South Salem High School is a public high school in

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river ...

. It was built in 1954 as the second

public high school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...

in the city. After South Salem opened, the former Salem High School was renamed North Salem High School.

History

South Salem High School is not the first school to be built on the current site. The former Leslie Middle School was built in 1927, and South Salem was connected to it when it was constructed in 1954. The schools shared common facilities, including the cafeteria and auditorium. When the middle school was moved in 1997, the old building became home to Howard Street Charter School. The Howard Street building was demolished in 2020.

Academics

South Salem offers the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...

program in the 11th and 12th grades, as well as a preparatory Honors program for 9th and 10th grades. The first graduating class to have spent 4 years with the IB program was the class of 2002. In 1987, South Salem High School was honored in the

Blue Ribbon Schools Program The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

, the highest honor a school can receive in the United States.Archived: Blue Ribbon Schools Program, Schools Recognized 1982-1983 Through 1999-2002 (PDF)
In 2008, 78% of the school's seniors received their

high school diploma A high school diploma or high school degree is a North American academic school leaving qualification awarded upon high school graduation. The high school diploma is typically obtained after a course of study lasting four years, from grade 9 to gra ...

. Of 466 students, 364 graduated, 69 dropped out, 1 received a modified diploma, and 32 are still in high school.

Athletics

Boys' Basketball Program

The men's basketball team has been one of the most successful programs in Salem, Oregon. South Salem has produced 15 plus D1 basketball recruits in program history. Some previous Saxon players have chosen to play at Stanford, UCLA, BYU, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, and other schools. South Salem has won state titles in 1996 and 2004. Travis Brown has been head coach since 2019.

State championships

* Football: 1954, 1971 * Boys tennis: 1955, 1957 * Boys track: 1959 * Boys cross country: 1959, 1960, 1962 * Boys golf: 1964, 1989, 1991, 1992 * Girls tennis: 1968 * Girls basketball: 1976, 2015, 2016 * Girls golf: 1984 * Baseball: 1991 * Boys basketball: 1996, 2004 * Boys Soccer: 2009 * Girls Softball: 2014

Music

South Salem High School's music department has been nationally recognized as a Gold school in the

Grammy Signature School The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

program.There are many schools in the nation that are selected as a GRAMMY Signature School by the GRAMMY Foundation. The top seven schools are designated Gold recipients. The best of the Gold recipients is named the National GRAMMY Signature School. South Salem High School's top music groups, which include the symphonic choir, wind ensemble, string orchestra, symphony orchestra, and various jazz ensembles have combined for a total of 41 OSAA state championships (as of 2022), since the OSAA started sponsored music state championships starting in 1987. The Wind Ensemble also performed in Shanghai and Beijing during the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in China. OSAA State Championships Choir: 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2023. (15 total state titles) Band: 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008. (12 total state titles) String Orchestra: 2001, 2004, 2007, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2024. (8 total state titles) Full Orchestra: 1995, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2022, 2024. (9 total state titles)

Notable alumni

Ann Aiken Ann Louise Aiken (born December 29, 1951) is an American attorney and jurist in the state of Oregon. A native Oregonian, she has served as a state court judge of the Oregon circuit courts and worked in private legal practice. She is currently a ...

, United States District Court judge, class of 1970 *

Deen Castronovo Deen J. Castronovo (born August 17, 1964) is an American drummer and singer, best known for being a member of classic rock band Journey and hard rock acts Bad English and Hardline. He currently plays drums and shares lead vocals for the bands Jo ...

, drummer for Journey and

Bad English Bad English was an American/British glam metal supergroup formed in 1987. It reunited Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain with singer John Waite and bassist Ricky Phillips, his former bandmates in the Babys, along with Journey guitarist Neal Schon ...

Joe Douglass Joe Douglass (born January 21, 1974) is a former American football wide receiver/linebacker. He most recently played for the Las Vegas Gladiators in the Arena Football League. High school career At South Salem High School, Douglass rushed for 2 ...

, American football wide receiver and linebacker *

Craig Hanneman Craig Lewis Hanneman (born July 1, 1949 in Salem, Oregon) is a former American football player who played in the National Football League from 1972 to 1975. He played in college for Oregon State University and played for two NFL teams in 52 games ...

, NFL defensive lineman, class of 1967 *

Pat Healy Patrick Healy, Pat Healy, Patrick Healey or Pat Healey may refer to: * Felix Healy (Patrick Joseph Healy, born 1955), former Northern Irish football player and manager * Pat Healy (actor) (born 1971), American actor, writer, and director * Pat H ...

, state finalist wrestler; current mixed martial artist formerly competing in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

Dan Heder Jonathan Joseph Heder (; born October 26, 1977) is an American actor, best known for his role as the title character of the 2004 comedy film ''Napoleon Dynamite''. He has also appeared in the films '' Just Like Heaven'', ''The Benchwarmers'', ''S ...

, producer/animator, class of 1996 * Jon Heder, actor, class of 1996 * Bob Horn, NFL linebacker, class of 1972 * William L. Sullivan, author of outdoor guide books *

Stephen Thorsett Stephen Erik Thorsett (born December 3, 1964) is an American academic and astronomer serving as the president of Willamette University. His research interests include radio pulsars and gamma ray bursts. He is known for measurements of the masses o ...

, astronomer and president of Willamette University * Michael Totten, journalist and writerhttps://www.facebook.com/michael.j.totten

References

External links

Salem Online History: South Salem
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1954 High schools in Salem, Oregon International Baccalaureate schools in Oregon Public high schools in Oregon 1954 establishments in Oregon