Socorro High School (Socorro, Texas)

Socorro High School is a public high school in Socorro city of El Paso County. The school was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 1994-1996.

History

In 1961, voters of Socorro held an election to determine the future of education in the area. That vote, by a tally of 63-0, resulted in the formation of the Socorro Independent School District. The District consisted of one school, Escontrias that housed its students up through the eighth grade. It was not until March 1964 that a $500,000 bond was passed enabling students of the area to attend high school in the Socorro area. Until that time, students who wanted to attend high school went to either Clint High School or Ysleta High School. The eighth grade class of 1965 would be the first freshman class at the new high school and one grade would be added each year until it became a four-year school. Socorro graduated its first class in May 1968. Rafael (Ralph) Olivas was the highest ranking male student, and Mary Solis was the highest ranking female student from this first class. Both received college scholarships for their accomplishments.

Socorro High School, opened in fall of 1965 with A. D. Weir being named as SHS’s first principal. Columbia blue, red, and white were chosen as the official school colors and the bulldog was adopted as their mascot. A family who lived in the area actually donated their bulldog "Homer" to the school to be used at special functions.

As early as 1970, population growth began to create problems for Socorro High School. In 1971, Socorro High School could not accommodate the increasing enrollment and a split session was adopted. Half of the student body would attend from 7 AM until noon and the other half would attend from noon until 5 PM. By 1972, expansion of the school would temporarily alleviate those problems but these same problems would continue for years. By 1977, enrollment would grow to the point that a separate junior high school would be required. This too, was a temporary solution to the burgeoning population in the area and Socorro Junior High School would last only until the mid-1980s. Socorro Junior High would eventually be converted into a part of Socorro High School.

In 1982, Bill Sybert was hired as superintendent of Socorro ISD. A major focus of Mr. Sybert was to give the district an identity. His leadership created a "new face" for SISD. One of his big changes was the implementation of the K-8 concept. Junior High Schools would no longer be built, but rather local schools housing students from kindergarten through eighth grade. This allowed the district to take Socorro Junior High School and combine it with Socorro High, giving the high school the much needed space it needed to become a state of the art school. Mr. Sybert embarked on a major remodeling program for SHS that not only included numerous academic facilities, but facilities for extracurricular activities as well. The result was a high school facility that took a back seat to none. Included in the expansion was a theater that could seat 1234 people, second only to the El Paso Civic Center in capacity, The Pit, the largest high school gymnasium in the city and second only to the Haskins Center, as well as the Socorro High School Library which was the largest high school library in the state of Texas at the time.^[3]

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

All SISD high schools offer the following athletic programs: baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track, volleyball and wrestling.

The school has a continuing rivalry with Montwood in football where both teams play for "The Helmet" which has a side representing each school. This rivalry has produced some exciting games usually occurring near the end the sport's respective season.

The Socorro football team made the playoffs in 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2002. They won district championships in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998. The current head football coach and athletic coordinator is Mike Ferrell. Past head coaches of Socorro include Ricky Barraza, Glen Myers, Craig Ritchie, Jim Carson and John Parchman.

The Socorro Baseball team won the 5A State Championship in 2009.

Socorro High School opened a new weight room on July 27, 2014 and had grand opening of it on the same day.^[4]

References