James Oliver Johnson High School, more commonly referred to as J.O. Johnson High School or J.O.J., was a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

located in the northwest area of

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in t ...

. The school served grades 9 through 12. It was home to an International Education Magnet Program, and the school also featured a

Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

JROTC The Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC -- commonly pronounced "JAY-rotsee") is a federal program sponsored by the United States Armed Forces in high schools and also in some middle schools across the United States and at US military ...

program. It was established in 1972 and closed in 2016.

History

The school was named for former Huntsville educator James Oliver Johnson, who served as a Brigadier General in the United States Army. Johnson commanded one of the first all black combat battalion in WW II, leading to the integration and racial diversity of the US Army. Johnson led men who constructed airplane infrastructure on the ground in North Africa and Mediterranean region, for Army Air Forces including the Tuskegee Airmen. True to the legacy of its namesake, JO Johnson was the first new High School in Huntsville, Alabama built as a racially integrated high school. Black and White Students had no strife, and became the model High School throughout the state shortly after the Civil Rights era. The road leading to the campus, Cecil Fain Drive, was named after another long term educator. J.O.J. opened in 1972 at 6201 Pueblo Drive, Huntsville, Alabama, to ease the overcrowding of Lee High School and to meet the needs of an area of Huntsville that had just begun to grow in population. Its primary feeder schools were the Academy for Science and Foreign Language, Edward H. White Middle School, and Davis Hills Middle School. In August 2012, the Huntsville City Schools announced plans to build a new school, and retain the name JO Johnson. In 2013, it was announced the school would receive a new building, but retain its name in 2016. The latest statement is that the Johnson name will not transfer to the new school (unlike the 4 other high schools rebuilt over the years) The school name will close and be changed to Mae Jemison High School and for the middle school that will share the campus, Ronald McNair Junior High School. These school names are named after NASA Astronauts

Mae Jemison Mae Carol Jemison (born October 17, 1956) is an American engineer, physician, and former NASA astronaut. She became the first black woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle ''Endeavour''. Je ...

and the late

Ronald McNair Ronald Erwin McNair (October 21, 1950 – January 28, 1986) was an American NASA astronaut and physicist. He died during the launch of the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' on mission STS-51-L, in which he was serving as one of three mission spec ...

. On Thursday May 26, 2016, Johnson held its 44th and final Commencement Exercises at the Von Braun Center Arena. In 2018, an

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

-nominated documentary, ''Wrestle'', was released that follows four members – Jailen Young, Jaquan Rhodes, Jamario Rowe, and Matthew Teague Berres – of the high school wrestling team and their coach, Chris Scribner, to the state championship. Wrestle, imdv.com
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Notable alumni

Film, Theater, and Television

Law

United States Armed Forces

Athletics

Inventor

Notable faculty

Former Faculty

* Laura Hall (D – District 19), former Biology teacher, member of the

Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency contai ...

References

External links

School website
{{authority control High schools in Huntsville, Alabama Educational institutions established in 1972 Schools in Madison County, Alabama Public high schools in Alabama 1972 establishments in Alabama