Brookhaven High School (Brookhaven, Mississippi)

Brookhaven High School is in Brookhaven, Mississippi. It is part of the Brookhaven School District.^[3] All of the students are categorized as economically disadvantaged. The student body is about 2/3 African American and 1/3 white.^[4] Classes are fairly segregated and the district allows a parental choice plan for parents to choose their teachers.^[5][6] The school district is under a 1970 desegregation order.^[7]

Brookhaven High School
Address
443 East Monticello Street Brookhaven , (Lincoln County) , Mississippi 39601 United States
Coordinates	31.5788°N 90.4368°W / 31.5788; -90.4368
Information
Type	Public high school
Principal	Shonique McLaurin
Staff	54.94 (FTE)[1]
Enrollment	806[1] (2023-2024)
Student to teacher ratio	14.67[1]
Color(s)	Navy and red    [2]
Mascot	Panthers[2]
Nickname	"Ole Brook"[2]
Website

Panthers are the school mascot and the school colors are red and blue.^[8] It has a football team.^[9]

In 1900 G. L. Teat served as principal of Brookhaven City School.^[10] B. T. Schumpert was the principal in 1912.^[11][12] C. H. Lipsey also served as principal.^[13] A middle school in Brookhaven is named for him.

Black families boycotted local white-owned businesses after the school moved to hire as athletic director and football coach Hollis Rutter who had worked at segregation academia.^[14]

Supporters of the parental choice plan argue it keeps white families in the districts public schools.^[7] Lawrence County Academy was a segregation academy in the area after desegregation and Brookhaven Academy is a current one. U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith attended Lawrence County Academy^[15] and sent her daughter to Brookhaven Academy.^[16][17]

Alumni

Several NFL players including Lance Alworth and Ralph Smith attended the school.^[18] Basketball player Glen Whisby is an alum.

Additional alumni:

• Thomas Terrell, basketball player^[19]
• Elsie Barge, musician, class of 1914^[20]
• Thomas Pickens Brady, white supremacist and segregationist who served on the Mississippi Supreme Court
• Alundis Brice, athlete who competed in track and field and football
• Don Estes, NFL player (San Diego Chargers)
• Thomas Strauthers, former NFL defensive end

References

1. "Brookhaven High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
2. "MHSAA School Directory". Mississippi High School Activities Association. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
3. "Brookhaven High School". bhs.brookhavenschools.org. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
4. "Brookhaven High School in Brookhaven, MS - US News Best High Schools". U.S. News & World Report. February 20, 2023. Archived from the original on April 28, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
5. "Segregated classrooms in Mississippi aren't a thing of the past. And parents play a role".
6. Northam, Adam. "63 years after landmark Brown v. Board case, segregated classrooms persist". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on May 31, 2023. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
7. Staff, Daily Leader (April 3, 2019). "MCIR report: Schools allow some segregation". Daily Leader. Archived from the original on April 23, 2023. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
8. "Brookhaven (MS) High School Sports - Football, Basketball, Baseball, Softball, Volleyball, and more | MaxPreps". Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
9. "Mississippi High School Football History". Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
10. "Catalogue of the Officers, Alumni and Students of the University of Mississippi, at Oxford, Mississippi". 1900. Archived from the original on October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
11. "Bulletin". 1913. Archived from the original on October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
12. "Mississippi Educational Advance". 1911. Archived from the original on October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
13. Roemer, Joseph (1926). "Failures in Secondary Schools". Archived from the original on October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
14. Watts, Trent (May 1, 2008). White Masculinity in the Recent South. LSU Press. ISBN 9780807148686. Archived from the original on May 12, 2023. Retrieved April 23, 2023 – via Google Books.
15. "'Segregation academy' attended by Cindy Hyde-Smith a common remnant of Mississippi's troubled history". NBC News. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
16. "Mississippi Senator Attended School Set Up After High Court Ordered Desegregation". NPR. Archived from the original on April 23, 2023.
17. Forgey, Quint. "Mississippi newspaper: Hyde-Smith attended segregation academy". POLITICO. Archived from the original on April 23, 2023. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
18. "Brookhaven (Brookhaven, MS) Alumni Pro Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
19. "Brookhaven High School, Brookhaven (MS) Basketball Players - RealGM". Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
20. "Brookhaven to Honor Class of '14". Clarion-Ledger. October 17, 1954. p. 9. Archived from the original on April 23, 2023. Retrieved April 23, 2023 – via newspapers.com.