Woodrow Wilson High School (Tacoma, Washington)

Last updated
Silas High School
Address
Woodrow Wilson High School (Tacoma, Washington)
1202 N. Orchard St.

,
98406

United States
Coordinates 47°15′41″N122°30′26″W / 47.26139°N 122.50722°W / 47.26139; -122.50722 Coordinates: 47°15′41″N122°30′26″W / 47.26139°N 122.50722°W / 47.26139; -122.50722
Information
Type Public High School Secondary education
Motto"Developing Confident,
Contributing Citizens"
Established1958
School district Tacoma Public Schools
NCES School ID 530870001513 [1]
PrincipalBernadette Ray
Teaching staff58.50 (FTE) [1]
Grades9–12
Enrollment1,273 (2019–2020) [1]
Student to teacher ratio21.76 [1]
Color(s) Red, White, & Blue
   
Mascot Rams
Nickname RedSilas
YearbookNOVA
Website wilsonrams.org

Silas High School is a four-year public secondary school in Tacoma, Washington. It is one of five traditional high schools in the Tacoma Public Schools and is located at the intersection of Orchard Street and 11th Street. Silas' current principal is Bernadette Ray; assistant principals are Alli Bennett, Rindi Hartman, and Karl Hoseth. The school was formerly named Woodrow Wilson from its founding in 1958 until July 2021.

Contents

HillTop artists

Dale Chihuly, a glass artist who graduated from Wilson, established HillTop Artists, a glass working program at Silas. For a $20 fee, students can blow glass, make glass beads, and participate in kiln work. This program is run by glass artists who trained with Chihuly at the Pilchuck Glass School.

Daffodil Festival

Every year, Silas participates in the Pierce County Daffodil Festival. A competition is held in house to select the Silas Princess. The Princess must have at least a 3.5 GPA and must be a senior. She will go on to compete against other regional schools for the Daffodil Festival Queen title. The Queen title is considered the highest honor of the regional festival. In April, the Silas band accompanies the Princesses on a float in the annual parade.

Name change

The Tacoma Public Schools Board of Directors approved a name change from Woodrow Wilson High School on February 11, 2021; this was prompted after letters from alumni illuminated the racist history of the school's original namesake, Woodrow Wilson, who was a known sympathizer of the KKK and supporter of the Confederacy.

A survey about the name change was sent with around 3,900 respondents, with 43% of responses voting to change the name of the school and 57% to keep the name.

Respondents in favor of the name change were split over naming the school after a person of color, removing the first name Woodrow (but keeping Wilson), or renaming the school after a geographical location.

Ultimately, the school was renamed after Dr. Delores Silas, the first Black woman to serve as an administrator for Tacoma Public Schools (as principal of DeLong Elementary), President of the Tacoma NAACP (elected in 1978), and also the first Black woman to serve on the Tacoma City Council (elected in 1991).

The new name became effective July 1, 2021.

Sports

Silas participates in Cross Country, Girls' Soccer, Football, Girls' Swimming, Boys' Tennis, Girls Volleyball, Boys' Water Polo, Boys' Basketball Girls' Basketball, Boys' Swimming, Girls' Bowling, Wrestling, Project Unify, Boys' Baseball, Girls' Fast pitch, Boys' Soccer, Girls' Tennis, Golf, Girls' Water Polo, and Track. The Silas Boys Swimming and Diving team has won 29 State titles, with 24 consecutive titles between 1960–1983. The Boys Water Polo Team has won 4 state Titles. The Girls Bowling team have won 3 State Titles. The Boys Track And Field Team has won 6 State Titles. The Baseball team has won 1 State title in 1977. The Boys Golf Team has won 2 State titles.

Notable alumni

Related Research Articles

Dale Chihuly American glass sculptor and entrepreneur

Dale Chihuly is an American glass artist and entrepreneur. He is perhaps best known in the field of blown glass, "moving it into the realm of large-scale sculpture".

Marcus Trufant

Marcus Lavon Trufant is a former American football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons. He played college football for Washington State University, and was chosen by the Seattle Seahawks 11th overall in the 2003 NFL Draft.

Henry Foss High School is an American high school in Tacoma, Washington. Named after civic leader and tugboat tycoon Henry Foss, the school first opened in 1973. Foss was the first high school in Washington state to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. It now has the longest-running IB Diploma Program west of the Mississippi in the USA. It is currently a part of the Tacoma Public Schools.

Woodrow Wilson Classical High School Public school in Long Beach, California, United States

Woodrow Wilson High School is an American public high school located in Long Beach, California. This two-block campus is located approximately 1.5 miles from the Pacific Ocean, across from the Recreation Park, and approximately 3 miles from Orange County.

Ames High School Public secondary school in Ames, Iowa, United States

Ames High School is the sole public high school in Ames, Iowa, United States. It is in the Ames Community School District.

Von Steuben Metropolitan High School Public secondary magnet school in Chicago, Illinois, United States

Von Steuben Metropolitan High School is a public 4–year magnet high school located on the border of the North Park and Albany Park neighborhoods on the north side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1930, Von Steuben is operated by the Chicago Public Schools district and is named for military officer Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben.

Lakes High School Public school

Lakes High School is located in Lakewood, Washington. It serves students from 9th grade to 12th grade. It is one of the two major high schools in the Clover Park School District.

DeSoto High School is a comprehensive public high school in DeSoto, Texas, United States. It is part of the DeSoto Independent School District and is classified as a 6A school by the UIL. In 2015, the school was rated "Met Standard" by the Texas Education Agency.

Wilson High School is a public high school located in West Lawn, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the only high school in the Wilson School District.

Fife High School is located in Fife, Washington. FHS is the only high school in the Fife Public Schools system.

Laguna Beach High School is a 4-year public high school located in Laguna Beach, California. It is the only high school in the Laguna Beach Unified School District. It was established in 1934 and is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

The Daffodil Festival

The Daffodil Festival is a regional festival and royalty leadership program. The Grand Floral Parade is held in Pierce County, Washington every April. It consists of a flower parade and a year-long royalty program to select a festival queen from one of the 23 area high schools. Each year, the Royal Court spend thousands of hours promoting education, community pride and volunteerism in the county. In 2012, the Royal Court was named the "Official Ambassadors of Pierce County" by the County Executive and the Pierce County Council.

Woodrow Wilson High School is a four-year public high school in the City of Camden, in Camden County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as part of the Camden City School District. In June 2020, it was announced that the school would be renamed.

Junípero Serra High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Gardena, California, a suburban city located 14 miles southwest from downtown Los Angeles. Honored as a State School of the Year, Serra is operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Plymouth South High School, also known as Plymouth South, or PSHS, is a public high school located in Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. Its students are residents of the town of Plymouth. Plymouth South is one of two high schools in Plymouth, the other being Plymouth North High School. Plymouth South is located near the Long Pond neighborhood of Plymouth, west of Route 3 and The Pinehills development, and also adjacent to nearby Myles Standish State Forest, which is the biggest publicly owned recreation area in the South Shore region of Massachusetts, and also one of the biggest in the state. The school colors are Black, Teal and White and the school's teams are the Panthers.

Mehlville High School is a public comprehensive high school in Mehlville, St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. It is part of the Mehlville School District.

Kaye Marie Hall, later known by her married name Kaye Greff, is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events.

Holt High School (Michigan) Public high school in Holt, Michigan, United States

Holt High School is a public secondary school in Holt, Michigan, United States. It serves grades 9–12 for the Holt Public Schools.

Desmond Trufant American football player

Desmond Trufant is an American football cornerback for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Washington.

Leslie Jackson Chihuly

Leslie Jackson Chihuly is an American arts executive and philanthropist. She is the president and chief executive officer of Chihuly, Inc., which includes Chihuly Studio and Chihuly Workshop, both of which feature the artistic work and vision of her husband, Dale Chihuly. In 2018, she was elected as chair emerita of the Seattle Symphony Board after serving nine years as board chair and implementing a number of revitalizing changes. Those included filling the roles of CEO and music director with fresh talent, and taking the organization from financial challenge and organizational strife in 2009 to the stage of Carnegie Hall in 2014. Under her leadership, the symphony won three Grammy Awards and the Gramophone “Orchestra of the Year Award” in 2018. Leslie Chihuly serves on the boards of the Seattle Symphony, Vassar College and the Pilchuck Glass School.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Search for Public Schools - Wilson (530870001513)". National Center for Education Statistics . Institute of Education Sciences . Retrieved 16 November 2021.