Sunset High School (Texas)


Sunset High School is a public secondary school located in the North Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas. The school enrolls students in grades 9-12 and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District. The school serves a portion of Dallas and Cockrell Hill. In 2015, the school was rated "Met Standard" by the Texas Education Agency.

History

Opened in 1925, Sunset was the second high school in the Oak Cliff area, preceded only by Adamson High School. The origin of the school's name is uncertain; however, it may be due to its location. At the time it opened, Sunset was the westernmost school in the DISD, and the subdivision surrounding the school on the western side of Dallas was called "Sunset Heights".
The school opened in 1925 with 1,400 students and 39 teachers as southwest Oak Cliff became increasingly developed. At the time, it was the high school with the largest capacity in DISD; it had the same general architectural plan as Forest Avenue, North Dallas and Oak Cliff high schools. Its opening relieved Oak Cliff High.
The mascot is the American Bison; it was chosen since early students had to cross open fields to get to school.
In the summer of 2006, Anthony Tovar, a Mexican American raised in Dallas who was previously an assistant principal at W. H. Adamson High School and Moises Molina High School, began work as the principal of Sunset. He gained a reputation of being an excellent principal partly due to his hands-on, involved approach in which he actively communicated with students. In 2013, he planned to resign due to frustration with DISD central office reforms, but he later rescinded his resignation. That year Tovar had been placed on a "growth plan". Tovar left DISD in 2013 but stated that he was not forced to resign; in 2015, he returned as an interim assistant principal at Kathlyn Joy Gilliam Collegiate Academy.
In 2009, the school had 155 teachers and 2,200 students.
On May 28, 2014, Sunset High School was designated a Dallas Historical Landmark by vote of the Dallas City Council. The City of Dallas Historical Commission and DISD supported the nomination. In April 2015, the Texas Historical Commission named Sunset High School a Texas Historical Landmark. On September 26, 2015, Sunset High School Celebrated the 90th Anniversary of the school and officially unveiled and dedicated its "Texas Historical Landmark" marker and "Dallas Historical Landmark" marker. It also formally dedicated the Sunset Byron Rhome Football Fieldhouse with a huge ceremony at the school attended by some 700 people.

Athletics

Sunset is the only high school in the DISD to win the State Football Championship, having won the now-discontinued "Big City" State Championship in 1950. The School was also state runner up in 1942 and 1949. They were state semi-finalists in 1940, 1941 and 1955.
Sunset won the State Basketball Championship in 1944.
Sunset won the State Track and Field Championship in 1953,. Future USA Olympic Silver Medalist Eddie Southern won four state championships - 120 yard hurdles in 1954 and 1955 and 220 yard and 440 yard dash in 1955, setting state and national high school records in the latter two.
The Sunset Golf Team won the state championship in 1938, 1943, 1944, 1945 and 1952. Future PGA Touring Pro and Home Pro at the Oak Cliff Country Club, Earl Stewart, Jr. would win the State Golf Championship in 1937, 1938 and 1939. In 1952, Sunset's Jimmy Powell won the individual state championship in golf.
Sunset also won two state titles in UIL One Act Play in 1944 and 1947.
In 1929, Sanger Brothers Department Store donated the Sanger Trophy to the Dallas Independent School District to be awarded annually to one of the six original DISD High Schools accumulating the most points in athletics. The Sanger Trophy was eventually awarded to Sunset for having won the Trophy more than any other of the Schools. The Sanger Trophy was restored in 2011 and now resides in the Old Red Museum of Dallas Culture and History, representing all six original Dallas High Schools.

Academic performance

In 2006, 53% of the students passed the TAKS math test and 56% passed the science test. In 2008, 57% passed the math test and 62% passed the science test; in 2008, the reading/language arts pass percentage was 82%, and the social studies pass percentage was 91%.
In 2005, the school's graduation rate was 38%. In 2013, it was 57%.

Feeder patterns

, , the following elementary schools feed into Sunset High School:
PK-5
One middle school, W.E. Greiner, feeds into Sunset.

Athletics

The Sunset Bisons compete in the following sports:
The Sunset High School Alumni Association is a 5013 non-profit that raises money in support of teachers, students and the school. The Sunset Foundation is a group of alumni who raise money and award college scholarships to Sunset High School students.