Ozark High School is a comprehensive public high school for students in grades 10 through 12 located in

Ozark, Arkansas Ozark is a city in Franklin County, Arkansas, United States and one of the county's two seats of government. The community is located along the Arkansas River in the Arkansas River Valley on the southern edge of the Ozark Mountains. As of the 2 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Ozark High School is the only high school of the

Ozark School District The Ozark School District #14 is a school district, public school district in western Arkansas, based in Ozark, Arkansas, serving most of northern Franklin County, Arkansas, Franklin County and a small portion of western Johnson County, Arkansas, ...

in western

Arkansas 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 ...

serving most of northern Franklin County and a small portion of western Johnson County. The district, most notably the high school, is most famous for its mascot, the

Hillbilly Hillbilly is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people from other rural and mountainous areas west ...

. Patrons claim that Ozark is the only district in the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

with the Hillbilly as its mascot, though both the nickname and comparable likenesses are used by other schools. However, Ozark is the only district to use the nickname and likeness together. The high school benefits from the district's membership in the ''Western Arkansas Educational Service Cooperative'' (WAESC), which was formed to assist school districts to work collectively and maximize educational funding by providing shared services to schools and students in western Arkansas.

Academics

The assumed course of study follows 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), which requires students complete at least 22 units prior to graduation. Students complete regular coursework and exams and may take

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...

(AP) courses and exam with the opportunity to receive college credit.

Extracurricular activities

Mascot and colors

The high school emblem (mascot) and colors have been shared by all schools in the district. The ''

'', which is almost always depicted in purple overalls and armed with a

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...

, was adopted as the school emblem in 1935. Purple and gold were adopted as the school colors the same year, replacing the red and white that had been used. The mascot and colors were similar to that of what was then the College of the Ozarks, whose mascot was the Mountaineer until the 1980s. The original mascot was the Bulldogs until the 1930s when the school board voted to change it to the Hillbilly. In 2008, the high school baseball team tried to revive the original logo and colors, displaying the original "OHS" logo on their baseball hats which symbolizes a large "O" representing a baseball with an "H" in the middle symbolizing the seams on the baseball and then the letter "S".

Athletics

The Ozark Hillbillies compete in interscholastic activities within the 4A Classification administered by the

Arkansas Activities Association The Arkansas Activities Association (AAA) is the primary sanctioning body for high school sports in state of Arkansas. AAA is a member association of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFSHSA). Every public secondary sch ...

. The Hillbillies play within the 4A Region 1 Conference. Ozark fields varsity teams in football, golf (boys/girls), basketball (boys/girls), cross country (boys/girls), cheer, bowling (boys/girls), baseball,

fastpitch softball Fastpitch softball, also known as fastpitch or fastball, is a form of softball played by both women and men. While the teams are most often segregated by sex, coed fast-pitch leagues also exist. Fast pitch is considered the most competitive for ...

, track and field (boys/girls).

State championships

The Hillbillies boys cross country team won four state championships between 1970 and 1980. Ozark girls took home the state title in cross country in 2014. The girls golf team won consecutive state championships in 2002 and 2003 and the boys golf team won a state title in 2008. The Ozark girls basketball team, led by Sarah Pfeifer recognized as female high school athlete of the year by the ''

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette The ''Arkansas Democrat-Gazette'' is the newspaper of record in the U.S. state of Arkansas, printed in Little Rock with a northwest edition published in Lowell. It is distributed for sale in all 75 of Arkansas' counties. By virtue of one of i ...

'', won consecutive state titles in 2000 and 2001 and were state runner-up in 2002. In 2001, Sarah Pfeifer tossed the shot put 40'-10", which remains an Arkansas state record.

References

External links

*
Ozark School District website
{{authority control Public high schools in Arkansas Schools in Franklin County, Arkansas Schools in Johnson County, Arkansas