Leon High School is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the populatio ...

, United States. It is the oldest public high school in the state, and is a part of the

Leon County Schools Leon County Schools (LCS) is a school district headquartered in the LCS Admin Complex in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is the sole school district of Leon County. History Prior to November 2004 the school district allowed parents to ...

System.

History

Leon High School is one of the oldest high schools in the country. It was founded 14 years before Florida became a state. It was founded as Leon Academies in 1831 in Tallahassee, Leon County, and helped shape education in the capital city. In 1903 it became the Leon County Graded and High School, which was originally set as the first public high school in Florida, on the corner of Duval,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

and Bronough Streets. In 1911, a need for more room for the growing student population led to the construction of a second Leon High School where the LeRoy Collins Public Library now stands. The current building at 550 East Tennessee Street was built in controversy. Built by the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

(WPA) for $500,000, citizens thought the school was too expensive, too far out of town and much too big with its three stories. The architect was

M. Leo Elliott M. Leo Elliott (April 4, 1886 – August 1967) was an architect known for his work in Tampa, Temple Terrace and Sarasota, Florida.

, designer of many public buildings of merit, including the Old Jail on East Gaines Street in Tallahassee. The builder was Thomas Monk, who built dozens of high schools and commercial buildings around Florida, including the Monk Building in downtown Bradenton, renovated in 2000. In Tallahassee, Monk also built the Mayo Building in the Capital area, and a house in Los Robles for his daughter and son-in-law. Until school integration and the closure of Leon County's black high school,

Old Lincoln High School Lincoln High School (also known as Lincoln Academy) was a high school located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is commonly referred to as "Historic Lincoln High School" or "Old Lincoln". There is no connection with Leon County's curre ...

, in 1967, Leon High School was for whites only. The Florida Constitution of 1885 mandated school segregation. In 1954, the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

decided the case of

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...

, which was not implemented in Leon County, Florida, until 1969. Effective January 7, 1969, the Florida Constitution of 1885 was superseded by a new Florida Constitution, which does not contain any requirement for racial segregation. In 2019 the enrollment at Leon High was 33% black.

Athletics

Leon High School's mascot is the Lion, and their colors are red and white. They were one of the 29 original member schools of the FHSAA. They have been a member of the Association since it formed in 1920. Leon has teams in the following

FHSAA The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) is an organization whose purpose is to organize sports competition for high schools in Florida. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Florida uses ...

sports: *Basketball (boys and girls) *Baseball (boys) **State champions - 1940, 1944, 1951, 1998 *Competitive cheer (girls) - 2016 2A State Runner-up; 2017 Regional Champion, 2017 Nationals- 7th place *Cross Country (boys and girls) **Boys state champions - 1969, 2007, 2008, 2009 **Girls state champions - 1977, 1978, 1986, 1987, 1988 *Flag football (girls) *Football (boys) **State champions - 1969, 1974 *Golf (boys and girls) *Lacrosse (boys) *Soccer (boys and girls) **Boys state champions - 1988 *Softball (girls) *Swimming and diving (boys and girls) *Track and field (boys and girls) *Tennis (boys and girls) *Volleyball (girls) **State champions - 2011 **State champions - 2019 *Weightlifting (boys and girls)

Notable alumni

* Loranne Ausley, State Representative (Class of 1981) * John Brau, USMA Graduate, Colonel, US Army (Class of 1982) * Ricky Carmichael, motocross national champion; three-time X-Games gold medalist *

LeRoy Collins Thomas LeRoy Collins (March 10, 1909 – March 12, 1991) was an American politician who served as the 33rd Governor of Florida. Collins began his governorship after winning a special election in 1954, was elected to a four-year term in 1956 ...

Governor of Florida A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

(Class of 1927) * Mary Call Darby Collins, Florida's First Lady *

Brad Culpepper John Broward "Brad" Culpepper (born May 8, 1969) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons during the 1990s and early 2000s. Culpepper was as an All-Ame ...

, Tampa Bay Buccaneer; competitor on ''Survivor'' (Class of 1987) * Maddy Curley, actress (Class of 2000) *

Tommy Curtis Thomas Lewis Curtis (January 8, 1952August 3, 2021) was an American college basketball player for the UCLA Bruins. He played on two undefeated national championship teams at UCLA. He did not lose a game in college until his final season, help ...

, 1969 Florida Prep/High School Basketball Player of the Year (Class of 1969) *

Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of many accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and a BAFTA Award. In 2011, the government of France mad ...

, actress (Class of 1958) * Gwen Graham, member of U.S. House of Representatives, Florida's 2nd district (Class of 1980) *

Tony Hale Anthony Russell Hale (born September 30, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his role in the Fox comedy series '' Arrested Development'' as Buster Bluth. Hale played Gary Walsh on the HBO comedy ''Veep'' from 2012 until ...

, actor (Class of 1988) *

Cheryl Hines Cheryl Ruth Hines (born September 21, 1965) is an American actress and director, best known for playing the role of Larry David's wife, Cheryl, on HBO's ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', for which she has been nominated for two Emmy Awards. She also s ...

, actress (Class of 1983) * Doug Jennings,

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player ( Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs) (Class of 1982) * Allison Miller, actress * Fondren Mitchell, American football player * Aaron "Quick" Nelson, actor, '' Out to Kill'' * Michel Oksenberg, China scholar, member of National Security Council (Class of 1956) *

Tony Robinson Sir Anthony Robinson (born 15 August 1946) is an English actor, author, broadcaster, comedian, presenter, and political activist. He played Baldrick in the BBC television series ''Blackadder'' and has presented several historical documentarie ...

, NFL quarterback (Class of 1982) * Wyatt Sexton, Florida State University quarterback (Class of 2002) * Jeff Shaara, ''New York Times'' bestselling author (Class of 1970) *

Sonny Shroyer Otis Burt "Sonny" Shroyer Jr. (born August 28, 1935) is an American actor and singer who has appeared in various television and movie roles. He is known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Enos Strate in the television series ''The Dukes of Hazzard''. ...

, actor * E. Lee Spence, underwater archaeologist (Class of 1966) * George Tabb, punk rock guitarist and songwriter, author, television host *

Tamarick Vanover Tamarick Vanover (born February 25, 1974) is a former professional American football wide receiver. He played for the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Las Vegas Posse of the Canadian F ...

, football player ( Florida State Seminoles, NFL) * Bert Yancey, professional golfer (Class of 1956) * Carrie Englert Zimmerman, 1976 United States Gymnastics Champion in floor exercise and balance beam, member of 1976 U.S. Olympic team

References

External links

Leon High School
* {{authority control Schools in Tallahassee, Florida Educational institutions established in 1831 High schools in Leon County, Florida National Register of Historic Places in Tallahassee, Florida Works Progress Administration in Florida Public high schools in Florida 1831 establishments in Florida Territory