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Southwest High School (Fort Worth, Texas)

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For schools of the same name, see Southwest High School (disambiguation).
Southwest High School
Location
Map
4100 Alta Mesa Ave., Fort Worth, TX 76133

 United States
Information
TypePublic
MottoTo provide supportive, academic, and cultural opportunities that result in creative, disciplined, and productive life-long learners.
Established1967
School districtFort Worth Independent School District
PrincipalGayla Dawson
Faculty84 (2005-06)
Grades9-12
Enrollment1,419 (2011-2012 PEIMS TEA enrollment report figures)
Color(s)Cardinal red, royal blue, and white      
MascotThe Raider
WebsiteSouthwest Homepage

Southwest High School is a public high school in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It is one of thirteen high schools in the Fort Worth Independent School District. The school has an enrollment of about 1,450 wiith a staff of about 100. Southwest is classified as a 4A school in the state of Texas.

History

Southwest High School was established in the fall of 1967 and first opened in January 1968 when the student body transferred from temporary facilities at Pascal High School. Since 1968, thousands of changes have taken place in the school, city, state, country, and world. At the time it first opened its doors Southwest was in a new neighborhood adjacent to ranch land, serving a 20-year-old neighborhood that bordered its back fence. The student population reached the 2,000 mark within a year, peaking at approximately 2,400. Today Southwest is just one of the thirteen Fort Worth ISD high schools in a city of more than 700,000 residents. Over the past decades Southwest High School has integrated, expanded, had hundreds of teachers, and thousands of students. Southwest has consistently led the district in all aspects of academic life over the past thirty-six years.

The school mascot was originally the Rebel and was later changed to the Raider. The school's colors are cardinal red, royal blue, and white.

Raider athletics

In recent years, Southwest Raider football, led by Coach Lanny Trammell, has gone undefeated in district games and advanced to playoff games. In the 2006-07 school year, the football team lost to the Stephenville Yellow Jackets in the first round of playoffs and in the 2007-08 year, the team lost to the Aledo Bearcats. The 2010 football season led to the Raiders' first playoff win in school history. The Raiders played Springtown High School in the first round and won by scoring a touchdown in the final seconds of the game 38-37.

In 2007, the Southwest Raider basketball team, coached by Scott Gray, put Southwest on the state map. The team advanced to the state championship game against South Oak Cliff High School, but lost by a score of 80-77.

The Raiders baseball team has advanced to the playoffs for the last 20 consecutive years. In 2009, varsity baseball coach Michael Thompson earned his 400th win as Southwest High's baseball coach. Coach Michael Thompson retired after the 2010 season with a winning record, the Raiders beat the Crowley Eagles outscoring them almost 50 to 5 in the series. The Raiders went on the play the Rider Raiders and forced them to the third game of the series but couldn't pull through in the end. In 2011, the Raiders brought in new coach Frankie Gasca, a Southwest alumnus of the class of 1998. The Raiders played the Birdville Hawks for the first round of state playoffs and beat them in the last inning of the game. The Raiders played the Waco Midway Panthers, the second-ranked team in the state, but dropped the first two games of the series.

Raider music

Choir

In the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years, the Southwest High School A Cappella choir earned three first divisions on stage and two first divisions and one second division in sight singing for the University Interscholastic League's concert/sightsinging contest. In the 2010-2011 school year, Southwest's A Cappella choir was the only high school choir in FWISD to receive sweepstakes awards at the UIL competition. The choir is directed by Kelly Winstead.

Orchestra

The Southwest Orchestra is currently under the direction of Don Sibley. Mr. Sibley is a bass player with a degree in Music Education and Music Performance. He also directs the Wedgwood Middle School and Wedgwood 6th Grade orchestras.

In December 2006, the orchestra suffered a severe loss. The longtime director, David Brown, died of complications suffered in a car accident. The orchestra and its current director still miss him.

Band

In recent years, the Southwest Raider band has earned numerous first divisions and awards in UIL, TMEA, and other contests across the state. Each year, many students make the district and region bands. Some advance to the area competition where they audition for state.

The Southwest Wind Ensemble placed third in the 2007 TMEA State Honor Band competition and fifth in the same contest in 2009 being the only band in class 4A to repeat finalist status in those two years. The competition was held among 4A finalists from the regions across the state of Texas. Southwest actually tied for second place but came in third after the tie-breaker rules were applied. This honor makes Southwest the first school ever in the history of the FWISD to advance to state finals in competition.

In the fall of 2009, the Southwest Raider Marching Band advanced to compete at the state level in San Antonio, Texas which is an accomplishment that no other FWISD school has ever achieved in the history of UIL. The following winter, the band set a new ISD record with 12 students advancing to state finals for individual competition.

Other organizations

  • ACE
  • African-American Culture Club
  • Anime Club
  • Asian Society
  • Cheerleading
  • Concerned Senior Girls
  • Contemporary Music Academy
  • Dance/Drill Team
  • Debate
  • French Club
  • GSA
  • Hispanic Heritage Club
  • JROTC
  • Key Club
  • Math Club
  • Media Tech
  • National Honor Society
  • Spanish Club
  • Student Council (the only student council in the Fort Worth ISD that received the Outstanding Student Council award)
  • Whiz Quiz

Notable alumni

Feeder patterns

Elementary schools

  • Bruce Shulkey
  • J.T. Stevens
  • Woodway
  • Westcreek
  • Greenbriar

Middle schools

  • Wedgwood 6th
  • Wedgwood Middle

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