S. R. Butler High School was a four-year

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 sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

that served students in

grades Grade most commonly refers to: * Grading in education, a measurement of a student's performance by educational assessment (e.g. A, pass, etc.) * A designation for students, classes and curricula indicating the number of the year a student has reach ...

9- 12 from

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...

. The school was named after Samuel Riley Butler, a principal, school superintendent, and school founder. It opened in 1951 and closed in 2015.

History

Samuel Riley Butler (November 2, 1868 - ?) was a principal, superintendent of public schools, and school owner in

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. He was born in Poplar Ridge in Madison County and grew up in

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. He was a Democrat. He married Ida Lee Smith. Canada Butler was one of his grandfathers. He started Butler Training School in 1908 and operated it until 1914. From 1914 until 1929 this building served as the Wills-Taylor School for boys and girls. The city then bought it and made it the Huntsville Junior High School. Now it is a parking lot for the Annie Merts Center for school administration. The first Butler High School was built in 1954 and was originally intended to also serve as a

fallout shelter A fallout shelter is an enclosed space specially designated to protect occupants from radioactive debris or fallout resulting from a nuclear explosion. Many such shelters were constructed as civil defense measures during the Cold War. Durin ...

for the surrounding area in the case of a nuclear attack. Its proximity to

Redstone Arsenal Redstone Arsenal is a United States Army base adjacent to Huntsville, Alabama in the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. A census-designated place in Madison County, Alabama, United States, it is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistica ...

Army Base made the area a likely target during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. The final S.R. Butler High School was built in the late 1960s with the first graduating class in 1968. The previous Butler was renamed Stone Junior High School (years later renamed Stone Middle School) and is located at the intersection of Clinton Avenue and

Governors Drive Governors Drive is a major east–west thoroughfare in Huntsville, Alabama. It follows U.S. Route 431 (US-431) in east Huntsville and State Route 53 (SR-53) in west Huntsville. Governors Drive is one of the main entrance points to the city fro ...

, and was remodeled after a suspicious fire destroyed much of the old school. The final Butler H.S. was located on Holmes Ave. In 2015, Butler High School was closed due to a dwindling enrollment and poor ratings. Students were re-directed to Columbia, Grissom, Huntsville, Johnson and Lee High Schools. The Rock Family Worship Center currently occupies the old Butler High School building.

Academics

Butler made dramatic academic improvements during the 2013–2014 school year having had the highest student growth in reading of any Huntsville City Schools High School. Its students also outperformed several other high schools on the ACT Quality Core End of Course Exams. Butler had an increase in its graduation rate over the last three years: 2011-12- 31% 2012-13- 45% 2013-14-49%. During the 2013-14 school year Butler High School’s former principal Elizabeth Hachar was replaced by principal Sanchella Graham. Despite noted improvements in the quality of educated provided for students at S. R. Butler High School the school remained on the failing schools list for the state of Alabama.

Clubs and activities

*Academic Team *

AFJROTC Air Force Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (AFJROTC) is an elective class offered in many high schools across the United States. It is the junior division of a U.S. Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program composed of phys ...

*Art Club *Band *Dance Team *Drama Club *

Key Club Key Club International, also called Key Club, is an international service organization for high school students. Key Club International is the high school branch of the Kiwanis International family, classified as a Service Leadership Program ...

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is one of the oldest, largest, and most widely recognized cocurricular student organizations in American high schools, with 1.4 million members. The purpose of the NHS is to create enthusiasm for scholarship, to ...

*Peer Helpers *Science Club *Spanish Club *Student Government Association *Theatre *Yearbook

Athletics

*Baseball *Basketball, Varsity, JV & Freshman *Basketball, Girls *Cheerleading *Football *Golf *Soccer *Softball *Track *Volleyball *Wrestling Butler's basketball team, coached by Jack Doss, won the 2011 4A State Championship on Friday, March 4, defeating Anniston High School 44-39 at the

Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex The Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex (formerly known as Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center) is an entertainment, sports, and convention complex located in the heart of Birmingham, Alabama's Uptown Entertainment District. The Sheraton Birm ...

(BJCC). Butler won six State Championships in boys basketball, the most of all Huntsville City Schools. These championships occurred in 1966 under coach Cotton Rogers and in 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2011 under Jack Doss.

Notable alumni

* Clay Bennett (class of 1976), 2002 Pulitzer Prize winner for editorial cartooning * Tom Butler, former member of the Alabama Legislature. Served Senate District 2 from 1995 to 2010. * Sheryll D. Cashin (class of 1980), law professor at

Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...

Kenneth Darby Kenneth Darby (born December 26, 1982) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He was selected by the Tampa Bay Bu ...

, running back for several teams in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

Shawn Draper Shawn Draper (born April 5, 1979) is an American former professional football tight end and offensive lineman of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round of the 2001 NFL draft. He played college ...

, former NFL player, drafted to the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

Donald Heflin Donald L. Heflin (born 1958) is an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Cape Verde from 2015 to 2018. Early life and education Heflin was born in Leesburg, Virginia and grew up in Huntsville, attending S. R. Butler ...

(class of 1976), American diplomat and the U.S. Ambassador to Cape Verde from 2015 to 2018 *

John Hendricks John Samuel Hendricks (born March 29, 1952)"John Hendricks: An Oral History," The Cable Center, September 2, 2003. is an American businessman and the founder and former chairman of Discovery, Inc. (later Warner Bros. Discovery), a broadcasting ...

(class of 1970), founder and CEO of

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

Jimmy Key James Edward Key (born April 22, 1961) is an American former left-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Toronto Blue Jays (1984–1992), New York Yankees (1993–1996), and Baltimore Orioles (1997–1998). His best ...

(class of 1979), former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Pam Long Pamela K. Long is an American writer and executive producer. Long won several Emmys for her work on CBS soap opera ''Guiding Light'' from 1983 to 1990. She was also writer and executive producer on the NBC film ''Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Color ...

, American actress and writer. She appeared on an NBC daytime program and turned to writing after her acting career. She won two daytime Emmy Awards for best writing on the Guiding Light TV series. * Bo Matthews (class of 1970), NFL running back for

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

* Don Mincher, former Major League Baseball first baseman and President of baseball's Southern League *

Ramzee Robinson Ramzee Robinson (born February 20, 1984) is an American former professional football cornerback. He was selected by the Detroit Lions with the last pick in the 2007 NFL draft, earning the title of Mr. Irrelevant. He played college football at Al ...

, NFL cornerback, Mr. Irrelevant of 2007 NFL draft *

Adam Schreiber Adam Blayne Schreiber (; born February 20, 1962) is an American former football center and long snapper who played National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with seven different teams. Early life Schreiber attended S. R. Butler High Schoo ...

(class of 1980), former NFL center and offensive guard from 1984 through 1998

References

{{authority control High schools in Huntsville, Alabama Educational institutions established in 1908 Educational institutions disestablished in 2015 Schools in Madison County, Alabama Public high schools in Alabama 1908 establishments in Alabama 2015 disestablishments in Alabama