Muncie Southside High School

Muncie Southside High School
Location
1601 E 26th Street Muncie, Indiana 47302
Coordinates	40°09′46″N 85°22′9″W / 40.16278°N 85.36917°W / 40.16278; -85.36917Coordinates: 40°09′46″N 85°22′9″W / 40.16278°N 85.36917°W / 40.16278; -85.36917
Information
Type	public high school
Established	September 6, 1962
School district	Muncie Community School Corp
Principal	Rebecca M. Thompson
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	1,075
Color(s)	Red and White
Mascot	Rebel
Nicknames	"Rebels", SHS, "Home of the Rebels"
Website	http://muncie.k12.in.us

Muncie Southside High School (SHS) in Muncie, Indiana, is a public high school which had an enrollment of 1,075 during the 2007/2008 school year. The school is part of the Muncie Community Schools Corp. It opened on September 6, 1962. The current location of Muncie Southside High School is 1601 E 26th Street.

History

On September 6, 1962, 706 sophomores, 369 juniors, and 165 seniors scurried through the doors of Muncie Southside High School. As they sauntered the wide, untrodden corridors, they observed decorative mosaic tile designs and glass-paneled stairwells. But what impressed them the most were the bright, clean colors.

Bright colors would likely impress these pupils, for 534 of them had previously attended the old Central High School building in downtown Muncie. But they were now the inaugural students of Muncie’s new high school.

Southside’s opening in 1962 created the first new high school in Muncie since 1915. (The only exception is Burris, which then served fewer than 300 students in grades 10-12.) But Southside was not the only new school in town. Kuhner Junior High (now the Muncie Area Career Center) and Northview Elementary also opened in 1962.

Muncie’s population growth in the 1950s had overcrowded Central, which had become one of Indiana’s largest senior high schools. Central had also become hemmed in by the downtown business section.

In addition, a fire at Garfield Elementary in December 1947 prompted school officials to examine the condition of the existing educational facilities in Muncie. A survey group from Ohio State University was commissioned to study the Muncie community, analyze curriculum, and predict population trends. The group recommended the construction of a new high school on Muncie’s south side.

Because of Muncie Central’s tradition in the community, the construction of one new large high school for all Muncie students was considered. However, it was decided that an additional high school was preferable.

Planning for Southside began in 1957 when the Muncie School Board purchased 40 acres (160,000 m²) of land at the intersection of East Twenty-sixth Street and Macedonia Avenue. Actual construction of the school started in August 1960. Louis Kingscott and Associates, an Indianapolis architectural firm, designed the building. The initial structure was 176,000 square feet (16,400 m²) and cost $2,505,000. Teaching supplies, ground development, and furniture brought that figure to $4,000,000.

Ralph Dennis, then president of the Muncie School Board, laid the first mortar at the cornerstone ceremony April 25, 1960, Sealed in plastic and put into a copper box and placed into the cornerstone were a Bible; an American flag; two issues of Our Muncie Schools (Volume 1, Number 1 and Volume IX, Number 4); the current issues of the Muncie Star and the Muncie Press; the Muncie Community Schools’ Persoimel Directory; and the Time magazine article “Space Story.”

Rev. C.A. McCallister of St. Paul’s Methodist Church gave the invocation and benediction at the cornerstone ceremony, and a Central High School choral group sang.

Construction was completed for school to begin in September 1962, and the building dedication ceremony was January 27, 1963. Participating in the ceremony were N. Durward Cory, superintendent of Muncie Schools; Claude B. Williams, Southside principal; the School Board; and the architects.

Special features of the original building included science labs, an electronic language lab, and a large cafeteria with a stage at one end. A separate wing for industrial arts and a home economics living center with folding doors and a lecture room were among other features.

However, the most prominent facets of the building were the library and the gymnasium. The library was designed to house 10,000 books, and it had six adjoining rooms for conference areas, magazine storage, and teacher preparation. Besides being spacious, the library was attractive with its mahogany paneling and maple furniture.

The multi-purpose gym was built with folding dividers so that three physical education classes could meet simultaneously. In addition, the architects designed the gym with a full-sized basketball court, bleacher seating for athletic events, and a stage at one end.

Architecturally, the two-story building with an elevator was notable for its size, color scheme, and symmetry. Unique to the building were five mosaic tile murals on the east wall opposite the cafeteria. The murals, designed by Steve Lowery and Jim Weber, depict a student as he goes through the school day. Lowery and Weber were among Central High School seniors who submitted ideas for the murals in Mr. Paul Carmichael’s 1961 art classes.

Made up of one-inch square mosaic tiles, each mural is six feet tall and twelve feet wide. Each mural is separated by two-foot columns of tan brick. The first mural portrays athletics, followed by one representing music, art, and drama. The middle panel pictures academics. The next combines the academic and vocational areas, while the last depicts industrial arts.

In 2004 some of the characters in the original tiles were glazed to better portray the diversity of Southside’s student population. Associate principal Dale Basham plaimed the project, along with retired art teacher Bob Hartley. Muncie Black Expo financed the project.

Although a swimming pool and auditorium were in the original plans for the building, construction of those areas was delayed until 1970. They were dedicated, along with a new student recreation room and cafeteria aimex on February 28, 1971.

Since that time, other improvements have been made. The Lowell Barnet football stadium and the all-weather track were added in 1972, and a greenhouse in 1975. in 1981 the varsity baseball diamond was renovated, and four tennis courts were built. A softball field was constructed on the southeast corner of the school property in 1999, and a soccer field will be ready by the fall of 2006.

Air conditioning was added to the building in 1988. A math wing was added on the southwest corner of the building in 1994 to contain five additional classrooms, and the courtyard was enclosed and converted into extra cafeteria space. New locker rooms were added to the swimming pool area this same year. Thus, the school has grown to 236,199 square feet (21,943.6 m²) since 1962.

Of course, as the building proper became a reality, personnel were needed. Originally, Southside had 1,240 students and 56 faculty members. Only eight principals have sewed during South’s 45-year history: Claude Williams (1963-68); C.J. Smith (1968-69); JoIm Walker (1969- 70); Harold R. Huff(1970-73); James Hedge (1973-86); Tim Heller (1986-88); John Robbins (1988-2004); and Rebecca Thompson (2004-present).

Not until the 1971-72 school year did South become a four-year high school. Only grades 10-12 had attended before that.

Southside’s first graduating class, the Class of ‘63, had 146 members. This class was small because juniors and seniors, who had previously attended Central High School, could choose whether or not to attend the city’s new school. The first graduates to have attended Southside for all three years was the 1965 class, which had 549 graduates.

Before that first school year ended in 1963, Southside had been nicknamed the Rebels. The name evolved naturally, an outgrowth of the school’s location and name. Students also voted to adopt red and white as the school’s colors; the second choice had been blue and gray.

Adhering to the southern motif, students voted to name the school newspaper the Sentinel, the yearbook the Southerner, and the top choral group the Southernaires. llnti.l 1970 the school elected a Miss Southern Belle yearly instead of the present-day Homecoming Queen.

Graduation requirements have changed since those classes of the 1 960s. Originally, students were required to earn 32 credits; now 44 credits are required. Students can opt to earn a General, Core 40, or Academic Honors Diploma. (The Academic Honors Diploma requires 47 credits.)

Two innovative curriculum changes occurred in 1972. WWHI, an on-the-air radio station manned by students, moved from Wilson Junior High School to Southside. South’s WWHI was the third educational frequency in the state to be licensed by the Federal Communications Commission. To train students for on-air broadcasts, mass media classes were added to South’s curricula in 1972. Those classes still exist, but the radio station was closed down in 2002.

The Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Program was also added to the curriculum in 1972. South’s MCJROTC program has received numerous regional and national awards.

Special education classes were added in 1972. Southside’s special education classes are part of a consortium which serves special education students from Delaware, Blackford, Randolph, and Jay Counties.

Athletically, twenty varsity sports, ten for boys and ten for girls, are now offered at South, increased from eight when the school opened. Southside athletes have earned three state championships, two in wrestling and one in basketball. Wrestlers achieved state titles in 1975 and 1990, while boys’ basketball players earned the Class 3A title in 2001. The 1999 team was the Class 3A runner-up. Southside is now classified as a 4A school.

In addition, The Spirit of South Band and Guard are no strangers to state championships. They earned state titles in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2008 also achieving state runner-up honors in 2001, 2005, 2007, and 2009 and 3rd place finishes in 1999 and 2011 under the direction of 1993 Southside graduate Chuck Reynolds. The Winter Color Guard attained a state title in 2005 under the direction of Rhonda (Reffitt) Reynolds, also a 1993 SHS graduate.

As of spring 2006 a $25,000,000 renovation to the entire school building is underway. Features of the renovation, designed by Indianapolis-based Fanning-Howey Architects, include updated science and art classrooms as well as new industrial technology areas. Also, drama classes will have a specially designed classroom with a small stage and special lighting. The MCJROTC will gain its own unique classroom areas, and the music classes will gain practice rooms. Administrative offices will be re-designed, as will the cafeteria and kitchen.

When the renovation is finished, students will have a commons area(complete as of 2008). Classrooms will be carpeted and equipped with phones. The heating and cooling systems, roof, and windows will be over-hauled and updated, and the school’s technology capabilities will be upgraded. New security features will also be added. Even the outside of the school will sport a new look when an entry canopy is added.(canopy completed end of 08)

The renovation has currently begun on the east end of Southside, where an auxiliary building is being constructed to house displaced classes. After the projected completion date of Fall of 2008, this auxiliary building will house a basketball court, wrestling room, weightlifting classes, coaches’ offices, restrooms, and storage areas.

Today, 1,101 students and some 80 teachers file through the SHS doors daily. The corridors are no longer untrodden, and the colors are not as bright as they were forty-five years ago. But today’s students possess something that South’s first students did not ---- a history.

References