Hoover High School

Hoover High School
Established	1994
School type	Public
District	Hoover City Schools
Grades	10-12
Principal	Jennifer Hogan
Enrollment	2,902 (2017)
Colors	Black and orange
Mascot	Buccaneers
Location	1000 Buccaneer Drive Hoover
Website	hoovercityschools.net

Hoover High School serves grades 10-12 and is one of two public high school in Hoover City Schools. The high school was built as a replacement for W. A. Berry High School and originally the school served grades 9-12. In 2007 a separate school, called the Hoover High School Freshman Campus, was opened for 9th graders.

The current principal is Jennifer Hogan. Hoover High School is currently one of the two International Baccalaureate schools in the Greater Birmingham Area. It has an enrollment of 2,770 students.

Outside of Alabama, Hoover High School is best known as the school featured in the MTV show Two-A-Days.

Programs

Academics

Hoover High was home to ten National Merit Semi-Finalists in 2006, one of which made a perfect score on the PSAT. In addition to its International Baccalaureate program and strong pre-college curriculum, Hoover High features three specialized academies in engineering, law and finance. The academies offer a specialized set of electives to complement the precollege curriculum and to prepare students for collegiate work in the selected fields.

Theatre

Hoover High School's drama program was started by Sandra L. Taylor, who retired in 2005. The school's on-campus theater is named in her honor. The program is now headed by Nancy Malone. Hoover competes annually at Alabama's Walter J. Trumbauer Drama Festival. In 2006 the one-act play "World Without Memory", directed by Chris Strickland, was named the runner-up in state competition and was given a special invitation to the International Thespian Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Music

Hoover High boasts one of the largest and finest music programs in the Southeast. Both the choral program and the band program score consistent "Superior" ratings at county, state, regional and national competitions.

Members of the Hoover High Band place high in the Alabama Allstate Band rankings every year. The Hoover High band program is recognized by the American Bandmasters Association as one of the finest in the United States.

Athletics

Hoover High School plays in the Class 6A of the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA), and are known as the Buccaneers or more commonly, the Bucs. Hoover, the second-largest school in Alabama (by student population) and largest by square footage, has won over 41 state championships in 19 sports in the last 10 years. Overall, Hoover has made an appearance in 21 state championship playoffs.

In football, it has been nationally ranked by USA Today and has won the state championship in five of the last eight years, including four in a row from 2002-2005, under the direction of head coach Rush Propst. Before the start of the 2006 season, Hoover was ranked #1 in the nation by USA Today and Sports Illustrated, a ranking it maintained until being defeated 28-14 by #6 ranked John Curtis Christian High School of River Ridge, Louisiana on ESPNU High School Showcase September 29. The team had won four consecutive state championships before losing to Prattville High School in the 2006 championship game.

The 2005 football team is featured on the MTV show Two-A-Days. Season two for the Two-A-Days show, showcasing the 2006 football team, was recently filmed at the school and began its run in late January 2007.

2007 athletics controversy

In June 2007, Hoover athletics director Jerry Browning resigned after raising concerns of preferential treatment. Principal Richard Bishop investigated, but reported they were unfounded. The school board hired attorney and retired federal judge Sam Pointer Jr to do an independent investigation shortly thereafter. His initial report led to further investigations into Bishop's hiring.

On July 25, 2007, the Hoover school board voted not to renew principal Richard Bishop's contract after one year. Bishop sued for breach of contract, seeking to be reinstated and damages. Bishop's suit was unsuccessful, with Judge William Noble finding that his termination was lawful and that, despite some ambiguous wording in the contract, Bishop understood it was initially for a one-year period. Bishop filed an appeal with the Alabama Supreme Court, but later dropped it.

Pointer's report was completed in September and made public in October. As a result, head football coach Rush Propst resigned on October 30, 2007, although he remained in charge of the football program until the Bucs finished the season and continues in an administrative position until August 31, 2008.

Principals

• Connie Williams, 1994-1998
• Gene Godwin, 1998-2004
• Kathey Long (interim), 2005
• Sandra Spivey, 2005-2006
• Richard Bishop, 2006-2007
• Ken Jarnagin (interim), 2007-2008
• Don Hulin, 2008-2018
• John Montgomery, 2019-2023
• Jennifer Hogan, 2023-

Notable alumni

• Murry Bartow, basketball coach
• Ebonee Benson, 2005 Miss Black Alabama USA
• Haleigh Blackwell, 2006 Miss Alabama USA
• Jeff Brantley, baseball pitcher and analyst
• Josh Chapman, football player
• Ricky Dillon, YouTube personality
• Jennifer & Shelly Freeman, "Dubba Dubba Twins"
• Taylor Hicks, 2006 American Idol winner
• Marlon Humphrey, football player
• Chad Jackson, football player
• Ryan Kinder, singer-songwriter
• Briana Kinsey, 2017 "Miss District of Columbia" winner
• Mike Kolen, football player
• Steve Lowery, golfer
• Vasthy Mompoint, 1998, Broadway performer
• Hoda Muthana, expatriate member of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS)
• Greg Paiml, baseball player
• Will Pearson, founder of Mental Floss magazine
• Cory Reamer, football player
• Sidney Spencer, basketball player
• Omari Thomas, jazz trumpeter, faculty member at the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame
• Stan White, football player
• Heather Whitestone, 1995 "Miss America"
• John Parker Wilson, football player and quarterback at the University of Alabama
• Ross Wilson, Alex Binder, Dwarn "Repete" Smith, Kristin Boyle, Mark McCarty, Charlie Zorn, Brandon and Byron Clear, Michael DeJohn, Kristen Padalino, Brittany Benton and Max Lerner, featured on MTV's Two-A-Days.

References

• Hoover High School (Alabama). (June 28, 2007). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:25, July 5, 2007 [1]

External links

• Hoover High School Homepage
• W.A.Berry/Hoover High School football history from ahsfhs.org website
• The Engineering Academy at Hoover High School