Jackson-Olin High School

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P. D. Jackson-Olin High School
Jackson-Olin HS crest.png
BCS small logo.png Birmingham City Schools
Years 1952–present
Location 1300 Avenue F Ensley, (map)
Ensley
Grades 9-12
Principal Nichole Davis-Williams
Enrollment 1,073 (2014)
Colors Kelly green & gold
Mascot Mustangs
Website bhamcityschools.org

P. D. Jackson-Olin High School, opened on September 17, 1952 as Western High School, moved to its current location in 2006 after merging with Ensley Magnet High School. It is currently the largest high school in the Birmingham Public School System, serving over 1,700 students from the Ensley area. The school is located at 1300 Avenue F Ensley adjacent to McAlpine Park near Village Creek.

Jackson-Olin's teams are called the Mustangs and the school colors are kelly green and gold.

Western High School was built to handle overcrowding at Birmingham's Parker and Ullman High Schools. The original 22-room, 2-story brick building held a library and a cafeteria.

After a $600,000 gift from the Franklin W. Olin Foundation for a vocational building, the school was named Western Olin High School in 1953. The high school was accredited by the Southern Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges in 1957.

The school was given its current name, honoring the first principal, Pierre Jackson, at his retirement in May 1973.

In Fall 2006, Jackson-Olin moved to a new $30.8 million, 300,000 square foot building and merged its student body with the former Ensley High School. The new school has a capacity of 1,800 students in 90 classrooms on 2 floors. There ise a 450 seat cafeteria, 1,800 seat gymnasium, 750 seat auditorium, a practice gym and a football stadium at the new campus. A career wing houses classrooms for auto repair, welding, and culinary arts as well as science labs. Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood were the architects for the new building, and Doster Construction was the general contractor.

Since the merger, the school has been the scene of frequent fights between the former rivals. After only a few months there had been 70 arrests and four expulsions originating at the school. In October the board contracted with Jarvis Patton to provide mediation services aimed at reducing tension. In December Superintendent Stan Mims appointed Anthony Gardner to serve as Co-Principal, with responsibility over operations. After a stint as principal at Hayes High School, Gardner returned to Jackson-Olin in 2008 and was succeeded by Janice Drake in 2011.

In 2011, Jackson-Olin became one of two locations for the city's "Academy of Health Science", under Superintendent Craig Witherspoon's plan to establish career academies in the city's high schools.

Jackson-Olin math teacher Alison Grizzle was named "Alabama Teacher of the Year" by the Alabama State Board of Education for 2013-2014.

Under the guidelines of the Alabama Accountability Act of 2015 Jackson-Olin was designated as a "failing" school by the Alabama Department of Education in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Principals

Notable alumni

References

  • Walton, Val (May 27, 2006) "School is out for aging Ensley High School." The Birmingham News
  • Hickerson, Patrick (December 7, 2006) "Co-principal assigned to Jackson-Olin High". The Birmingham News
  • Ruisi, Anne (May 23, 2012) "Birmingham's Jackson-Olin High celebrates its 60th year all weekend." The Birmingham News
  • Phillips, Ryan (February 11, 2016) "Birmingham City Schools see staggering number of failing schools." Birmingham Business Journal

External links

BCS small logo.png Birmingham High Schools
Schools

Carver High School | Jackson-Olin High School | Huffman High School | Parker High School | Ramsay High School | Wenonah High School | Woodlawn High School

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