Mount Juliet High School Explained

Mt. Juliet High School
Motto:	Bear Pride Mt. Juliet High.
Type:	Public grades 9–12
Address:	1875 Golden Bear Gateway
Location:	Mt. Juliet, Tennessee 37122
Faculty:	130 (2022-23)^[1]
Ratio:	12.61^[2]
Enrollment:	1,639 (2022–23)^[3]
Colors:	Black and Vegas gold ^[4]
Team Name:	Golden Bears
Principal:	Ryan Hill
Website:	https://www.wcschools.com/mjhs

Mt. Juliet High School (MJHS) is a public high school located in Wilson County, Tennessee. It is not within Mt. Juliet city limits, but it serves parts of southern and eastern Mt. Juliet.^{[5] [6]} Ryan Hill, a 2005 MJHS graduate, became the principal July 1, 2023.^[7]

In 2008, MJHS moved from its previous building on N Mt. Juliet Road to a new building located at 1800 Curd Road.^[8] The old building became Mt. Juliet Middle School. The address changed to 1875 Golden Bear Gateway in 2017.^[9]

The school's slogan is "Bear Pride Mt. Juliet High."

Academics

Mt. Juliet High School offers a variety of core and elective classes. These include over 25 Advanced Placement courses, 9 career and technical education programs, 16 fine arts programs, and 27 dual enrollment classes through 3 different colleges and universities.^[10]

Athletics

Mt. Juliet offers 21 separate athletic programs. Mt. Juliet competes in Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association Division 1, District 9-AAA in all sports except football. In football, Mt. Juliet participates in the TSSAA Division 1, 6A Region 4.

Football

Mt. Juliet fielded its first football team in 1923–24 and was coached by Jack Gifford. The high school has fielded a team every year since 1936. The team is coached by Trey Perry.

Mt. Juliet has appeared in the TSSAA playoffs 17 times and has appeared every year since 2006. In 2012, Mt. Juliet went to the 6A state semifinals, losing to eventual state champion Memphis Whitehaven 41–35.

Baseball

2001–2018: Mark Purvis (516–194). Under Purvis, Mt. Juliet went to eight TSSAA sectional games and won the District 9-AAA championship nine times (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016 & 2018). Over 100 of Purvis' players played collegiately, including nine in the SEC—eight to Vanderbilt University and one to the University of Tennessee.^[11]

2019: Mark Decker (349–181) replaced Mark Purvis.

Girls Basketball

TSSAA Girls Basketball AAA State Champs 1977, 1983, and 2005

Rivalries

Wilson Central, MJHS's rival school, opened in 2001. When Wilson Central opened, the area was re-zoned, moving some Mt. Juliet students to Wilson Central.

Similarly, Green Hill High School (GHHS) was completed in 2020, rezoning hundreds of students from MJHS. On October 29, 2021, GHHS defeated MJHS in their first-ever football game at Elzie D. Patton stadium.^[12] However, just under a year later, on October 28, 2022, MJHS won the TSSAA Region 5-5A football championship and was presented the Mayor's Cup, after their 26-19 victory over GHHS.^{[13] [14]}

Extracurricular activities

Mt. Juliet High School has 42 student-led clubs. Clubs are faculty-sponsored and meet regularly throughout the year.

• American Sign Language Club (ASL)
• Art Club
• Bear News Network (BNN)
• BearTalk News Podcast
• Best Buddies
• Bible Club
• Black Student Union (BSU)
• British Culture Club
• Creative Writing Club
• Criminal Justice Club
• Electronic Gamer Club
• Esports
• French Culture Club
• Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)
• Future Farmers of America (FFA)
• Future Health Professionals (HOSA)
• Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA)
• Girls Flag Football
• Golden Bear Gazette
• Interact Club
• Japanese Culture Club
• Latin League Literary Alliance
• Men's Volleyball Club
• Mock Trial
• Mu Alpha Theta (ΜΑΘ)
• National Art Honor Society (NAHS)
• National Honor Society (NHS)
• National Technology Honor Society (NTHS)
• Orchestra
• Ping-Pong Club
• Prom Committee
  • • Quiz Bowl Science Bowl South Korean Culture Club
• Spanish Culture Club
• STEM Club/Skills USA
• Student Council
• Ultimate Frisbee Team
• Young Democrats
• Young Republicans
• Youth in Government (YIG)
• Youth Prevention Coalition

History and notable events

Tornado recovery

As a result of the deadly March 2020 tornado, MJHS was temporarily converted to a grade 7-12 school to house displaced students from West Wilson Middle School (WWMS). WWMS students were relocated to the west wing of MJHS, while MJHS students were relocated to the east wing. All students shared the common areas.

Notable alumni

• Levi Brown, quarterback for the Buffalo Bills
• Amanda Butler, head women's basketball coach at Clemson University and former head coach at University of Florida^{[15] [16]}
• Alysha Clark (born 1987), American-Israeli basketball player for the Israeli team Elitzur Ramla and the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)^[17]
• Caleb Cotham, baseball player^[18]
• Jared Followill, bassist from band Kings of Leon^[19]
• Matthew Followill, guitarist from band Kings of Leon
• Ben Hayslip, 2011 and 2012 ASCAP Country Music Songwriter of the Year
• Taylor Hill, professional baseball player
• Michael Jasper, head football coach at Bethel University, football player for the New York Giants.^{[20] [21]}
• Dale Wainwright, Texas Supreme Court Justice (2003–12)^[22]
• Barry E. Wilmore, NASA astronaut^[23]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mt. Juliet High School Profile 2022-2023 . June 11, 2023 . www.wcschools.com . en.
2. Web site: Mt. Juliet High School Profile 2022-2023 . June 11, 2023 . www.wcschools.com . en.
3. Web site: Mt. Juliet High School Profile 2022-2023 . June 11, 2023 . www.wcschools.com . en.
4. Web site: Mount Juliet High School. 2024-03-21. Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association. en-US.
5. Web site: Zoning Map. Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. July 6, 2021.
6. Web site: School Zone Maps. Wilson County School District. July 6, 2021. - See Mount Juliet High School Zone, Green Hill High School Zone, and Wilson Central High School zone.
7. Web site: Ivan . Aronin . May 10, 2023 . Ryan Hill named next principal at Mt. Juliet High School - Main Street Media of Tennessee . July 4, 2023 . Main Street Media of Tennessee -.
8. "City obtains first Curd Rd right of Way," page 5. "Chronicle of Mt. Juliet," November 14, 2007
9. Web site: Humbles. Andy. Mt. Juliet hopes for major traffic relief with new road set to open in July. October 11, 2021. The Tennessean. en-US.
10. Web site: Mt. Juliet High School Profile 2022-2023 . June 11, 2023 . www.wcschools.com . en.
11. Web site: Tommy . Bryan . Joe Decker to coach MJ baseball . The Wilson Post.
12. Web site: Aronin. Ivan. Green Hill throws two TD passes in final minute, beats Mt. Juliet 25-21. October 31, 2021. Main Street Preps. en.
13. Web site: Mt. Juliet plays Green Hill for TSSAA Region 5-5A football championship . June 11, 2023 . www.tennessean.com . en.
14. Web site: Brown . Adam . October 29, 2022 . Middle TN High School Football Game of The Week: Mount Juliet Golden Bears vs Green Hill Hawks . June 11, 2023 . Rutherford Source . en-US.
15. Web site: Clemson names new women's basketball coach Amanda Butler . www.independentmail.com.
16. http://www.gatorzone.com/story.php?id=12019 Amanda Butler Named Florida Women's Basketball Head Coach
17. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100408/SPORTS06/100408112/MTSU-s-Alysha-Clark-selected-in-WNBA-draft Alysha Clark WNBA
18. Web site: Humbles . Andy . Mt. Juliet's Caleb Cotham sent down after Yankees debut . The Tennessean.
19. Web site: Stones, Rolling . Kings of Leon: Biography . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070328231944/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/kingsofleon/biography . March 28, 2007 . August 7, 2009 . .
20. Web site: January 24, 2019 . Bethel hires Mike Jasper as new head football coach . January 25, 2019 . WBBJ TV . en-US.
21. https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/132835/michael-jasper#stories_tab SB Nation – Michael Jasper
22. Web site: "New Texas Supreme Court Justice began aspirations in Mt. Juliet," The Tennessean, May 29, 2003. .
23. http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/wilmore-be.html NASA Biography