Forest Hill High School


Forest Hill High School is a public high school located in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. It serves students from grades 912, and is part of the Jackson Public School District. The current principal is Torrey Hampton.
WWW jackson.k12.ms.us/ForestH...

Demographics

A total of 1,136 students were enrolled in Forest Hill High during the 2006–2007 school year. The gender makeup of the district was 51% female and 49% male. The racial makeup of the school was 96.39% African American, 2.90% White, 0.35% Hispanic, and 0.35% Asian.

Gifted Education/Open Doors

Gifted courses in grades 912 are offered based upon funding and teacher units provided by the state. Currently, Forest Hill High School is the only high school in the Jackson Public School District to offer gifted courses in English/language arts.

History

Located on 46 acres Forest Hills sits on the original site since 1915. It is the Oldest Consolidated School in Jackson, Mississippi whose origins begin in the 1800s.

Feeder pattern

The following schools feed into Forest Hill High School.
  • Middle Schools
  • *Cardozo Middle School
  • Elementary Schools
  • *Bates Elementary School
  • *Oak Forest Elementary School
  • *Timberlawn Elementary School
  • *Van Winkle Elementary School

Controversy

On October 5, 2018, the school's band performed at halftime during a game against Brookhaven High School, where two police officers had been shot and killed earlier that week. The band's performance was based on the film John Q., and it simulated police being shot by band members dressed as doctors and nurses. This resulted in general outrage, and the governor, Phil Bryant, condemned the act.
Forest Hill High School also came into controversy in 2020 for having a logo and mascot associated with the Confederate States of America. During a campaign to change and remove Confederate associations, Forest Hill parted ways with the Rebel mascot and the Confederate flag logo, although the school retained its colors of red, navy, and white. At the same time, Jackson's Robert E. Lee Elementary was renamed after Drs. Aaron and Ollye Shirley. Dr. Ollye Shirley, who was president of the Jackson Public School Board of Trustees, received death threats for lobbying for the changes at Forest Hill High School.

Notable alumni