Bloomington High School South

History

Bloomington High School South originated as Indiana University Seminary School, or just the State Seminary, in 1820. Indiana State Seminary was a prep school for Indiana University until University High School was built in the 1930s, which allowed it to become Bloomington High School (BHS), a general high school. It was housed, for many years, in a three-story brick building at the current site of Seminary Square Park, and was considered Bloomington's central high school by 1864. As Bloomington grew, BHS slowly evolved and began to house more students. The Gothic yearbook began in 1909 and The Optimist newspaper in 1911. Both were started at BHS and are still in publication as of 2024.

In 1965, a new high school building was built for BHS on South Walnut Street. When BHS vacated Seminary Square, the old building was turned into a middle school called Central Junior High School. On April 6, 1967, an arsonist started a fire in the school's gymnasium. Both the Bloomington Fire Department and the Ellettsville Fire Department were quick to the scene, and over 8,200,000 gallons of water were used in their attempt to extinguish the flames. Inadequate emergency water systems in the area, however, left them unable to save the building, and it collapsed several hours later. The building was subsequently razed, and the property became Seminary Square Park, named after the original Indiana Seminary.

In 1972, University High School and Unionville High School (the closest county high school outside the city of Bloomington) were closed along with Smithville High School. BHS became Bloomington High School South (BHSS), with mascot and school colors (purple and white) reminiscent of those of the former BHS.

Later, the fall of that same year, as a result of the 1968 school consolidation plan which formed the Monroe County Community School Corporation, Bloomington High School North (BHSN) was built with students from the closed University and Unionville High Schools along with some transfer students from BHSS.

The zonal boundary that determines which Bloomington high school a student will attend forms a jagged line that intersects the city. The zoning is such that one student who actually lives north of another, may in fact attend "South", while the other attends "North". This geographic divide was contentious given that the MCCSC school board decided to send the most prominent socioeconomic neighborhood (Hyde Park) to North to reduce in economic/academic inequity. The map can be obtained from the Monroe County Community School Corporation. The two schools have remained contentious rivals in most sporting events since the creation of BHSN in 1972.

Athletics

The Panthers compete in the Conference Indiana, with their main rival being the cross-town Bloomington High School North Cougars. They have won a total of 29 IHSAA Championships, tied for the 5th most in the state.

The 2009 boys basketball team finished with a 26–0 record to become one of the few team in state history to record no losses.

Extracurricular activities

Music

The Bloomington South and Bloomington North string orchestras together form the Hoosier Youth Philharmonic, which has performed nationally and internationally, including a concert at Carnegie Hall on March 14, 2012.

South's advanced classical and show choir, Sounds of South, is among the most prestigious in the state. Sounds of South has made the ISSMA mixed choir state finals 28 times, and made second eight times. Sounds of South has won first place in the ISSMA mixed choir championships twice, in 1989 and 2023. Since its founding in 1985 by its current director and conductor, Gwen Witten Upchurch, over 700 students have been in the choir. The choir performs nationally, notably in Orlando, FL; New York City, NY; Chicago, IL; and Nashville, TN.

Notable alumni

• David Shuster, journalist and talk radio host
• Rex Grossman, NFL player
• Hoagy Carmichael, singer, songwriter, and actor
• Meg Cabot, author
• Jordan Hulls, professional basketball player
• Liz Watson, attorney and politician
• Darwin Davis, professional basketball player
• Steve Kinser, former professional racecar driver
• Anthony Leal, collegiate basketball player
• Daniel Larsen, mathematician
• William T. Vollmann, novelist, journalist, war correspondent, short story writer, and essayist
• Arija Bareikis, actress

References

References

1. "Seminary Square: Historical Timelines: IU History: Indiana University Bicentennial: Indiana University".
2. (1967). "Regular Meeting of the Common Council of the City of Bloomington".
3. (2019-09-16). "A 1904 HISTORY OF BLOOMINGTON HIGH SCHOOL - Monroe County History Center".
4. "Bloomington High School South".
5. Law, John. "Ranking our top 10 rivals".
6. "Stat Championship History".
7. Neddenriep, Kyle. (March 22, 2023). "Chasing history: Ben Davis close to joining these undefeated champs in IHSAA record book". The Indianapolis Star.
8. April Toler, "MCCSC Musicians to Play at Carnegie Hall," ''The Herald-Times'' (February 24, 2012), pp. A1 and A6.
9. "Concert Organization State Finals Results".
10. Program for ''Sounds of South'''s production of ''Oklahoma!'', Indiana. Playbill, 2022.
11. "IMDB Bio – David Shuster".
12. "NFL Bio – Rex Grossman".
13. "Classic Songs – Stardust".
14. "IMDB Bio – Hoagy Carmichael".
15. "Meg Cabot's personal website".
16. "Eurobasket Bio – Jordan Hulls".
17. "Steve Kinser".
18. (2019-08-09). "2020 guard Anthony Leal commits to Indiana".
19. Wright, Lili. (August 28, 2022). "The Ups And Downs Of Daniel Larsen". [[Indianapolis Monthly]].
20. (September 16, 1976). "Merit Scholar Semifinalists". [[The Indianapolis News]].