Springfield High School
Springfield High School campus in 2009
Address
701 East Home Road Springfield , Ohio 45503 United States
Coordinates	39°56′54″N 83°47′49″W / 39.94833°N 83.79694°W / 39.94833; -83.79694
Information
Type	Public
Motto	Every Student. Every Opportunity. Every Day.
Established	1911 (original) 2008 (re-established)
Closed	1960–2008
School district	Springfield City School District
CEEB code	364794
Campus Director	Patrick Smith
Teaching staff	98.00 (FTE)[1]
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	1,739 (2017–18)[1]
Student to teacher ratio	17.74[1]
Color(s)	Gold, white, and blue
Athletics conference	Greater Western Ohio Conference
Nickname	Wildcats
Accreditation	Ohio Department of Education
Website	School website
[2][3][4]

Springfield High School (SHS) is a public comprehensive high school in Springfield, Ohio. It is administratively divided into five academies, but all classes are available to all students. The school was first established in 1911 and existed until 1960, when it was divided into two separate high schools, Springfield North and Springfield South. SHS was re-established in 2008 with the merger of North and South High Schools.

History

The school was founded in 1911, then split into two high schools (North and South) in the fall of 1960.^[5] South High kept the original Springfield High School building, located at 700 South Limestone Street near the city's downtown, which was modeled after the Library of Congress and renowned for its large white dome. South also kept Springfield High's nickname, "Wildcats," and school colors of navy and gold. North High, was nicknamed "Panthers" and used red, blue, and white as its school colors. The two high schools shared Evans Stadium, which was used by Springfield High, until North High built its own stadium on the campus of its school. In 2008, North and South merged back into "Springfield High School". A new high school building and campus was built at the location of the old North High. The new Springfield High took the "Wildcats" nickname, adopted blue, gold and white as its colors and continues to use Evans Stadium for football. It also uses the on-campus stadium North High built for other sporting events. The school district uses the old Springfield High/South High building for administrative purposes, but is no longer allowed to be used for teaching or classroom purposes per state guidelines.

In the second year of Springfield High School's reopening, a decision was made to change the names of the four small schools. Starting in the 2010–2011 school year, instead of having the four small schools Problem Based Learning, Humanities, Leadership and Global Perspectives, the fall of 2010 marked those four small school's transformation into five separate academies. These academies are meant to allow each student to join with students and staff with similar interests and needs. The five academies are called Preparatory Academy, Exploratory Academy, STEM Academy, International Arts & Communications Academy, and Health & Human Services Academy.^[6]

Athletics

Football

Springfield competes in the Greater Western Ohio Conference in the Ohio High School Athletic Association. The Wildcats have been coached by NFL veteran Maurice Douglas since 2014. In eight seasons, he has compiled a .598 winning percentage with appearances in the state semifinals in 2019 and 2020, and the state finals in 2021.^[7]

State championships

• Boys' cross country – 1938, 1940^[8]
• Boys' track and field – 1957, 1958^[8]
• Boys' basketball – 1925, 1950

Notable alumni

• Ron Burton, professional football player in the American Football League; member of the College Football Hall of Fame
• Trey DePriest, professional football player in the National Football League (NFL)
• Alice Hohlmayer, professional baseball player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
• Edythe Kirchmaier, centenarian known for being the oldest user on Facebook
• Johnny Lytle, boxer, jazz musician^{[citation needed]}
• Henry Maier, Mayor of Milwaukee from 1960 to 1988
• Jim Rhodes, Governor of Ohio
• Jonathan Winters, comedian and actor