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Woodrow Wilson High School is a public secondary school located at 100 South Glasgow Drive in the Lakewood neighborhood of east Dallas, Texas (USA) in the ZIP code 75214. Woodrow Wilson High School enrolls students in grades 9-12 and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District.

Contents 1 History 2 Athletics 3 Extracurricular activities 4 Other distinctions 5 Feeder patterns 6 Notable alumni 7 References 8 External links

The school opened in 1928. It has been colloquially called "Woodrow" by students and community members from its beginning, fostered by first principal G.L. "Pop" Ashburn, who led the school until 1956. The mascot of the school is the Wildcat.

Until 1957 (when Bryan Adams High School opened), Woodrow was the only "East Dallas" high school. Woodrow still serves most of "old" East Dallas, including Swiss Avenue, Mount Auburn, Junius Heights, Lakewood, Munger Place, and Hollywood Heights.

In 2004, thousands attended Woodrow's 75th Anniversary celebration, which included a parade (from Lakewood to the school, with Congressman Sam Johnson as Grand Marshal, chauffered in a new Ford Mustang by fellow alumnus Carroll Shelby, the legendary auto designer and builder), followed by an auditorium-packed program. Scores of "mini-reunions" also were held during that day in assigned rooms throughout the school.

In 2005, Woodrow had more National Merit Semi-finalists than Frisco High School and the same number as nearby Lake Highlands High School (RISD), all of which are much larger, suburban public schools. In 2006 Woodrow had two National Merit Scholars while Lake Highlands had none.

The 250-member Woodrow class of 2005 earned nearly $4 million dollars in scholarships.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, Newsweek named Woodrow one of the top high schools in the nation based on AP/IB results - this result placed the school in the top 3% of all high schools in the United States. Local publication D Magazine ranked it the top comprehensive high school in Dallas.

In 2007 Woodrow was the only high school in North Texas to send its top two grads to the Ivy League - Valedictorian Matthew George to Yale and Salutatorian Thomas Simpson to Princeton.

Until 2004, Woodrow Wilson H.S. was the only U.S. high school to be the alma mater of two Heisman Trophy winners: Davey O'Brien and Tim Brown. In 2004, private Mater Dei High School of Santa Ana, California gained its second Heisman Trophy winner in Matt Leinart, leaving Woodrow Wilson H.S. still the only public high school in the U.S. with two Heisman winners.

Notwithstanding Tim Brown's efforts, from about the 1980s until fairly recently, Woodrow's football program struggled. However, the Wildcats made the state playoffs in 1991, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, advancing to the second round in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006. Its previous teams made state semi-finals in 1951 and 1969. Earlier teams of the 1930s and 40s were successful and produced such stars as O'Brien and I.B. Hale '35, Mal Kutner '38, Rooster Andrews '41, Herschel Forester '48 and Bill Forester '49.

The basketball team won state back in 1938, and later produced Alton Lister '76, a pro player on five different teams. Current senior Anthony Randolph is one of the nation's top recruits, according to rivals.com.

In 2007 Woodrow's sports program was ranked sixth of all 4-A high schools in the Dallas Morning News All-Sports competition. The Wildcats' score of 81 was better than 95 other 4-A and 5-A local high schools.

Bill and Herschel Forester were Wildcats who played ball at SMU and in the pros - Dallas' Forester Field was named for their father, Herschel, who taught at Woodrow from the opening of the school until the late 1950s.

In the 1930s, 40s and early 50s the school had the largest Junior ROTC program in the nation, with 16 different companies and an ROTC band. During World War II, students at the school raised enough money to buy the Navy a Wildcat fighter plane.^{[citation needed]}

Members of "Fiddler Chorus"

In the 1950s, Woodrow became the first school to stage a full-scale Broadway-style musical, Oklahoma!. The shows are annual productions, with the 50th show, Fiddler on the Roof, being presented in April 2007. "Fiddler" swept the North Texas Cappie awards, the high school equivalent of the Tony Awards. The show was named "Best Musical" and "Tevye" Matthew George was named "Best Actor". Six other Cappies went to Woodrow. The school's 1978 50th Anniversary produced an award-winning show choir, the Variations, which continues to win accolades and perform in various venues. In 1998 they were selected to perform with Shania Twain. In November 2006, they were asked to perform for the Texas State Board of Education.

The Mock Trial Team, formed in 1979, regularly advances to state competition. The 2007 team at state competition:

The One-Act Play also usually makes it to Austin.

Graduates and current Woodrow students and families consider Woodrow to be a "hidden gem" within DISD. Woodrow enjoys immense parental and community support, such that it is a rare school day when parents are not in the building assisting faculty and administrators in a variety of ways.^{[citation needed]}

Unique among DISD high schools, and due to the continually evolving demographics of its community, Woodrow integrated naturally (without court-ordered busing)^{[citation needed]}, as it evolved from a nearly "white-only" school in the 1960s to a "majority-minority" school today, having a student body that is 65% Hispanic, 9% African-American, and just over 25% White, and smaller percentages of Asians and other ethnicities. In the early 1980s when Woodrow's boundaries were threatened by a desegregation suit, parents raised money and fought all the way to the Supreme Court^{[citation needed]}, which found for the Woodrow families - keeping the school naturally integrated. The so-called "White Flight" did not infect Lakewood or Woodrow's other communities, all of which have seen increased growth and property values over the years, resulting from strong real estate demand created by families who continue to want to move into Woodrow's boundaries. "Reverse White-Flight" is a new phenomenon as older suburbs of Dallas have changed dramatically, causing more than 200 to transfer into Woodrow. Its feeder, Lakewood Elementary now has a 200 person waiting-list of students living outside the district wishing to transfer to the school.^{[citation needed]}

As of 2006, only J. L. Long Middle School (6-8) feeds into Woodrow Wilson.^[1]

Oran M. Roberts (PK-5), Lakewood (PK-5), Robert E. Lee (PK-5), and Stonewall Jackson (K-5) Elementary Schools feed into Woodrow Wilson High School. William Lipscomb and Mount Auburn Elementary Schools (both PK-3) feed into Eduardo Mata Elementary School (4-5), which in turn feeds into Woodrow Wilson High School.^[1]

• Len Akin 1934, professional football player
• Tim Brown 1984, professional football player and 1987 Heisman Trophy winner^[2]
• Georgia Carroll Kyser 1937, model for 1936 Texas Centennial "Spirit of the Centennial" statue, former actress, model and widow of band leader Kay Kyser
• Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler 1940, Dallas philanthropist^[2]
• Trammell Crow 1932, major Dallas builder and real estate mogul^[2]
• Jack Evans 1940, former mayor of Dallas
• Bill Forester 1949, professional football player
• Eddie Garcia 1978, professional football player
• Burton Gilliam 1956, actor
• Jerry Haynes 1944, actor and former children's television host^[2]
• Dusty Hill 1967, member of ZZ Top
• Curley Johnson 1954, professional football player
• William Kieschnick 1940, retired CEO of ARCO
• Sergio Kindle 2006, current Texas Longhorns football player
• Alton Lister 1976, professional basketball player^[2]
• Mario Martinez 1963, inventor of the frozen margarita and restaurateur
• William C. McCord, former CEO of ENSERCH Corporation (now Atmos Energy)
• John McCrumbly 1971, professional football player
• Steve Miller 1961, musician Steve Miller Band
• Buddy Minyard 1930, head of the Minyard/Carnival chain of groceries
• Ken Morris 1968, co-founder of PeopleSoft
• Davey O'Brien 1935, professional football player and 1938 Heisman Trophy winner^[2]
• William H. Seay 1936, retired CEO of Southwestern Life Insurance Company
• Joe Shearin 1978, professional football player
• Carroll Shelby 1940, racecar driver
• George N. Zarafonetis 1937, developer of the credit card^[2]
• Four U.S. Congressmen, including Rep. Sam Johnson ^[3]
• One Postmaster General of the United States
• One Attorney General of Texas
• One recent Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court
• Two Dallas mayors

• Woodrow Wilson High School
• parent site
• Woodrow Wilson High School Class Reunion Center
• City of Dallas website on the school building
• National Trust for Historic Preservation pages for Woodrow (PDF file)
• Woodrow Wilson Class of 1987 Official Website
• Woodrow Wilson Class of 1987 Official Website

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