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The Rayen School (also known as Rayen High School and colloquially as simply Rayen) was a public
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 ...
in
Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...
, United States. At the time it was closed in 2007, it was the oldest of the three high schools in the city. The high school's most recent physical plant opened in 1923, when the institution was relocated from a 19th-century structure located at 120 W Wood Street in Youngstown that currently houses Youngstown's
Board of Education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...
. Rayen closed permanently in June 2007, to make way for the opening of a consolidated East High School. The former Rayen building was scheduled for demolition, and the municipal school board announced that a middle school would be erected on the site. The 87-year-old school building was razed, and although plans were made to build a middle school on the site, the plans were later abandoned because of declining enrollment. In the wake of this development, trustees of the Judge William Rayen Foundation publicly expressed concern that the Youngstown Board of Education would dispose of the 19th century structure that housed the original Rayen School. The board, however, denied that it had any plans to sell the building or move the school board to new offices. In a February 2009 meeting, school board president Anthony Catale stated, "The Rayen building isn't going anywhere".


History

A long-time fixture in the
Youngstown City School District Youngstown City School District is the public school system for Youngstown, Ohio. Schools High schools * Chaney High School *Choffin Career and Technical Center * East High School *Youngstown Rayen Early College Intermediate school *Rayen Earl ...
system, The Rayen School opened its doors to 40 students in September 1866. Provisions for the school were made through a legacy of Colonel William Rayen, a judge and former military officer who fought in the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
. Rayen, who died in 1854, left a residual estate of $31,000, which he set aside for the establishment and maintenance of a secondary school. Rayen specified that the school should be free and open to students of all backgrounds. The original school building, which still stands at 120 W Wood Street, was built in the
Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...
style. The building's appearance has changed little since its construction in the 19th century, and it is currently listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
. In response to expanding enrollment, a larger physical plant was erected on the upper North Side of Youngstown in 1922 at 250 Benita Ave. The original building served concurrently as an elementary school and a school of engineering for Youngstown College before its purchase by Youngstown City School District. The Rayen School, following its relocation, continued to operate on funds generated by the Rayen estate, which was managed by a board of trustees. Rayen was widely admired for its rigorous academic standards and drew students from throughout Northeastern Ohio. In the 1940s, the institution became popularly known as "The Rayen School". During its lengthy history, Rayen was led by 19 principals and graduated more than 50,000 students. Much of Rayen's colorful past was commemorated in a -long
mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
painted by Rayen art instructor John Benninger in the late 1950s. The Rayen mural was removed from the former high school building for cleaning and restoration in 2007. The restored mural was supposed to be installed at Rayen Middle School, a facility scheduled to be built on the site of the former high school. Although Rayen continued to maintain high academic standards, the school was adversely affected by trends that disrupted many other urban institutions. Beginning in the post-
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
era, urban depopulation and the decline of Youngstown's manufacturing sector contributed to challenges such as falling enrollment and reduced funding.


Sports

Rayen's sports team competed as the Tigers. The school holds one
Ohio High School Athletic Association The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) is the governing body of athletic programs for junior and senior high schools in the state of Ohio. The OHSAA governs eligibility of student athletes, resolves disputes, organizes levels of compe ...
State Championship, a Boys'
Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
crown from 1985. Rayen's stadium, built in 1924, was the site of athletic events for nearby schools. For decades, it served as "home field" to Ursuline High School, located a few blocks south, and
Youngstown State University Youngstown State University (YSU or Youngstown State) is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio. It was founded in 1908 and is the easternmost member of the University System of Ohio. The university is composed of six undergraduate colleges an ...
. In addition, Rayen Stadium was the site of a significant development in
American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
history. The first penalty flag was thrown at the stadium in 1941, when it served as home field for then-Youngstown College. Youngstown College coach
Dwight "Dike" Beede Dwight Vincent "Dike" Beede (January 23, 1903 – December 10, 1972) was an American football player and coach. He served as the first head football coach at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania in 1926, Geneva College in Beaver F ...
created the flag to replace the alarms that were generally used at the time. He recognized that some fans couldn't hear the alarms because of surrounding noise. The stadium fell into disuse after 1982, with the completion of Youngstown State University's
Stambaugh Stadium Stambaugh Stadium, officially Arnold D. Stambaugh Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Youngstown, Ohio, United States, on the campus of Youngstown State University. The stadium was built in 1982, and is primarily used for American football. It ...
. Rayen and other city schools began to use Stambaugh Stadium for their home games. Before 2006, the last high school football game played on Youngstown City School District property was in 1995 at South High School–once the home field for Cardinal Mooney High School. South High School, on the main thoroughfare of Market Street, closed in 1993. In 2005, the Tigers went 7–3 to win their first Youngstown City Title since 1989 — when the Youngstown City Series still had five high schools. On September 30, 2006 Rayen hosted Akron East High School for the first game at Rayen Stadium in 24 years. The game also allowed alumni to have one last public tour of the school before it closed at the end of the 2006–2007 school year. After much fundraising, the football stadium at Rayen was repaired and the field was named for Rayen alum Jack Antonucci, all prior to the 2012 football stadium. The stadium had originally been built in 1924.


Notable alumni

*
Doc Elliott Wallace John "Doc" Elliott (born April 6, 1900 - January 11, 1976) was an American football running back. He played five seasons in the National Football League for the Canton Bulldogs, Cleveland Bulldogs and the Cleveland Indians. During that ...
, former NFL player *
Billy Evans William George Evans (February 10, 1884 – January 23, 1956), nicknamed "The Boy Umpire", was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1906 to 1927. He became, at age 22, the youngest umpire in majo ...
(1884 – 1956) –
Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
umpire * Joe Flynn (1924 – 1974) – comedic actor * Roger M. Kyes (1906 – 1971) – former
General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
executive and
Deputy Secretary of Defense The deputy secretary of defense (acronym: DepSecDef) is a statutory office () and the second-highest-ranking official in the Department of Defense of the United States of America. The deputy secretary is the principal civilian deputy to the se ...
in the
Eisenhower administration Dwight D. Eisenhower's tenure as the 34th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1953, and ended on January 20, 1961. Eisenhower, a Republican from Kansas, took office following a landslide victory ov ...
*
Jimmy McAleer James Robert "Loafer" McAleer (July 10, 1864April 29, 1931) was an American center fielder, manager, and stockholder in Major League Baseball who assisted in establishing the American League. He spent most of his 13-season playing career with t ...
(1864 – 1931) –
major league baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
player and manager * Nick Nardacci, former NFL player * Craig Powell, former NFL player *
Sebron Spivey Sebron Ervin Spivey (born August 2, 1964) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Southern Illinois University. Early years Spivey attended Rayen High Sch ...
, former NFL player * William R. Stewart (1864 – 1958) – 19th-century Ohio lawmaker *
Omarosa Manigault Newman Omarosa Onee Manigault Newman () ( Manigault; born 1974), often known as Omarosa, is an American reality television show participant, writer, and former political aide to former US President Donald Trump. She became widely known as a contestant ...
(1974 – ) – celebrated TV personality and Trump White House official *
Terry Taylor Paul Worden Taylor III (born August 12, 1955) is an American retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name Terry Taylor and for his time as an in-ring performer in National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, and Wo ...
, former NFL player * Albert Warner, co-founder of
Warner Bros. studio Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
.


References


External links


District Website
and {{DEFAULTSORT:The Rayen School High schools in Mahoning County, Ohio Education in Youngstown, Ohio Defunct schools in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Mahoning County, Ohio School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio 1866 establishments in Ohio