William S. Rogers High School is a public high school in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

and a part of

Newport Public Schools Newport Public Schools (NPS) is the public school system of Newport, Rhode Island. History NPS hired Jack Ambrogi as superintendent in 2005 and Colleen Jermain as superintendent in January 2014. Schools Its schools are Claiborne Pell School, Fra ...

. Other public high schools include the Paul Crowley MET School and the Career & Technical School.

History

The school was founded by educator William Sanford Rogers in 1873 and was named for him. The original Rogers High School building was on Church Street, the school moved to a building on Broadway in 1905 and the old building became the Thayer School and later a Boys and Girls Club. In 1957, the school moved to its current location on Wickham Road and the old Broadway building became the location for Thompson Middle School. An expansion to the school, The Newport Area Career and Technical Center, was completed in 1968.

Extracurricular

The school's newspaper ''The Red and Black'' was first published in 1920, but ceased regular publication in the early 2000s. The school began their football program in 1890 and their basketball program in 1905. The school has the second oldest

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 in the country, founded in 1916. It also holds the Honor Unit With Distinction rank, the highest unit rank possible.

School song

"Fair Rogers " is sung at every commencement ceremony. Words by Harold B. Walcott, Music by H. S. Hendy.

Alumni

* Edwin T. Banning, architect * Bebe Buell, singer and model *

William T. Bull William Tinninghast Bull (November 10, 1865 – November 8, 1924) was an American college football player and coach, who later became a physician. Football career Bull attended William S. Rogers High School in his native Newport, Rhode Island, N ...

, college football coach * Frank Corridon, Major League Baseball pitcher (1904–1910) *

The Cowsills The Cowsills are an American singing group from Newport, Rhode Island, six siblings noted for performing professionally and singing harmonies at an early age, later with their mother. The band was formed in early 1965 by brothers Bill, Bob, and ...

, 1960s singing act *

Tanya Donelly Tanya Donelly (born July 14, 1966) is an American Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter and guitarist based in New England who co-founded Throwing Muses with her step-sister Kristin Hersh. Donelly went on to co-form the alternative rock band ...

, co-founder and guitarist of the band

Throwing Muses Throwing Muses are an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, United States, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects. The group was originall ...

, lead vocalist of the band

Belly Belly may refer to: Anatomy * The abdomen, the part of the body between the pelvis and the thorax; or the stomach ** A beer belly, an overhang of fat above the waist, presumed to be caused by regular beer drinking ** Belly dance * The fleshy, cen ...

and the guitarist for

The Breeders The Breeders are an American alternative rock band based in Dayton, Ohio, consisting of members Kim Deal (rhythm guitar, lead vocals), her twin sister Kelley Deal (lead guitar, vocals), Josephine Wiggs (bass guitar, vocals) and Jim Macpherson ...

Joanna Going Joanna Catherine Going (born July 22, 1963) is an American actress known for the television series ''Kingdom'', ''House of Cards'', ''Mad Men'' and the movie ''Wyatt Earp''. Early life Going was born in Washington, DC, the eldest of six childre ...

, actress * Paul Gordon, keyboardist and guitarist with

The B-52's The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, p ...

and

New Radicals New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

Kristin Hersh Kristin may refer to: * Kristin (name), a Scandinavian form of Christine * ''Kristin'' (TV series), a 2001 American sitcom * Kristin Peak, Antarctica * Kristin School, a school in New Zealand See also * Kristen (disambiguation) Kristen may re ...

, co-founder, vocalist, and guitarist of the band

* P. H. Horgan III,

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

player *

John Howard Benson John Howard Benson (July 6, 1901 – February 23, 1956) was an American calligrapher, stonecarver, incised letter designer, author, and educator. Career He was educated at Rogers High School, the National Academy of Design, and the Art Students ...

, calligrapher and stone carver *

Van Johnson Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II. Johnson was described as the embodiment o ...

, actor *

William Stevens Lawton William Stevens Lawton (May 16, 1900 – February 26, 1993) was a lieutenant general in the United States Army and served as the Army's Comptroller. Early life Lawton was born on May 16, 1900, in Newport, Rhode Island, and graduated from Newport' ...

, graduated from Rogers in 1917 and attained the rank of

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

* Dorothy McCullough Lee, former

mayor of Portland, Oregon The Mayor of Portland, Oregon is the official head of the city of Portland, Oregon, United States. The officeholder is elected for a four-year term and has no term limits. By law, all elections in Portland are nonpartisan. The current mayor is Ted ...

(1949–1953) * John Mellekas, professional football player * Florence K. Murray, former Rhode Island State Senator (1949–1956) *

David Narcizo David John Narcizo (born May 6, 1966, in Newport, Rhode Island) is an American musician and graphic designer, primarily known for his work as the longtime drummer for Throwing Muses. Career Narcizo played drums on Tanya Donelly's ''Lovesongs ...

, drummer for the band

* M. Teresa Paiva-Weed, former President of the

Rhode Island Senate The Rhode Island Senate is the upper house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the lower house being the Rhode Island House of Representatives. It is composed of 38 Senators, each of w ...

(2009–2017) *

Arthur Rosson Arthur Henry Rosson (24 August 1886 – 17 June 1960) was an English film director. From 1917 to 1948, Rosson directed 61 feature films (including co-direction of ''Red River (1948 film), Red River''). He also worked on many major films as a ...

, film director * John P. Vinti, theoretical physicist *

Josephine Silone Yates Josephine Silone Yates (1852 or November 15, 1859 – September 3, 1912) was an American professor, writer, public speaker, and activist. She trained in chemistry and became one of the first black professors hired at Lincoln University in ...

, the first black student at Rogers High School, she later became the first black woman to head a college science department

References

{{authority control Schools in Newport County, Rhode Island Buildings and structures in Newport, Rhode Island Public high schools in Rhode Island