Clay-Chalkville High School
| Clay-Chalkville High School | |
| |
| Established | 1996 |
|---|---|
| School type | Public |
| District | Jefferson County School System |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Principal | Eugene Dallas |
| Enrollment | 1,361 (2023) |
| Colors | Navy blue & silver |
| Mascot | Cougars |
| Location | 6623 Roe Chandler Road Clay |
| Website | jefcoed.com |
Clay-Chalkville High School (CCHS) is a four-year public high school located at 6623 Roe Chandler Road, off Deerfoot Parkway near Old Springville Road on the border of Clay and Pinson. It is the second largest of the Jefferson County Board of Education's fourteen high schools. School colors are blue and silver, and the athletic teams are called the Cougars. CCHS competes in AHSAA Class 6A athletics.
Overcrowding at Hewitt-Trussville High School in the mid 1990s led the Jefferson County School System to propose a new middle school and high school to accommodate the rapidly growing areas of northeast Jefferson County. The high school was designed by Volkert & Associates and built by the Bill Harbert Construction Co. at a cost of $15 million. The 179,000 square-foot building includes 53 classrooms, four computer labs, four science labs, a 650-seat auditorium, and a full suite of arts and athletics facilities. The 9,880 square-foot media center is a focal point for the school, overlooks an outdoor amphitheater through a curved wall of windows. The school's athletic complex includes baseball and softball fields and a football/soccer stadium with bleacher seats salvaged from the former Shades Valley High School in Homewood.
During construction, a newsletter was distributed to families living within the area zoned for the new schools, soliciting feedback on several proposed names, including "Clay", "Clay-Chalkville", and "Deerfoot" for both the new middle and high schools. "Clay-Chalkville" was chosen for both schools prior to their opening. The new Clay-Chalkville High School opened on August 14, 1996, with 72 teachers and staff, and 856 students in grades 9–11. The Class of 2001 placed a time capsule in the media center.
Clay-Chalkville High School offers Advanced Placement (AP) courses in Biology, Calculus, Chemistry, Computer Science, English Language & Composition, English Literature & Composition, Psychology, and United States History. In addition to its general and college preparatory curriculum, Clay-Chalkville offers "career academies" to train students in the fields of advertising design, building construction, business marketing, computer science, health sciences, hospitality and tourism, and television production. As part of the county's "Eastern Zone", students are also able to enroll in any of six "signature academies" with specialized training in automotive technology, biomedical science, broadcast journalism, culinary arts, and art and professional design, as well as in leadership training offered through the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) program. Through dual-enrollment at Jefferson State Community College, students are able to complete some college credits before graduation.
In April 2024 the Jefferson County Board of Education announced plans to construct a new football complex for the high school, and then to construct a new school building on the site of the former stadium, to open in 2027. The design for the school included a storm shelter. The project was financed by a $200 million bond issue.
Principals
- Michael Lee
- Eugene Dallas, 2023
Enrollment
- 1996: 856
- 2013: 1,333
- 2020: 1,259
- 2022: 1,361
- 2024: 1,400
Athletics
The Clay-Chalkville Cougars compete in Class 6A, Region 7 of the Alabama High School Athletic Association. The school has won five state championships:
- baseball (2003)
- football (1999, 2014, 2021, 2023)
Toney Pugh was Clay-Chalkville's first football coach. He was succeeded in 1998 by Hal Riddle. Later head coaches have included Jerry Hood, Drew Gilmer and Stuart Floyd.
The Cougars football team's alleged use of an ineligible player during the 2011 season prompted the AHSAA to forfeit 9 of the team's victories and remove them from the playoffs that year.
Notable graduates
- Nico Collins, NFL football player
- A. J. Davis, NFL football player
- Quinton Dial, NFL football player
- YBN Nahmir, rapper
- Hayden Moore, CFL football player
- Micah Morgan, long-distance runner
- Courtney Porter, Miss Alabama
- Darrin Reaves, NFL football player
References
- Sanders, Johnny (January 25, 2024) "Hometown boy, Stuart Floyd, Hired as Clay-Chalkville Football Coach." Trussville Tribune
- "Clay-Chalkville High School (March 29, 2024) Wikipedia - accessed April 11, 2024
- Schrimscher, Terry (April 9, 2024) "Clay-Chalkville to build new high school on current campus." Trussville Tribune
External links
- Clay-Chalkville High School at jefcoed.com
- Clay-Chalkville High School football history from AHSFHS.org website