-crowded, and this school was built to replace it. The former school was then devoted to serving elementary school levels. It was built by contractor James T. Taylor of Fort Worth, Texas. The listing included three contributing buildings.[6]

Construction of Bossier High was completed in 1940 and is the present site.

Athletics

Bossier High athletics competes in the LHSAA. The school's biggest rivals include Airline High School and Parkway High School.

LHSAA state championships

Basketball championships

Football championships

Notable alumni

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bossier High School. National Center for Education Statistics. May 23, 2024.
  2. Web site: Bossier High School: Home Page. bossierschools.org. 10 October 2016.
  3. Web site: Bossier High School Attendance Zone Map. Bossier Parish School Board. 2024-03-09.
  4. Web site: Barksdale Air Force Base Education. Military One Source. 2024-03-09. - This is a .mil site.
  5. Joiner, Gary D. Through the Howling Wilderness: The 1864 Red River Campaign and Union Failure in the West, University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, 2006.
  6. Web site: Bossier High School . State of Louisiana's Division of Historic Preservation . 2004 . June 16, 2017 . with six photos and two maps
  7. Web site: Louisiana High School Athletic Association Web site. 2016-10-09. LHSAA.
  8. "Hall of Fame: Bossier High School honors alumni," The Forum Newsweekly magazine, October 21, 2009.
  9. News: Eurlyne Howell. The Monroe News-Star. July 24, 1958. Louisiana, Monroe. 2. Newspapers.com. February 3, 2017.
  10. Web site: Owens . Tim . Bossier's DeCamerion Richardson chooses Mississippi State . KTAL News.com . 19 December 2019 . 21 February 2024.