Bartlett High School (Tennessee)

Bartlett High School is a high school (grades 9–12) located in Bartlett, Tennessee. It is part of the Bartlett City Schools. It was formerly operated by the Shelby County Schools system. Bartlett has two campuses, the main campus and the Ninth Grade Academy which is located at the former Shadowlawn Middle School campus on Shadowlawn Rd.

Formerly known as Nicholas Blackwell High School, BHS is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the NASSP, TSSAA
SACAC
and NACAC. The school was built in 1917. It opened with 100 students and seven faculty members. The first Principal was Miss Dora Gholson.

All Bartlett public schools separated from Shelby County Schools to form a municipal school system in 2014. Bartlett High School is the second largest high school in Tennessee, with a combined 9–12 student body of about 2,862 (2023–24).

Bartlett's school colors are red, white, and blue. Their athletic teams compete as the Panthers, or Lady Panthers.

The school underwent a massive renovation in 2021. This consisted of building the 2,500 seat McDonald Insurance Arena, a new main lobby and auditorium, connecting all buildings internally (including the old Bartlett Elementary campus), renovating classrooms, admin spaces, STEM, vocational, and athletic spaces. The renovations moved the locations of the cafeteria and library, resulting in brand new ones. Students no longer have to go outside of the buildings to change classes, except for the enclosed courtyard area, thus improving security and student safety.

The school has fallen victim to a racist controversy in recent years. In 2021, there was an incident in which an unknown individual posted a racist meme depicting monkeys in gold chains and Air Jordan shoes. One of the monkeys was saying "Attention all fellow comrades, we must crowd the hallways, stand in big groups and (tick) everyone off! Make sure you scream obnoxiously, also."

Bartlett spokesperson said, "What they mentioned is that picture that has a Bartlett facility in it is one of our very widely used construction renovation photos that is publicized all over the place, our Twitter, our Facebook, our website. So basically they don’t know where that came from or if it came from a student. As a side note, we’ve seen students from outside of our districts create fake accounts and posts about other districts and other school systems." The post was removed within 24 hours.

The current Principals are Dr. Chris Maley (Main Campus) and Katie McCain (Ninth Grade Academy).

Athletics

Sports and State Titles (runner-up)

* Baseball - 2007 (2006, 2008)
* Boys' Basketball - 2001
* Girls' Basketball - (1928, 2023, 2024, 2025)
* Boys' Bowling* - 2020, 2024, 2025 (2013, 2022)
* Girls' Bowling* - 2020 (2019, 2024)
* Cheerleading - 1986, 1988, 1990 (National Titles)
* Boys' Cross Country* - 2003 (2002, 2018, 2019, 2021)
* Girls' Cross Country* - (1999)
* Football
* Boys' Golf* - (1998)
* Girls' Golf* - 1991 (1992)
* Boys' & Girls' Lacrosse
* Boys' Soccer - (2025)
* Girls' Soccer
* Softball - (1987)
* Boys' & Girls' Swimming
* Boys' & Girls' Tennis
* Boys' Track & Field* - 1942, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1954, 1958, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2021, 2022
* Girls' Track & Field* - 1990, 1991, 1992, 2006, 2007, 2021 (2025)
* Unified Track & Field - 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 (2019, 2021)
* Boys' & Girls' Trap
* Volleyball
* Boys' Wrestling
* Girls' Wrestling* - 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
*Includes team and/or individual championships

Facilities

* Bank of Bartlett Field (Football, Lacrosse, Track & Field)
* Ferguson Road Soccer Field* (Soccer)
* McDonald Insurance Arena (Basketball, Volleyball)
* Thomas J. Farley Gymnasium (Wrestling)
* W. J. Freeman Baseball Complex* (Baseball & Softball)

*Off Campus

Notable alumni/faculty

* Heather Armstrong, Blogger
* Hope Banks, Actress
* Travis Scott Bowden, Former Pro Wrestling Manager and Historian
* Jonathan Bowlan, Professional Baseball Pitcher
* Ronald Davis, Former NFL and CFL player
* Garrett Hines, American Bobsledder & Coach (2002 Olympic Silver Medalist)
* Eric McGill, Professional Basketball Player
* Walter K. Singleton, Medal of Honor Recipient
* Hubie Smith, Retired Boys' Basketball Coach
* Jacob Wilson, Professional Baseball Player
* Daniel Wright, Professional Baseball Pitcher

References

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Bartlett, Tennessee
Public high schools in Tennessee
1917 establishments in Tennessee