Papillion-La Vista Senior High School, often referred to as Papio, PLHS, North or "Old School", is located in Papillion,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

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 ...

and is operated by the Papillion-La Vista Public School District. Its

school colors School colors (also known as university colors or college colors) are the colors chosen by a school as part of its brand identity, used on building signage, web pages, branded apparel, and the uniforms of sports teams. They can promote connectio ...

are

maroon Maroon ( US/ UK , Australia ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word ''marron'', or chestnut. "Marron" is also one of the French translations for "brown". According to multiple dictionaries, there are var ...

and

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

, and the Mascot is

monarchs A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power in ...

History

The Papillion-La Vista Public Schools District originated well over a century ago. It is reported to be the first school district to be established in

Nebraska Territory The Territory of Nebraska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Nebraska. The Nebraska ...

, in 1872. Papillion-La Vista High School dates back to September 1876. Originally housed in a single brick building at the corner of Halleck & Adams Streets, Papillion's only school served students in all 12 grades. In 1893 the school moved to a new brick building at 420 S. Washington Street, the present site of the district offices. The city continued to grow, and in February 1957, Papillion High School opened in a new building across Washington Street (presently Papillion Junior High) to students in grades 7-12. The city of

La Vista La Vista may refer to: * La Vista, Nebraska, a city in Nebraska * La Vista (Spotsylvania County, Virginia), an historic house in Spotsylvania County, Virginia * La Vista Correctional Facility, prison in Pueblo County, Colorado * La Vista High Sc ...

incorporated in 1960 and presented no education system. The students of this new development area north of Papillion had been incorporated into the Papillion School District. Papillion's steady growth continued. By September 1969, voters in the district had passed a bond issue to build a new high school facility at 84th Street and East Centennial Road. A similar bond issue the preceding year had been defeated. The high school moved north to its present location in August 1971, serving students in grades 9 through 12. In 1987, La Vista was officially added to the district and the high school's name was officially changed to Papillion-La Vista High School. The 1999 film ''

Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

'' was shot mainly in Papillion-La Vista High School. Papillion-La Vista High School had actual classes going on during much of the filming of ''Election''. The background noises during much of the film are actual teachers and their students in nearby rooms.

Second high school

Continued population growth resulted in the construction of

Papillion-La Vista South High School Papillion-La Vista South High School (commonly referred to as Papio South, PLSHS, PLSouth, or PLS) is a high school in Papillion, Nebraska, United States. It is one of two high schools in the Papillion-La Vista Public School District. The school's ...

(PLSHS), in southwest Papillion, which opened in August 2003. PLHS had previously been a 10-12 school, and 9th graders had attended classes at the two junior high schools in the district. After the school district opened a second high school, the freshman class was moved from the junior high schools to the two high schools.

Sports

* Football - Class A Champions 1990 and 1996;Runner-up 1986, Runner-up 1987, Runner-up 1995 and Runner-up 1997 * Softball - 13 Class A Championships, 2 Runners-up from 1995-2010 (including 10 straight) * Volleyball - Class A Champions - 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007, and 2008 * Girls' track and field - Class A State Champions - 1997, 1998, 1999 * Boys' golf - Class A Champion - 1999 * Boys' tennis - Class A Champion - 1978 * Boys' basketball - Class A Champion - 1993, Runner-up 2013, 1971 * Boys' swimming - Class A Champion - 2003 * Boys' soccer - Class A Champion - 1991 * Wrestling - Class A Champion - 2001 * Boys' All-Nebraska All-Sport Award -2012 * Cross country * Baseball - 1997, 1998 * Girls' tennis - 2015

Notable alumni

Jordy Bahl Jordyn Bahl (born July 24, 2002) is an American college softball pitcher for Nebraska. As a freshman at Oklahoma in 2022, she was named NFCA National Freshman of the Year. High school career Bahl attended Papillion-La Vista Senior High School in ...

college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is nor ...

player for the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Run ...

Kenzo Cotton Kenzo Cotton (born May 13, 1996) is an American sprinter. Cotton competed in the boy's 100 meters at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics. Cotton is 2015 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships 4x100 m champion, a 19-t ...

, All American and

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

Champion sprinter at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

. * Reggie Baul, former

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...

football player (played on 1995 team) *

Merle Dandridge Merle Dandridge (born May 31, 1975) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for performing in Broadway musicals such as ''Jesus Christ Superstar'', ''Spamalot'', ''Rent'', and ''Once on This Island'', as well as her video game roles ...

, Broadway actress and the voice of

Alyx Vance Alyx Vance is a fictional character from Valve Corporation, Valve's ''Half-Life (series), Half-Life'' video game series. She is introduced as a non-playable, supporting character in ''Half-Life 2'' (2004), accompanying the player's character, Gor ...

in the award-winning action game ''

Half-Life 2 ''Half-Life 2'' is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed by Valve. It was published by Valve through its distribution service Steam. Like the original ''Half-Life'' (1998), ''Half-Life 2'' combines shooting, puzzles, and storytelling, and ...

'' and its sequels, '' Episode One'' and '' Episode Two'' *

Allan Evridge Allan Evridge (born June 24, 1985) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the Kansas State Wildcats football team from 2004 to 2005 and the Wisconsin Badgers football team from 2007 to 2008. College career Wisc ...

, former

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

quarterback * Peaches James, All-American softball University of Nebraska, three time first-team All-State Nebraska High School softball *

Matty Lewis Matty Lewis is an American musician, primarily known for his work as the rhythm guitarist and vocalist of punk rock band Zebrahead from 2005 to 2021. Jank 1000 Jank 1000 was a suburban pop punk band originally formed in late 1998, in the suburb ...

, Musician and lead singer of the band ''

Zebrahead Zebrahead is an American rap-punk band from La Habra, California. Formed in 1996, the band has released thirteen studio albums to date. History 1996–2001: Formation and early years Zebrahead was formed in La Habra, California in summer ...

'' * Gina Mancuso, Gatorade Volleyball player of the year * Carlos Martínez, professional football player, formerly with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

Skate Skate or Skates may refer to: Fish *Skate (fish), several genera of fish belonging to the family Rajidae * Pygmy skates, several genera of fish belonging to the family Gurgesiellidae * Smooth skates or leg skates, several genera of fish belongin ...

, rapper and musician; real name Nathan Maloley * Jeremy Slechta, former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

and

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

Becca Swanson Rebecca Swanson (born November 20, 1973) is an American powerlifter and professional wrestler. Becca Swanson holds several powerlifting world records for women, including the heaviest squat, heaviest deadlift and the heaviest bench press. Due t ...

, nicknamed "the strongest woman in the world" for lifting more weight than any other woman in the world; squatting over 800 lbs, benchpressing over 500 lbs, and total lifting (squatting, benchpressing and deadlifting) more than 2000 lbs * Allison Weston, 2000 Olympic Volleyball Captain and University of Nebraska Volleyball, All-State Nebraska High School volleyball, basketball, and soccer

References

External links

School website

District website

Papillion-LaVista High School - class reunions
{{authority control Public high schools in Nebraska Educational institutions established in 1971 1971 establishments in Nebraska Schools in Sarpy County, Nebraska