Walker High School (Walker, Louisiana)

Last updated
Walker High School
Address
Walker High School (Walker, Louisiana)
12646 Burgess Ave

Walker
,
Louisiana
70785

United States
Coordinates 30°29′21″N90°52′38″W / 30.489220°N 90.877238°W / 30.489220; -90.877238
Information
Type Public
Established1921
School district Livingston Parish Public Schools
NCES District ID2201020
CEEB code 192945
NCES School ID220102000774
PrincipalJason St. Pierre
Teaching staff120.00 (on an FTE basis) [1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment2,134 [1]  (2023-2024)
Student to teacher ratio17.78 [1]
Color(s)Green, White, & Gold
   
Mascot Wildcat
Nickname Wildcats
Website www.walkerhigh.org

Walker High School is a public high school located in Walker, Louisiana, United States. Walker High School is part of the Livingston Parish Public Schools system, and was founded in 1921 as a community school for the residents of Walker, a city located in Livingston Parish. The school is currently located off of Burgess Ave. The high school moved to its current campus in the 1970s leaving behind its old campus that is on the National Register of Historic Places. The old campus was converted to Walker Freshmen High School then again, in 2021 to Walker Junior High.

Contents

Walker High School is a public high school and has open enrollment. Walker High School offers a wide variety of educational programs for its students to pursue with many career-technical and college-preparatory courses offered.

Walker High School is a member of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association and offers a wide variety of sports and programs. Extracurricular activities are also offered in the form of performing arts, school publications, and clubs.

History

Walker High School was founded and approved by the State in 1921 although it is believed that the first graduation took place in 1917. Walker High School was an attempt to provide quality education for the children of Walker who were too poor to provide money for education and who were only able to attend school in areas that were isolated and primitive. [2]

By the late 1920s interest in public education grew in Walker and the surrounding areas, so the school district proposed the sale of bonds to finance the construction of a new school. After initially failing in April 1928, the district expanded and in August 1928 the proposal passed with 73 in favor and 65 against. Construction on the school was completed by 1930. The school was a two-story brick building with concrete trim that featured Italian Renaissance and Italian Baroque motifs. When the school opened in January 1931, it was realized that money for educational equipment was lacking, so the voters in the district passed another measure leading to an additional property tax. This consistent effort by the citizens showed their desire for a proper education system, and allowed for the older rural schools to close and the schools consolidated their students to one location. [2]

Livingston Parish Public Schools desegregated following the 1969 case Dunn v. Livingston Parish School Board. [3] The effects of desegregation were larger for Denham Springs High School because Denham Springs was the largest city in the parish. Prior to desegregating, Livingston Parish only had one school for African Americans called West Livingston. As a result, black students were bussed from all over the parish to attend school. Because there was a large Ku Klux Klan presence in Livingston Parish, there was not a large African American population outside of the City of Denham Springs. Those who did attend Walker High School following integration likely faced harsh treatment from their peers.

By 1975, the City of Walker outgrew the building that was once Walker High School and moved to its current location. The building that was once Walker High School was converted into a junior high and now serves as Walker Junior High School. It was also placed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 3, 2000. [4]

In 2023, the school received national attention when Principal Jason St. Pierre punished a 17-year-old honor student for a 15-second video of her dancing at an off-campus weekend party funded by the student body, telling the student's mother that the student was not “living in the Lord’s way." He removed her from her role as president of the student government and rescinded his college scholarship recommendations. [5] [6] [7] [8]

National Register of Historic Places

The school was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 3, 2000. [4]

Walker High School was originally a two-story brick building with concrete trim that featured Italian Renaissance and Italian Baroque motifs. The structure was designed by New Orleans architect W.R. Burk and construction was awarded to R.L. Roland & Son. Was first constructed to act as city hall. Later the holding cells of the town hall were expanded and remodeled into a small prison after the original prison ran out of housing space this adjust was only as a temporary relief function due to budget cuts in the prison system. Then the building was remodeled yet again to act as a high school. [9] [10]

Enrollment

Walker High School is a public high school with no admissions requirements. Enrollments is open to residents of Livingston Parish that make up the Walker community. Walker High School had 1228 students for the 2016–2017 school year. The demographics were 1058 (86%) White, 121 (10%) African American, 32 (3%) Hispanic, 12 (0.1%) Asian, 4 (0.3%) Two or More Races, 1 (0.1%) Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islander. [1] The school also has a 53:47 male to female ratio. [11]

Academics

Walker High School features a technical-education curriculum and a college-preparatory curriculum with the option to partake in Advanced Placement (AP) Program. Students in the technical-education curriculum are required to complete a minimum of 23 academic units that include 4 in English, 4 in mathematics, 2 in science, 2 in social science, 1.5 in physical education, .5 in health, and 9 in their technical pathway. Students in the college-preparatory curriculum are required to complete a minimum of 24 academic units that include 4 in English, 2 in foreign language, 4 in mathematics, 4 in science, 4 in social science, 3 in electives, 1.5 in physical education, .5 in health, and 1 in the arts. [12]

The technical-education pathway requires students to travel to the Livingston Parish Literacy and Technical Center in Walker, Louisiana, and is shared by all of the high schools in Livingston Parish. This Center in a separate campus from the rest of Walker High School. As of 2019, Walker High School offers 16 AP courses for students to earn college credit. Spanish and French are both offered to fulfill the foreign language requirements. Students may also enroll concurrently at Southeastern Louisiana University.

Walker High School also offers extensive Business and STEM for students to participate in. Walker High is the only high school in Livingston Parish to offer a principles of engineering and robotics courses for students to earn credit in. These courses provide students with the opportunity to learn more about careers in engineering and technology in addition with the opportunity to compete in a competition hosted by the Marine Advanced Technology Education Center. [12] [13] Walker allowed Papa John's, Neighbors Federal Credit Union, Nike Apparel, and a Walk-On's Conference Center to all open a location on the school's campus. These shops allow students to work during the school day while being exposed to culinary, finance, and business management while also obtaining high school credit. [12] [14]

For the 2017–2018 school year, Walker High School earned a B grade under the Louisiana Department of Education more rigorous grading system with a School Performance Score (SPS) of 81.9. The school has a mean ACT score of 19.5. Furthermore, the school has a 79% graduation rate and 51% of its graduates go on to enroll in college.

Athletics

Walker High athletics competes in the LHSAA.

State Championships [15]

Notable alumni

See also

Related Research Articles

Southeastern Louisiana University (Southeastern) is a public university in Hammond, Louisiana. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims as Hammond Junior College. Sims succeeded in getting the campus moved to north Hammond in 1928, when it became known as Southeastern Louisiana College. It achieved university status in 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baton Rouge Magnet High School</span> Public magnet school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States

Baton Rouge Magnet High School is a public magnet school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States, founded in 1880. It is part of the East Baton Rouge Parish School System with a student body of approximately 1500 students. The current building was built in 1926, and, as Baton Rouge High School, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The campus underwent a two-year renovation and expansion starting in 2010, resulting in the addition of two new wings to the main building. This renovation was completed and the school reopened in fall 2012. Baton Rouge High is also one of the highest-ranked schools in the state, and consistently wins state-level academic competitions. The school requires students to pass enrollment standards and exceed graduation standards. As a result, nearly all graduating students attend college.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McKinley High School (Louisiana)</span> United States historic place

McKinley Senior High School, located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States on 800 E. McKinley St., is home to the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board's first gifted and talented high school programs. The school mascot is a Panther and the school colors are royal blue and white.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orleans Parish School Board</span> Public school system in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.

The Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB), branded as NOLA Public Schools, governs the public school system that serves New Orleans, Louisiana. It includes the entirety of Orleans Parish, coterminous with the city of New Orleans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cecilia High School</span> Public high school in Cecilia, St. Martin , Louisiana, United States

Cecilia High School(CHS) is a 4A public secondary school located in Cecilia, an unincorporated community in Saint Martin Parish, Louisiana, United States.

Plaquemine High School is a public high school located at 59595 Belleview Drive in unincorporated Iberville Parish, Louisiana, United States, south of the City of Plaquemine. It serves grades from seven to twelve and is administered by the Iberville Parish School Board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruston High School</span> 4-year, public high school in Ruston, Louisiana , Louisiana, United States

Ruston High School is a four-year public high school located in the Lincoln Parish School District of Ruston, Louisiana, United States. The school has an enrollment of approximately 1300 students with 85 faculty members; the mascot is the Bearcats named "Rusty,” by a class of 2009 student, Anna Ward. The school colors are red, white, and gray. Black students were first admitted in 1970. Ruston High School also serves as a memorial to the survivors of the Gulf War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Booker T. Washington High School (Shreveport, Louisiana)</span> Public secondary school in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States

Booker T. Washington New Technology High School is a high school in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States named after the educational pioneer Booker T. Washington. Caddo Parish Public Schools operates the school.

Live Oak High School is a public high school located in Watson, Louisiana, United States. Live Oak High School is a part of the Livingston Parish School System, and was founded in 1895 as a community school for the residents of Watson, a largely rural area in Livingston Parish. In 2012, the school moved to its current location off of Louisiana Highway 16. The new location allowed the school to grow to accommodate the increase of students in the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buckeye High School (Louisiana)</span> High school in Deville, LA , United States

Buckeye High School is a high school in Deville, Louisiana in northern Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States, serving grades 6-12. The school serves the communities of Buckeye, Deville, Holloway Prairie, Big Island, Libuse, Hickory Grove, and some suburbs of Pineville. Like all schools in the Rapides Parish School District, the school has a uniform policy rather than permitting street clothes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">False River Academy</span> Private school in New Roads, Louisiana, United States

False River Academy is a nonsectarian private school located in New Roads, Louisiana, in Pointe Coupee Parish. It serves grades Pre-K through 12. The school is independent, and has its own school board. Its enrollment is drawn from Pointe Coupee and surrounding parishes. It is one of two private schools and one of three high schools in the parish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fair Park Middle School</span> United States historic place

Fair Park Middle School is a former high school located at 3222 Greenwood Road in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States. The school was originally named Fair Park High School when it opened in 1928, and it was the second high school in the city. C.E. Byrd High School had opened three years earlier in 1925. The institution was also previously named Fair Park College Preparatory High School or Fair Park College Prep Academy, and additionally had been named Fair Park Medical Careers Magnet High School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Franklin High School (New Orleans)</span> High school in New Orleans, Louisiana

Benjamin Franklin High School is a charter high school and a magnet high school in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Commonly nicknamed "Franklin" or "Ben Franklin", the school was founded in 1957 as a school for gifted children. Ben Franklin is consistently named the No. 1 school in the state of Louisiana and has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the No. 15 charter school in the nation. In 1990, it moved to its current location on the campus of the University of New Orleans (UNO) in the Lake Terrace/Lake Oaks neighborhood of Orleans Parish, near Lake Pontchartrain. The school was damaged by several feet of flood water due to Hurricane Katrina in the fall of 2005, and efforts to reopen the school were covered by nationwide news agencies. The school is part of the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB), yet it operates as a charter school and is not administered directly by the agency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silliman Institute</span> Private school in Clinton, Louisiana, United States

Silliman Institute is a private coeducational school and former segregation academy located in Clinton, Louisiana. It was founded in 1966; a previous school had operated on the site from 1852 to 1931. The school enrolls students from throughout East and West Feliciana Parish, and surrounding areas.

Metairie Park Country Day School is a private, nondenominational, co-educational college preparatory school in Metairie, Louisiana, with classes in grades Pre-Kindergarten–12. The 15-acre (6.1 ha) campus is located in the Old Metairie section of Metairie, Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denham Springs High School</span> Public school in Denham Springs, Louisiana, United States

Denham Springs High School is a public high school located in Denham Springs, Louisiana, United States. Denham Springs High School is a part of the Livingston Parish School System and was founded in 1897 as a school for the residents of Denham Springs, a city located in Livingston Parish. The school is located on Louisiana Highway 16, adjacent to Denham Springs Freshman High. The school's location makes it prone to flooding. This was the case when flooding devastated the area in 2016, and resulted in students having to travel to nearby Live Oak High School for classes.

Baker High School is an accredited public high school in Baker, Louisiana. It is a part of the City of Baker School System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Louisiana Tech University</span> United States historic place

The History of Louisiana Tech University began when the Industrial Institute and College of Louisiana was founded in Ruston, Louisiana in 1894. The institute was founded to develop an industrial economy in the state of Louisiana. Four years later, the school was renamed the Louisiana Industrial Institute when Louisiana adopted the Constitution of 1898. When the Constitution of 1921 was passed, the school changed its name again to Louisiana Polytechnic Institute to reflect the school's evolution from a trade school into a larger and broader technical institute. Although the university was informally called Louisiana Tech for about five decades after the 1921 name change, it was not until 1970 when Louisiana Polytechnic Institute officially changed its name to Louisiana Tech University. Over the course of its history, the school grew from a small industrial institute with one building to a university with five colleges and an enrollment of around 11,800 students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">L.B. Landry College and Career Preparatory High School</span> High school in New Orleans, Louisiana

L. B. Landry College and Career Preparatory High School is a charter high school on the west bank of Orleans Parish in Algiers, New Orleans, Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avoyelles High School</span> Public school in Louisiana, United States

Avoyelles High School, historically known as Moreauville High School, is a public high school in Moreauville in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Walker High School". National Center for Educational Statistics.
  2. 1 2 Johnson, Bruce (November 2007), "http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p27481/pdf/ch0910.pdf", Talking and Listening in the Age of Modernity: Essays on the history of sound, ANU Press, doi: 10.22459/tlam.11.2007.09 , ISBN   9781921313479 {{citation}}: External link in |chapter= (help)
  3. ↑ United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. Dunn v. Livingston Parish School Board. 14 Aug. 1970. Open Jurist.
  4. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  5. ↑ writer, REBECCA HOLLAND | Staff (2023-10-06). "Louisiana student's punishment for dancing video draws outrage: 'Let the girl dance'". The Advocate. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  6. ↑ Thomas, Miranda (2023-10-06). "'I don't want this to happen to someone else's child:' Mother speaks out after child faces school backlash for dancing". www.wafb.com. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  7. ↑ "Honor student loses scholarship after 'twerking' video surfaces". 2023-10-07. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  8. ↑ Marcos, Coral Murphy (2023-10-07). "Louisiana student punished by school for dancing at private party". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2023-10-08.
  9. ↑ "Walker High School" (PDF). State of Louisiana's Division of Historic Preservation. Retrieved September 3, 2018. with five photos and two maps
  10. ↑ National Register Staff (November 1999). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Walker High School". National Park Service . Retrieved September 3, 2018. With 14 photos from 1999.
  11. ↑ "Walker High School". U.S. News & World Report.
  12. 1 2 3 "Walker High School Scheduling Guide" (PDF).
  13. ↑ Dixon, Kylie. "Cool Schools: Walker High Robotics Team". WBRZ. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
  14. ↑ report, Advocate staff (20 March 2019). "Walker High School welcomes four businesses to new campus". The Advocate. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
  15. ↑ "Only the Best for Walker High School in Louisiana. Eco-Friendly Turf and Track Systems for Student Athletes in Livingston Parish" (Press release). June 1, 2015. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  16. ↑ Walker, Rod (March 10, 2018). "Class 5A final: Walker beats Landry-Walker in overtime thriller to claim first state title". The Advocate.
  17. ↑ "Results" (PDF). cdn.lhsaa.org. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-05-13. Retrieved 2018-05-10.
  18. ↑ Big plays, big potential: Walker's versatile Brian Thomas Jr. embraces multiple roles
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.