Ida B. Wells-Barnett High School

Ida B. Wells-Barnett High School (IBWHS; colloquially Wells High School) is a public high school in Portland, Oregon, United States. The school is located in the center Hillsdale neighborhood next to Rieke Elementary. The boundary includes most of Southwest Portland.

Ida B. Wells High School
Address
1151 SW Vermont Street Portland , (Multnomah County) , Oregon 97219 United States
Coordinates	45.476842°N 122.689798°W / 45.476842; -122.689798
Information
Former name	Woodrow Wilson High School
Type	Public
Motto	"Lifting as we climb"
Opened	1956
School district	Portland Public Schools
Principal	Ayesha Coning[1]
Grades	9–12[2]
Number of students	1,540 (2021–2022 enrollment)[3]
Color(s)	Forest green and white   [4]
Athletics conference	OSAA Portland Interscholastic League 6A-1[4]
Team name	Wells Guardians
Rival	Lincoln High School
Feeder schools	Jackson Middle School Robert Gray Middle School
Website	www.pps.net/ibw

History

Wells High School (originally Wilson High School) was built in 1956, after a ballot measure was passed in 1945 providing $5 million to improve Portland's school system. Population was growing explosively, so emphasis was put on economy and ease of building, instead of on architectural style as was the norm in the earlier school buildings. Wilson High School, which was designed by the firm Edmundson and Kochendoerfer, used the technique of lift-slab construction to speed up construction. Wilson was the first building in the Northwest to use that technique.^[5]

In July 2020, Portland Public Schools pledged to rename Wilson High School in response to pressure from the community in light of the racial justice movement that followed the murder of George Floyd, due to the pro-segregration policies and pro-Ku Klux Klan sympathies of President Woodrow Wilson for whom the school was named.^[6] In January 2021, the name was changed to Ida B. Wells-Barnett High School, in honor of Ida B. Wells.^[7] The mascot was also changed from the Trojans to the Guardians (represented by an owl).

Notable alumni

• Kenji Bunch, violist and composer^[8]
• Ginny Burdick, communications consultant and member of the Oregon State Senate
• Boaz Frankel, television personality^[9]
• Peter Gassner, CEO and co-founder of Veeva Systems, a company supporting processes in the pharmaceutical industry. Net worth US $5.25 billion.
• David Gilkey, Nationally recognized photojournalist and war correspondent.
• Alicia Lagano, actress^[10]
• Paul Linnman, television news reporter and anchor; radio personality^[11]
• Dale Murphy, professional baseball player, 7-time All-Star, twice National League MVP^[12]
• Gabriel Pascuzzi
• William "BJ" Prendergast, US Army Major General who served as commander over US Army Africa (USAFRICOM) and Oregon National Guard.
• Damon Stoudamire, basketball player and coach, 1996 NBA Rookie of the Year^[13]
• Wayne Twitchell, professional baseball player^[14]