John L. McClellan High School was a

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 ...

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

. McClellan served students in grades nine through twelve and was part of the

Little Rock School District The Little Rock School District is a school district in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. It is one of four public school districts in Pulaski County and encompasses of land nearly coterminous with the state's capital and largest city. In ...

from 1987 to 2020 and part of the

Pulaski County Special School District Pulaski County Special School District No. 1 (PCSSD) is one of four public school districts in Pulaski County, Arkansas—along with the Little Rock School District, the North Little Rock School District, and the Jacksonville North Pulaski Schoo ...

before joining the Little Rock School District. It closed when

Little Rock Southwest High School Little Rock Southwest High School, also known as Little Rock Southwest Magnet High School, is a public high school in southwest Little Rock, Arkansas. Groundbreaking occurred in 2017. It replaced J. A. Fair Systems Magnet High School and McClellan ...

opened.

History

It opened in 1965 as a part of the Pulaski County district; it replaced Mabelvale High School. McClellan graduated its first senior class in 1966. This class was also the final senior high school class at what is now Mabelvale Middle school. In 1967, U.S. Senator

John L. McClellan John Little McClellan (February 25, 1896 – November 28, 1977) was an American lawyer and a segregationist politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. Representative (1935–1939) and a U.S. Senator (1943–1977) fro ...

officially dedicated the school. In subsequent years, McClellan boasted of many successes such as being the Model Technology High School for the LRSD, a 1998

National Blue Ribbon School The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

designation, and a two-time Top Business Education Program in the United States. McClellan students won many awards over the years and earned scholarships to schools across the country. McClellan was replaced by a new high school in southwest Little Rock that began construction in 2017, and opened as

in 2020.

Curriculum

The assumed course of study for McClellan students meets or exceeds the Smart Core curriculum developed by the

Arkansas Department of Education Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

(ADE) to complete 22 units prior to graduation. In 1991, principal Jodie T. Carter developed a community school model and its associated magnet program. The school is accredited by the ADE and since 1959, by AdvancED.

Extracurricular activities

The McClellan High School mascot was the Crimson Lion, and the school colors were red, white, and blue. The McClellan Crimson Lions participated in baseball, basketball (boys/girls), football, soccer (boys), softball, tennis (boys/girls), golf, track and field (boys/girls), and volleyball. McClellan's basketball program won seven conference titles, finished as state champion runner-up twice, and made 18 consecutive state tournaments. The McClellan basketball program won the Class 5A state title in 2015. McClellan's track program won several conference titles (including back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002), finished as state runner-up, and also won a state title. In fall 2015, McClellan's football program played in the Class 5A state championship game for the first time since 1994, finishing as a state runner-up. McClellan was also home to the Arkansas winner of the Wendy's High School Heisman Award, Tiffany Gunn. McClellan students can participate in 36 clubs and organizations as well as in band, choir, football, basketball, soccer, bowling, tennis, softball, cheerleading, flag line, and track.

Notable alumni

Jermain Taylor Jermain Taylor (born August 11, 1978) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2014. He remains the most recent undisputed middleweight champion, having won the WBA (Undisputed), WBC, IBF, WBO, ''Ring'' magazine, and ...

- professional boxing champion * Keith Jackson Jr. – Pro football player * Reggie Arnold – Arkansas State All-Conference football player * Tyler Knight – Mississippi Valley State All-American football player * Pierre Strong Jr. - South Dakota State All-American football player

References

External links