Walker High School is a public high school located in

Walker Walker or The Walker may refer to: People *Walker (given name) *Walker (surname) *Walker (Brazilian footballer) (born 1982), Brazilian footballer Places In the United States *Walker, Arizona, in Yavapai County *Walker, Mono County, California * ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, United States. Walker High School is part of the

Livingston Parish Public Schools Livingston Parish Public Schools (LPPS) is a school district headquartered in Livingston, Louisiana, United States with 42 schools, with approximately 25,500 students enrolled for the 2012 - 2013 school yea The district's superintendent Bill Spea ...

system, and was founded in 1921 as a community school for the residents of Walker, a city located in Livingston Parish. The school is currently located off of Burgess Ave. The high school moved to its current campus in the 1970s leaving behind its old campus that is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. The old campus was converted to Walker Freshmen High School then again, in 2021 to Walker Junior High. Walker High School is a

public high school A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

and has open enrollment. Walker High School offers a wide variety of educational programs for its students to pursue with many career-technical and

college-preparatory A college-preparatory school (often shortened to prep school, preparatory school, college prep school or college prep academy) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily design ...

courses offered. Walker High School is a member of the

Louisiana High School Athletic Association The Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) is the agency that regulates and promotes the interscholastic athletic competitions of all high schools in the state of Louisiana. Organization LHSAA was founded in Baton Rouge, Louisiana i ...

and offers a wide variety of sports and programs. Extracurricular activities are also offered in the form of performing arts, school publications, and clubs.

History

Walker High School was founded and approved by the State in 1921 although it is believed that the first graduation took place in 1917. Walker High School was an attempt to provide quality education for the children of Walker who were too poor to provide money for education and who were only able to attend school in areas that were isolated and primitive. By the late 1920s interest in public education grew in Walker and the surrounding areas, so the school district proposed the sale of bonds to finance the construction of a new school. After initially failing in April 1928, the district expanded and in August 1928 the proposal passed with 73 in favor and 65 against. Construction on the school was completed by 1930. The school was a two-story brick building with concrete trim that featured

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...

and

Italian Baroque Italian Baroque (or ''Barocco'') is a stylistic period in Italian history and art that spanned from the late 16th century to the early 18th century. History The early 17th century marked a time of change for those of the Roman Catholic religion ...

motifs. When the school opened in January 1931, it was realized that money for educational equipment was lacking, so the voters in the district passed another measure leading to an additional property tax. This consistent effort by the citizens showed their desire for a proper education system, and allowed for the older rural schools to close and the schools consolidated their students to one location. Livingston Parish Public Schools

desegregated Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

following the 1969 case Dunn v. Livingston Parish School Board. The effects of desegregation were larger for

Denham Springs High School Denham Springs High School is a State school, public high school located in Denham Springs, Louisiana, Denham Springs, Louisiana, United States. Denham Springs High School is a part of the Livingston Parish Public Schools, Livingston Parish Schoo ...

because Denham Springs was the largest city in the parish. Prior to desegregating, Livingston Parish only had one school for African Americans called West Livingston. As a result, black students were bussed from all over the parish to attend school. Because there was a large

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

presence in Livingston Parish, there was not a large African American population outside of the City of Denham Springs. Those who did attend Walker High School following integration likely faced harsh treatment from their peers. By 1975, the City of Walker outgrew the building that was once Walker High School and moved to its current location. The building that was once Walker High School was converted into a junior high and now serves as Walker Junior High School. It was also placed on the

on March 3, 2000. In 2023, the school received national attention when Principal Jason St. Pierre punished a 17-year-old honor student for a 15-second video of her dancing at an off-campus weekend party funded by the student body, telling the student's mother that the student was not “living in the Lord’s way." He removed her from her role as president of the student government and rescinded his college scholarship recommendations.

National Register of Historic Places

The school was listed on the

on March 3, 2000. Walker High School was originally a two-story brick building with concrete trim that featured

and

motifs. The structure was designed by New Orleans architect W.R. Burk and construction was awarded to R.L. Roland & Son. Was first constructed to act as city hall. Later the holding cells of the town hall were expanded and remodeled into a small prison after the original prison ran out of housing space this adjust was only as a temporary relief function due to budget cuts in the prison system. Then the building was remodeled yet again to act as a high school. wit
five photos and two maps
/ref> With .

Enrollment

Walker High School is a public high school with no admissions requirements. Enrollments is open to residents of Livingston Parish that make up the Walker community. Walker High School had 1228 students for the 2016–2017 school year. The demographics were 1058 (86%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 121 (10%)

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 32 (3%)

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

, 12 (0.1%) Asian, 4 (0.3%)

Two or More Races Multiracial Americans, also known as mixed-race Americans, are Americans who have mixed ancestry of two or more races. The term may also include Americans of mixed-race ancestry who self-identify with just one group culturally and socially (cf. t ...

, 1 (0.1%)

Native Hawaiians Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; , , , and ) are the Indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiʻi was settled at least 800 years ago by Polynesian ...

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

. The school also has a 53:47 male to female ratio.

Academics

Walker High School features a technical-education curriculum and a college-preparatory curriculum with the option to partake in Advanced Placement (AP) Program. Students in the technical-education curriculum are required to complete a minimum of 23 academic units that include 4 in English, 4 in mathematics, 2 in science, 2 in social science, 1.5 in physical education, .5 in health, and 9 in their technical pathway. Students in the college-preparatory curriculum are required to complete a minimum of 24 academic units that include 4 in English, 2 in foreign language, 4 in mathematics, 4 in science, 4 in social science, 3 in electives, 1.5 in physical education, .5 in health, and 1 in the arts. The technical-education pathway requires students to travel to the Livingston Parish Literacy and Technical Center in

, Louisiana, and is shared by all of the high schools in Livingston Parish. This Center in a separate campus from the rest of Walker High School. As of 2019, Walker High School offers 16 AP courses for students to earn college credit. Spanish and French are both offered to fulfill the foreign language requirements. Students may also enroll concurrently at

Southeastern Louisiana University Southeastern Louisiana University (Southeastern) is a public university in Hammond, Louisiana. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims as Hammond Junior College. Sims succeeded in getting the campus moved to north Hammond in 1928, when it beca ...

. Walker High School also offers extensive Business and STEM for students to participate in. Walker High is the only high school in Livingston Parish to offer a principles of

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

and

robotics Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer s ...

courses for students to earn credit in. These courses provide students with the opportunity to learn more about careers in engineering and technology in addition with the opportunity to compete in a competition hosted by the Marine Advanced Technology Education Center. Walker allowed

Papa John's Papa John's International, Inc., trading as Papa Johns, is an American pizza restaurant chain. , it is the fourth largest pizza delivery restaurant chain in the United States, with headquarters in the Louisville, Kentucky and Atlanta, Georgia ...

, Neighbors Federal Credit Union, Nike Apparel, and a Walk-On's Conference Center to all open a location on the school's campus. These shops allow students to work during the school day while being exposed to culinary, finance, and business management while also obtaining high school credit. For the 2017–2018 school year, Walker High School earned a B grade under the

Louisiana Department of Education Louisiana Department of Education (LADOE) is a state agency of Louisiana, United States. It manages the state's school districts. It is headquartered in the Claiborne Building at 1201 North 3rd Street in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. On a pr ...

more rigorous grading system with a School Performance Score (SPS) of 81.9. The school has a mean ACT score of 19.5. Furthermore, the school has a 79% graduation rate and 51% of its graduates go on to enroll in college.

Athletics

Walker High athletics competes in the LHSAA. State Championships * Basketball **2018 Boys Basketball * Track **2014 Boys Pole Vault, Kyle Baudoin

Notable alumni

* Mike DeJean, Former Professional Baseball Player *

Chris Hawkins Christopher Charles Hawkins (born 23 September 1975) is a British radio presenter, DJ, and music pundit. Hawkins is a regular early morning presenter on BBC Radio 6 Music. He can also be heard presenting documentary programmes on BBC Radio 4 ...

, Former LSU Football Player and Former NFL Player * Mattie Liptak, actor *

Brian Thomas Jr. Brian Thomas Jr. (born October 8, 2002) is an American professional American football, football wide receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the LSU Tigers football, LSU Tigers, ...

, college football wide receiver for the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers (also known as the Fighting Tigers) are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiat ...

Big plays, big potential: Walker's versatile Brian Thomas Jr. embraces multiple roles
/ref> and selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the 23rd pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

References

External links

* {{authority control School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana Italianate architecture in Louisiana School buildings completed in 1930 Public high schools in Louisiana Schools in Livingston Parish, Louisiana Educational institutions established in 1921 1921 establishments in Louisiana National Register of Historic Places in Livingston Parish, Louisiana