South Eugene High School

History

The school was founded as Eugene High School in 1903, and was located at Willamette Street and West 11th Avenue in a brick building that later served as Eugene's city hall. The Eugene school district in 1915 built a new high school on a one-block site on West 17th Avenue between Lincoln and Charnelton Streets.

By 1943, the Eugene School District had outgrown the cramped old high school, and voters approved a bond measure to build a new facility. World War II and other factors delayed construction for a decade, but the current building at 400 E. 19th Avenue was completed and occupied in September 1953. The old high school then served as Woodrow Wilson Junior High School until 1967 (the previous Wilson building was converted to Lincoln Elementary School in 1953).

In the fall of 1957, Eugene High was renamed South Eugene High School, when North Eugene High School opened in the River Road area north of the city.

In April 2018, after more than 90 years as the Axemen, the name of the school mascot was officially changed to The Axe.

Academics

In 1983, South Eugene High School was honored in the Blue Ribbon Schools Program, the highest honor a school can receive in the United States.

In 2008, 89% of the school's seniors received a high school diploma. Of 410 students, 363 graduated, 40 dropped out, and seven were still in high school the following year.

The school has regularly received a silver ranking in U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best High Schools" survey.

In 2010, a student at the school was honored as a Presidential Scholar, one of three from Oregon. A student at the school won the Intel Science Talent Search in 2009 after another South Eugene student placed third in 2007; other students have been named finalists or semifinalists in recent years.

South Eugene High School hosts a branch of the Eugene International High School, which offers International Baccalaureate courses as well as the International Baccalaureate Diploma. The main campus of South Eugene High School offers numerous Advanced Placement courses as well as honors courses.

South Eugene High School offers 14 Advanced Placement (AP) classes and opportunities for college credit through Lane Community College and the University of Oregon.

Activities

The school has many athletic teams (men's and women's ultimate frisbee, volleyball, football, lacrosse, cheerleading, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's basketball, wrestling, men's and women's golf, men's and women's tennis, men’s and women’s swimming, softball, baseball, cross country and track and field) and other student activities, such as band, choir, theater, orchestra and visual arts, as well as various student clubs.

South Eugene competes in the 6A Southwest Conference, except for football, which competes in the 5A Midwestern Conference. The school has experienced difficulty fielding a football team in the past due to a lack of participants.

South Eugene High School also offers a wide variety of clubs and programs. These include Speech and Debate, Alpine and Nordic Ski teams, National Honor Society, Rowing Club, Red Cross Club, Rotary Interact, Black Student Union, Feminist Union, Jewish Student Union, Latino Student Union, Model United Nations, Mock Trial, Gender & Sexuality Alliance, and South Eugene Robotics Team (FIRST Robotics Competition Team 2521).

State championships

Baseball: 1961, 1962

Boys basketball: 1927, 1946, 1955

Boys soccer: 1998, 2002

Boys track and field: 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983

Football: 1936

Girls basketball: 1987, 1999

Girls track and field: 1975, 2019

Gender diverse ultimate frisbee: 2024, 2023, 2022

Notable alumni

Sam Adams (Class of 1982), former mayor of Portland, Oregon

Cecil Andrus (Class of 1948), Governor of Idaho (1971–1977, 1987–1995) and U.S. Secretary of the Interior (1977–1981)

Garner Ted Armstrong (Class of 1947), televangelist for the Worldwide Church of God

Phil Barnhart (Class of 1964), Oregon state representative

John Beckett (Class of 1912), member of the College Football Hall of Fame

Bryce Boettcher (Class of 2021), college football linebacker and professional baseball outfielder

Tracy Bonham (Class of 1984), musician

Richard Brautigan (Class of 1953), counterculture author and poet

Chris Carter (Class of 1991), record producer

Phoebe Cole Gordon, artist

E. Max Frye (Class of 1973), screenwriter and director

Neil Goldschmidt (Class of 1958), mayor of Portland (1973–1979), Governor of Oregon (1987–1991), and United States Secretary of Transportation (1979–1981)

Tim Hardin (Class of 1960), anti-war folk singer

Rick Hawn (Class of 1994), mixed martial arts fighter

The Hunches (Class of 1999), rock band