South Point High School (formerly Belmont High School) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

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 ...

Belmont, North Carolina Belmont is a small suburban city in Gaston County, North Carolina, United States, located about west of uptown Charlotte and east of Gastonia. The population was 10,076 at the 2010 census. Once known as Garibaldi Station, it was named for th ...

, United States. It was established in 1964 and is part of the

Gaston County Schools Gaston County Schools is a public school district located in Gaston County, North Carolina. With 30,046 students enrolled in 56 schools as of the 2021–22 academic year, it is the tenth largest public school district in North Carolina. Scho ...

district.

History

South Point High School was completed on South Point Road in 1964 as Belmont High School, replacing a building on North Central Avenue which became Belmont Middle School, and adopted its present name in 1969 after it merged with Cramerton High School and Reid High School. It lost approximately 200 students to

Stuart W. Cramer High School Stuart W. Cramer High School is a public high school in the Gaston County Schools district located in Cramerton, North Carolina (though its mailing address says Belmont). Its attendance range covers the central portion of eastern Gaston County an ...

in nearby Cramerton (but with a Belmont address) when the latter school opened in 2013.

Mascot

The school's mascot is the Red Raider. The origins of the mascot are in dispute, being either derived from soldiers who rubbed red clay on their faces during the

Battle of Kings Mountain The Battle of Kings Mountain was a military engagement between Patriot and Loyalist militias in South Carolina during the Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War, resulting in a decisive victory for the Patriots. The battle took plac ...

or adopted from the

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...

mascot, which was formerly named the Red Raider before being recognized as racially insensitive in 2001. In 2015, a letter to the school board from a Native American tribe member complained that the Red Raiders logo promotes racism. In 2020, rival petitions to either remove or retain the mascot circulated.

Notable alumni

* Emily Fortune Feimster, writer, comedian, and actress *

Perry Fewell Perry Fewell (born September 7, 1962) is an American football coach. He currently serves as the senior vice president of officiating administration for the National Football League's officiating department. Previously, he served as the defensive ...

, football coach *

Mitch Harris Mitch Harris (born October 31, 1969) is an American guitarist. He started his career in the grindcore band Righteous Pigs. He did a side project with Mick Harris – then the drummer of grindcore band Napalm Death – called Defecation. Shortly ...

MLB 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 *

Devon Lowery Devon Eugene Lowery (born March 24, 1983) is a retired professional baseball pitcher, who played for the Kansas City Royals in 2008. Professional career Lowery was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 14th round of the 2001 Major League Base ...

, MLB player *

Nick Muse Nicholas Muse (born November 25, 1998) is an American football tight end for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at William & Mary before transferring to South Carolina. Early life and high sch ...

, NFL tight end, younger brother of Tanner Muse * Tanner Muse, NFL linebacker, two-time CFP National Champion with Clemson *

Koren Robinson Koren Lynard Robinson (born March 19, 1980) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. He played college football for North Carolina State University. He was drafted by the S ...

, NFL wide receiver and

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

selection in 2005 * Jeffrey Springs, MLB player *

Hal Stowe Harold Rudolph Stowe (born August 29, 1937) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Following his college baseball career with the Clemson Tigers, Stowe played in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees in 1960. Amateur caree ...

, MLB player

References

External links

* {{Authority control Public high schools in North Carolina Schools in Gaston County, North Carolina Educational institutions established in 1964 1964 establishments in North Carolina