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Ruston High School

Coordinates: 32°32′05″N 92°39′01″W / 32.5348°N 92.65022°W / 32.5348; -92.65022
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Ruston High School
Front entrance to Ruston High School in 2010.
Address
Map
900 Bearcat Drive

,
Louisiana

United States
Information
Other nameRHS
Type4-year, Public high school
MottoFirmly Founded
Established1921 building built 1939
School boardLincoln Parish School Board
DirectorAthletic Director, Jerrod Baugh
PrincipalDaniel Gressett
Staff99.97 (FTE)[1]
Years taught9-12
Enrollment1,310 (2024–2025)[1]
Student to teacher ratio12.77[1]
Classes offeredTraditional, Project Based Learning
Hours in school day8
Classrooms350-450
CampusRuston High School
Campus sizeSmall
Color(s)Red, white and grey      
Fight songOn, On You Bearcats!
AthleticsBaseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Powerlifting, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Track & Field, Volleyball
Athletics conferenceLHSAA District 2-5A
MascotBearcats
NicknameBearcats
RivalsNeville High School
West Monroe High School
Ouachita Parish High School
PublicationBearcat Nation Network, Radio
YearbookThe Resume
WebsiteRustonHigh.LincolnSchools.org
Ruston High School
Ruston High School is located in Louisiana
Ruston High School
Ruston High School is located in the United States
Ruston High School
Location900 Bearcat Drive, Ruston, Louisiana
Coordinates32°32′05″N 92°39′01″W / 32.5348°N 92.65022°W / 32.5348; -92.65022
Area7 acres (2.8 ha)
Built1939
Built byCaldwell Brothers & Hart
ArchitectJ.W. Smith & Associates
Architectural styleArt Deco
NRHP reference No.92001335[2]
Added to NRHPOctober 8, 1992
Ruston High School Front Steps c.1970
Ruston High School Front steps 1963-64
Ruston High School 1962


Ruston High School is a four-year public high school located in the Lincoln Parish School District of Ruston, Louisiana, United States. Founded in 1921 and the current High School built in 1939 located near Louisiana Tech Campus.

Founded in 1921, Ruston High has been a cornerstone for the community in many ways having notable alumni graduate from its towering walls. The current building the School is in was built in 1939 and funded by the PWA after the old high school was deemed too small for the growing number of students.

Background

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The 7 acres (2.8 ha) campus of Ruston High School consists of two buildings, which were added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 8, 1992.[2][3][4]

The mascot is the Bearcat, with the school colors being red, white, and gray.[citation needed] Black students were first admitted in 1970.[citation needed] Ruston High School also serves as a memorial to the survivors of the Gulf War.[5]

Ideals

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At Ruston High School the main goal is to equip, prepare, and determine students to flourish and be and individual. The mission statement is: Rigor, Relevance, Relationships. In conjunction with Louisiana Tech University, Ruston High offers many dual enrollment college credit classes and courses. By doing so we ensure that students are aware of the modern world and how to problem solve in their own right, communicate, and make viable career decisions.

Academics

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Ruston High School offers a wide variety of intricate and important classes and courses. Ruston High has an Ag department, Radio Station, Media classes, Math department, Yearbook Staff, Photography, Talented Art Program, Health Department, Science Department, Social Studies and Civics Department, Foreign Languages Department, English Department, and many more electives and courses.

Ruston High School 1968

Alma Mater

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Firmly Founded, Alma Mater

Mother True is she,

Here beneath her towering columns, pledge we loyalty

Ruston High, Oh, Ruston High,

We will e'er be true

Sing her praises,

Speed them Onward, to the World Proclaim

We will always love and cherish

Ruston High Schools Name!

-RHS student body 1952-

Athletics

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Ruston High athletics competes in the LHSAA. The Bearcats compete in the highest classification in Louisiana (5A) and participates in District 2-5A.

The RHS Bearcats play in the Hoss Garrett Stadium, across Bearcat Drive from Ruston High School.

Championships

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Football championships

  • (1) National Championship: 1990[6]
  • (9) State Championships: 1925, 1941, 1947, 1951, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1990, 2023[7]
  • (5) State Runner-Up: 1944, 1984, 1998, 2022, 2024

Coaches

  • Jimmy Childress - LHSAA Hall of Fame Head Coach, Jimmy Childress (1932-2015), was head coach at Ruston High School for eleven seasons (1979 to 1990).[8] He led his alma mater to a 131–27 (.829) record and four state championships in 1982, 1986, 1988, and 1990.[8] His 1990 team also won a national championship.[8] As a player, he was on the 1947 state championship football team.[8] He was an assistant football coach at Neville High School in Monroe from 1958 to 1972 helping the school to win four state championships and was later head coach at Carroll High School in Monroe in 1973 and at the private Cedar Creek School in Ruston from 1976 to 1978.[8] He also coached at the college level at Northeastern Louisiana University from 1974 to 1976.[8] In 2001, he was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.[8]
Childress played football and received his undergraduate degree at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, then known as Northeast Louisiana State College, and obtained his graduate degree at Louisiana Tech University.[9]

Radio

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  • Ruston High School is one of only two high schools in the state of Louisiana that offers a radio program that allows students to go live on air and broadcast to the Ruston area. It teaches students to be self sufficient and think for themselves to faithfully execute their job everyday in the studio.

Notable alumni

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Ruston High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved December 17, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  3. ^ "Ruston High School" (PDF). State of Louisiana's Division of Historic Preservation. Retrieved August 9, 2018. with four photos and two maps
  4. ^ National Register Staff (June 1992). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Ruston High School". National Park Service. Retrieved August 9, 2018. With 14 photos from 1992.
  5. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20230130092347/http://rustonhighalumni.org/schoolhistory.html. Archived from the original on January 30, 2023. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)"History of Ruston High School." Ruston High School Alumni.
  6. ^ Boatright, T. Scott (September 16, 2021). "Undefeated 1990 Bearcats to be honored during RHS Homecoming festivities". Lincoln Parish Journal. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
  7. ^ Dietrich, Aaron; Murray, Megan; Fairbairn, Brendon (December 10, 2023). "Ruston wins first state championship since 1990". KNOE. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g "Former Ruston High football coach Jimmy 'Chick' Childress dies". nola.com. August 4, 2015. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  9. ^ "Jimmy "chick" Childress". The Monroe News-Star. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
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