Southwest Miami Senior High School (coloquially known as simply "Southwest"), is a co-educational

secondary 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 '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

in Olympia Heights, a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, United States. Southwest is currently a 'A’ school and of the more than 30 public schools that are neither all

magnet schools In the U.S. education system, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities (usually school boards) as school ...

nor

charter schools A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

, Southwest is ranked second best in

Miami-Dade county Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...

by '' U.S. News & World Report''.

History

Southwest Miami High School was founded on September 1956 as Southwest Miami Junior Senior High School. The school was built to alleviate overcrowding at neighboring

Coral Gables Senior High School Coral Gables Senior High School is a secondary school located at 450 Bird Road in Coral Gables, Florida. Coral Gables SHS opened its doors in 1950; its architectural design reflects a Spanish influence, with open courtyards adorned with water fo ...

. Featuring grades 7-10, it was eventually converted to a high school in 1959 upon graduating its first senior class. Southwest's athletic rival is

Miami Coral Park Senior High School Miami Coral Park Senior High School is a secondary school located in the Westchester census-designated place of Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States.

Performing arts

The Royal Lancer marching band used to perform at halftime of football games and the Illusion dancers perform throughout the school year.

Athletic achievements

Southwest has a rich history in athletics. By the time the first graduating class (1959) donned their caps and gowns, the Eagles had already won state championships in boys' basketball and boys' track. On May 7, 1964, Southwest became the first Dade County white school to face a

black school Black schools, also referred to as "colored" schools, were racially segregated schools in the United States that originated after the American Civil War and Reconstruction era. The phenomenon began in the late 1860s during Reconstruction era w ...

in a sport other than track when it took on George Washington Carver Senior High School in baseball. The

Florida High School Athletic Association The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) is an organization whose purpose is to organize sports competition for high schools in Florida. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Florida uses ...

began sponsoring state championships in boys' volleyball in 2003 and, in the first eight years of the state tournament, the Eagles took home two state championships. In 2010, alumnus

Andre Dawson Andre Nolan Dawson (born July 10, 1954), nicknamed "The Hawk" and "Awesome Dawson", is an American former professional baseball player and inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame. During a 21-year baseball career, he played for four different tea ...

was inducted into the

National Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

. The baseball field at Southwest is named in his honor.

State championships

Notable alumni

Athletics

Baseball

Dave Augustine David Ralph Augustine (born November 28, 1949) is an American former outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 1973 and 1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and ...

, Class of 1967 -

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

(1973-1974) *

Ray Bare Raymond Douglas Bare (April 15, 1949 – March 29, 1994) was a right-handed professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of five seasons in Major League Baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals (1972, 1974) and Detroit Tigers (1975–77). ...

, Class of 1967 -

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

(1972, 1974) and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(1975–1977) * Carlos Castillo, Class of 1994 - pitcher with the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

(1997–1999) and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

(2001) *

, Class of 1972 - outfielder with the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

(1976–1986),

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

(1987–1992),

(1993–1994) and

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

(1995–1996) * Fernando Hernandez, Class of 2002 - pitcher with the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

(2008) * Hansel Izquierdo, Class of 1995 - pitcher with the Florida Marlins (2002) *

Dane Johnson Dane Edward Johnson (born February 10, 1963) is an American former professional baseball coach and former pitcher. He played parts of three seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and Oakland Athletics ...

, Class of 1981 - pitcher with the Chicago White Sox (1994),

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

(1996), and

(1997) * Juan Peña, Class of 1994 - pitcher with the Boston Red Sox (1999) *

Michael Tejera Michael Tejera (born October 18, 1976) is a former professional baseball pitcher and current pitching coach for the Harrisburg Senators. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Miami Marlins, Florida Marlins and Texas Rangers (baseball), ...

, Class of 1995 - pitcher with the Florida Marlins (1999, 2002–2004) and Texas Rangers (2004–2005) * Jeff Urgelles, Class of 2000 - former bullpen coordinator with the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

(2010–2017) * Steve Tannen graduated in 66, All-american at University of Florida and was a running back for the New York Jets playing with Joe Namath.

Basketball

* Jose Fernandez, Class of 1989 -

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

women's basketball team

Football

* Randy Burke, Class of 1973 - wide receiver with the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

(1977, first round pick) * Tony Chickillo, Class of 1978-

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

(1983, fifth round pick), also played for the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

(1984-1985) and the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

(1987) * Steve Tannen, Class of 1966 -

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

with the New York Jets (1970, first round pick) *

Lamarcus Joyner Lamarcus Joyner (born November 27, 1990) is an American football safety for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). After being named 2009 Defensive High School Player of the Year by ''USA Today'', he played college football at ...

, class of 2009 - defensive back with the Los Angeles Rams (2014, second round pick)

Swimming

* David Marsh, Class of 1977 - won 12 national titles as coach at

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

Professional wrestling

Konnan Charles Ashenoff (born Carlos Santiago Espada Moises; January 6, 1964),''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'', Dave Meltzer, ed., May 10, 2010, issue.Sims, Steve"Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame/Founded by Dave Meltzer - Konnan". Accessed August 1, 2016. O ...

, Class of 1982 - professional wrestler for WCW, ECW, ALL JAPAN WRESTLING, CMLL and AAA ( the last two in Mexico).

Government

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (; born Ileana Carmen Ros y Adato, July 15, 1952) is a politician and lobbyist from Miami, Florida, who represented from 1989 to 2019. By the end of her tenure, she was the most senior U.S. Representative from Florida. She wa ...

, Class of 1970 - Member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

(1989–present) *

Carol Browner Carol Martha Browner (born December 16, 1955) is an American lawyer, environmentalist, and businesswoman, who served as director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2011. Browner ...

, Class of 1973 - administrator of the

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

(1993-2001) * Dario Herrera, Class of 1991 - member of the

Nevada Assembly The Nevada Assembly is the lower house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Nevada, the upper house being the Nevada Senate. The body consists of 42 members, elected to two-year ...

(1997-1999);

Clark County, Nevada Clark County is located in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,265,461. Most of the county population resides in the Las Vegas Census County Divisions, which hold 1,771,945 people as of the 2010 Census, across ...

commissioner (1999-2003)

Other

Charlie McCoy Charles Ray McCoy (born March 28, 1941) is a Grammy-winning American session musician, harmonica player, and multi-instrumentalist. In 2009, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Based in Nashville, McCoy's playing is heard on r ...

, Class of 1959 - member

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amass ...

Ed Calle Ed Calle (born ''Eduardo J. Calle'') is a musician from Miami, Florida. He was born in Caracas, Venezuela. Calle plays the saxophones, flutes, clarinets, EWI, and keyboards, engineers projects, and performs vocals. He also composes and arrange ...

, Class of 1977 - musician * Alberto Cutié, Class of 1987 - Episcopal cleric, former Roman Catholic priest *

Jonathan Demme Robert Jonathan Demme ( ; February 22, 1944 – April 26, 2017) was an American filmmaker. Beginning his career under B-movie producer Roger Corman, Demme made his directorial debut with the 1974 women-in-prison film ''Caged Heat'', before ...

, Class of 1962 - film director *

Teresita Fernandez Teresita may refer to: * Teresita (given name), a feminine given name * ''Teresita'' (genus), a genus of moths in the family Oecophoridae * Teresita, Missouri, United States, an unincorporated community * Teresita, Oklahoma, United States, an unin ...

, Class of 1986 - artist * Lissette Garcia, Class of 2003 -

Miss Florida USA The Miss Florida USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Florida in the Miss USA pageant. Up until the 2017 pageant, both Miss and Teen state pageants were held separately in different months. In recent ...

2011 *

Lindsay Hyde Lindsay Hyde (born 1982) is the Entrepreneur, founder and President (corporate title), President of Strong Women Strong Girls, Strong Women, Strong Girls, Inc. (SWSG), a Massachusetts-based not-for-profit organization that helps at-risk girls in g ...

, Class of 2000 - founder and President of

Strong Women Strong Girls Strong Women Strong Girls (SWSG) is a mentoring organization for girls in grades 3–5 with a focus on female empowerment and healthy habits. and with the goal of helping them to develop skills for lifelong success. The program was started by Lindsa ...

Jim Lampley James Lampley (born April 8, 1949) is an American sportscaster, news anchor, film producer, and restaurant owner. He was best known as a blow-by-blow announcer on ''HBO World Championship Boxing'' for 30 years. He also had covered a record 14 O ...

, Class of 1966 - sportscaster * D. S. Lliteras, Class of 1967 - author

References

External links

* *
Southwest Miami Senior High School Alumni Association

Southwest Miami Senior High School sports
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1956 Miami-Dade County Public Schools high schools 1956 establishments in Florida