Southwest High School (Kansas City, Missouri)
Encyclopedia
Southwest High School was a comprehensive
high school
located at 6512 Wornall Road in Kansas City
, Missouri. It was part of the Kansas City, Missouri School District
.
neighborhood, at 6512 Wornall Rd, two blocks south of Border Star Montessori. This is the only school in the Kansas City, Missouri School District that has an on-site planetarium
and science laboratories.
For 5 decades, Southwest High School had a predominantly white student body. In the mid to late 1960s few black students began attending Southwest High.
It was not until the 1970s that the black student population increased significantly at Southwest High. In 1973, Southwest had a black student population of 2%. By 1979, the black student population was approximately 60% due to busing that began during the 1975-1976 school year, and white flight due to 2 teachers strikes that took place in 1974 and 1977.
. SWECC will be based on math and science allowing students to have earned 20 to 60 hours of college credit from the University of Missouri-Kansas City before graduating.
The school opened for students in the 6th-9th grade and will stop at 12th grade.
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
located at 6512 Wornall Road in Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, Missouri. It was part of the Kansas City, Missouri School District
Kansas City, Missouri School District
Kansas City, Missouri School District, or KCMSD is a school district headquartered at 1211 McGee Street in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri.- Boundaries:The school district primarily serves residents within Kansas City....
.
Background
Southwest High School was established in 1927. After closing its doors in the 1990s, the building was reoccupied by Southwest Charter School until 2005. The school is in the BrooksideBrookside (Kansas City)
Brookside is a neighborhood located in Kansas City, Missouri around the area from 62nd Terrace to Meyer Boulevard on the North/South and Wornall Road to Main Street on the West/East. The neighborhood itself varies, but it is centered around the Brookside Shopping District...
neighborhood, at 6512 Wornall Rd, two blocks south of Border Star Montessori. This is the only school in the Kansas City, Missouri School District that has an on-site planetarium
Planetarium
A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...
and science laboratories.
For 5 decades, Southwest High School had a predominantly white student body. In the mid to late 1960s few black students began attending Southwest High.
It was not until the 1970s that the black student population increased significantly at Southwest High. In 1973, Southwest had a black student population of 2%. By 1979, the black student population was approximately 60% due to busing that began during the 1975-1976 school year, and white flight due to 2 teachers strikes that took place in 1974 and 1977.
Future
It became part of the school district again in August 2008 opening as Southwest Early College CampusSouthwest Early College Campus
Southwest Early College Campus or Southwest or SWECC is a university preparatory middle school and high school campus located at 6512 Wornall Road in Kansas City, Missouri, 64113, United States. It is part of the Kansas City, Missouri School District.-School Background:Southwest Early College...
. SWECC will be based on math and science allowing students to have earned 20 to 60 hours of college credit from the University of Missouri-Kansas City before graduating.
The school opened for students in the 6th-9th grade and will stop at 12th grade.
Alumni of Southwest High School
- Henry Bloch - co-founder of H&R BlockH&R BlockH&R Block is a tax preparation company in the United States, claiming more than 22 million customers worldwide, with offices in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. The Kansas City-based company also offers banking, personal finance and business consulting services.Founded in 1955 by brothers...
- Richard BlochRichard BlochRichard Adolf Bloch was an American entrepreneur, and philanthropist best known for starting the H&R Block tax preparation and personal finance company with his older brother Henry in 1955...
- co-founder of H&R BlockH&R BlockH&R Block is a tax preparation company in the United States, claiming more than 22 million customers worldwide, with offices in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. The Kansas City-based company also offers banking, personal finance and business consulting services.Founded in 1955 by brothers... - Richard SmalleyRichard SmalleyRichard Errett Smalley was the Gene and Norman Hackerman Professor of Chemistry and a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Rice University, in Houston, Texas...
- 1961 Nobel Prize winner - Michael Jones - pro football player
- Ruth WarrickRuth WarrickRuth Elizabeth Warrick , DM, was an American singer, actress and political activist, best known for her role as Phoebe Tyler on All My Children, which she played regularly from 1970 until her death in 2005....
- Film legend and original All My Children cast member - Evan S. ConnellEvan S. ConnellEvan Shelby Connell, Jr. is an American novelist, poet, and short story-writer. He has also published under the name Evan S. Connell, Jr. His writing has covered a variety of genres, although he has published most frequently in fiction.In 2009, Connell was nominated for the Man Booker...
- American novelist, poet, and short story-writer - Sir Robert Worcester - Top British political commentator and market research pioneer
- Berton RouechéBerton RouechéBerton Roueché was a medical writer who wrote for The New Yorker magazine for almost fifty years. He also wrote twenty books including Eleven Blue Men , The Incurable Wound , Feral , and The Medical Detectives...
- medical writer who wrote for The New Yorker magazine for almost fifty years - Robert AltmanRobert AltmanRobert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
- American film director - Calvin TrillinCalvin TrillinCalvin Marshall Trillin is an American journalist, humorist, food writer, poet, memoirist and novelist.-Biography:Trillin attended public schools in Kansas City and went on to Yale University, where he served as chairman of the Yale Daily News and was a member of Scroll and Key before graduating...
- American journalist, humorist, and novelist - Chris CooperChris Cooper (actor)Christopher W. "Chris" Cooper is an American film actor. He became well known in the late 1990s. He has appeared in supporting performances in several major Hollywood films, including The Bourne Identity, American Beauty, Capote, The Town, The Kingdom, Syriana, October Sky, Seabiscuit, and...
- American movie actor - Aaron Yates - Rapper Tech N9neTech N9neAaron Dontez Yates , better known by his stage name Tech N9ne , is an American rapper from Kansas City, Missouri. In 1999, Yates and Travis O'Guin founded the record label Strange Music. Throughout his career, Yates has sold over one million albums and has had his music featured in film,...
- Mark DuncanMark DuncanMark Duncan was a British regent of the University of Saumur.-Life:He was the son of Thomas Duncan of Maxpoffle, Roxburghshire, by Janet, daughter of Patrick Oliphant of Sowdoun in the same county, is supposed to have been born about 1570, and to have been educated partly in Scotland and partly on...
- Silver Trumpeteer