Paul W. Bryant High School
Encyclopedia
Paul W. Bryant High School serves grades 9
Ninth grade
Ninth grade is the ninth post-kindergarten year of school education in some school systems. The students are 13 to 15 years of age, depending on when their birthday occurs. Depending on the school district, ninth grade is usually the first year of high school....

 through 12
Twelfth grade
Twelfth grade or Senior year, or Grade Twelve, are the North American names for the final year of secondary school. In most countries students then graduate at age 17 or 18. In some countries, there is a thirteenth grade, while other countries do not have a 12th grade/year at all...

 and is located in Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...

, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, forming part of the Tuscaloosa City Schools
Tuscaloosa City Schools
Tuscaloosa City Schools is a public school district headquartered in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. The district's boundaries parallel that of the city of Tuscaloosa.There are approximately 10,000 students enrolled in Tuscaloosa City Schools....

. The school is named after former Alabama Crimson Tide football head coach Paul William "Bear" Bryant
Bear Bryant
Paul William "Bear" Bryant was an American college football player and coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach, he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships...

. The school competes as part of the Alabama High School Athletic Association
Alabama High School Athletic Association
The Alabama High School Athletic Association , based in Montgomery, is the agency which oversees interscholastic athletic programs for public schools in Alabama....

 in Region 5 of the 5A division.

History

With the 1999 lifting of the desegregation
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...

 order that resulted in the creation of Central High School
Central High School (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
Central High School is a high school in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, enrolling grades 9-12. The school enrolls approximately 700 students, and is one of three traditional high schools in the Tuscaloosa City School District along with Paul W. Bryant High School and Northridge High School...

 in 1979, the School Board began exploring the option to construct three new high schools to replace Central. By the early 2000s, Tuscaloosa City Schools announced that three new high schools would be constructed that would become Bryant, Northridge
Northridge High School (Alabama)
Northridge High School is a public high school in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States, enrolling 1078 students in grades 9–12. It is one of three high schools in the Tuscaloosa City School District. Northridge High offers technical, academic programs, as well as joint enrollment with Shelton State...

 and a new Central High School. By September 2001, the board would award construction contracts totaling $100 million to implement the Five-Year Facilities Plan. Costing $31.5 million to complete, the school would celebrate its ribbon-cutting on August 24, 2003, with U.S. Representative
Alabama's 7th congressional district
Alabama's 7th congressional district is a U.S. congressional district in Alabama, which elects a representative to the United States House of Representatives. The district encompasses the counties of Greene, Choctaw, Sumter, Marengo, Dallas, Wilcox, Perry and Hale...

 Artur Davis
Artur Davis
Artur Genestre Davis is a former member of the United States House of Representatives for , serving from 2003 to 2011 when he was succeeded by Terri Sewell, also a member of the Democratic Party....

 delivering the keynote address.

Naming

In January 2002, the Tuscaloosa City Schools School Board voted to name the school after Alabama Crimson Tide football
Alabama Crimson Tide football
|TeamName = Alabama football |Image = Alabama Crimson Tide Logo.svg |ImageSize = 110 |Helmet = Alabama Football.png |ImageSize2 = 150 |CurrentSeason = 2011 Alabama Crimson Tide football team...

 head coach
Head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...

 Paul William "Bear" Bryant
Bear Bryant
Paul William "Bear" Bryant was an American college football player and coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach, he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships...

. The name was selected after being suggested by a resident during a community meeting regarding the new school. Originally, the mascot was to be the "Bears" playing on the famous nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....

 of Paul Bryant. However, because of a court order relating to the consolidation of the Druid High School Dragons and the Tuscaloosa High School Black Bears in the 1970s that stated that no new school in Tuscaloosa may take a nickname used by any of the former segregated schools, "Bears" could not be used for the new Bryant High School. Additionally, the name "Titans"—voted on by students of schools that would feed into Bryant—was rejected because Holy Spirit High School's teams were already named the Titans. "Stampede" was ultimately chosen as the mascot for the school.
Paul W. Bryant has a program offered to junior and seniors called Co-Op that provides students with the technical and hands on experience of the work force while in school. The Program is taught by Mrs. Jenna McCombs, who is also one of the DECCA supervisors.

Varsity sports

Paul W. Bryant High School currently fields a varsity team in nine men's and eight women's sports. They are:

Men's sports
  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Cross country
  • Track and Field
  • Golf
  • Football
  • Soccer
  • Tennis
  • Wrestling
 

Women's sports
  • Basketball
  • Cross country
  • Golf
  • Soccer
  • Softball
  • Tennis
  • Track and field
  • Volleyball
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