- Source: Tupelo High School
Tupelo High School is the only public high school in Tupelo, Mississippi. The campus consists of fourteen buildings, including a Performing Arts Center, separate buildings for social studies, English, math, sciences, fine arts, and a self-contained grade-9 building.
The current student population of the school is around 2,000 students. As of 2014–2015, it is the largest enrolled public high school in the state of Mississippi. The class of 2015 consisted of 438 graduates. The school offers a curriculum containing 160 Carnegie units, 24 of which are Advanced Placement.
Tupelo High School is a two-time National Blue Ribbon School award winner, having won the award in 1983-1984 and another in 1999–2000.
The school's boundary includes the vast majority of Tupelo and a portion of Saltillo.
History
Until 1971 and desegregation, Black students in Tupelo attended Lee County Training School and then Carver High School. The segregated schools alternated nights using Robins Field for football games.
Demographics
In 2023, the student body was about 49 percent Black, 36 percent White, and 8 percent Hispanic. Of the student body, 100 percent are categorized as economically disadvantaged.
Student life
As of 2022- 2023, Tupelo High School offers extracurricular activities, including football, slowpitch and fastpitch softball, cross country, volleyball, swimming, basketball, soccer, bowling, archery, baseball, wrestling, golf, tennis, cheer, and track and field. In addition to athletics, the school offers other clubs, such as theatre, a school newspaper, arts, and mock trials.
Notable alumni
Chad Bumphis, professional football player
Alex Carrington, professional football player
Russell Copeland, professional football player
Frank Dowsing, first black football player at both THS and Mississippi State
John Dye, actor
Deandre' Eiland, professional football player
Mikky Ekko, singer-songwriter
Adam Grace, musician
Jarious Jackson, professional football player
Jett Johnson, college football linebacker for the Mississippi State Bulldogs
Todd Jordan, professional football player and Tupelo mayor
Ken Kirk, professional football player
Rae Sremmurd, hip-hop duo
Chris Stratton, professional baseball player
Tan White, professional basketball player
Tamika Whitmore, retired professional basketball player