Sunset High School (Dallas)
Encyclopedia
Sunset High School is a public secondary school
located in the North Oak Cliff
area of Dallas
, Texas
(USA
). The school enrolls students in grades 9
-12
and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District
. Opened in 1925, Sunset was the second high school in the Oak Cliff area, preceded only by Adamson High School. The school serves a portion of Dallas and Cockrell Hill
.
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 mascot is the American Bison
; it was chosen since early students had to cross open fields to get to school.
Sunset is one of only two high schools in the DISD to win the state football championship, having won the now-discontinued "City" championship in 1950 (Adamson, at the time known as Oak Cliff High, won the other in 1924).
Sunset also won the state basketball championship in 1944, coached by Stanley Thomas with notable players such as Hank Foldberg and Bobby Folsom.
PK-5
Margaret B Henderson
One middle school, W.E. Greiner, feeds into Sunset.http://www.dallasisd.org/demo/schoolinfo/hzones2007.htm
Sunset Alumni Association is a group which uses its membership contributions to award yearly grants to classes and organizations of Sunset High School benefiting her students.
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
located in the North Oak Cliff
Oak Cliff
Oak Cliff is a community in Dallas, Texas, United States that was formerly a separate town located in Dallas County; Dallas annexed Oak Cliff in 1903...
area of Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
(USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
). The school enrolls students in grades 9
Ninth grade
Ninth grade is the ninth post-kindergarten year of school education in some school systems. The students are 13 to 15 years of age, depending on when their birthday occurs. Depending on the school district, ninth grade is usually the first year of high school....
-12
Twelfth grade
Twelfth grade or Senior year, or Grade Twelve, are the North American names for the final year of secondary school. In most countries students then graduate at age 17 or 18. In some countries, there is a thirteenth grade, while other countries do not have a 12th grade/year at all...
and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District
Dallas Independent School District
The Dallas Independent School District is a school district based in Dallas, Texas . Dallas ISD, which operates schools in much of Dallas County, is the second largest school district in Texas and the twelfth largest in the United States.In 2009, the school district was rated "academically...
. Opened in 1925, Sunset was the second high school in the Oak Cliff area, preceded only by Adamson High School. The school serves a portion of Dallas and Cockrell Hill
Cockrell Hill, Texas
Cockrell Hill is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,443 at the 2000 census. It is completely surrounded by the city of Dallas.-Geography:Cockrell Hill is located at ....
.
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 mascot is the American Bison
American Bison
The American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...
; it was chosen since early students had to cross open fields to get to school.
Sunset is one of only two high schools in the DISD to win the state football championship, having won the now-discontinued "City" championship in 1950 (Adamson, at the time known as Oak Cliff High, won the other in 1924).
Sunset also won the state basketball championship in 1944, coached by Stanley Thomas with notable players such as Hank Foldberg and Bobby Folsom.
Feeder patterns
As of the 2007-08 school year, http://www.dallasisd.org/demo/schoolinfo/hzones2007.htm, the following elementary schools feed into Sunset High School:PK-5
- Lida Hooe
- Anson Jones
- Louise Wolff Kahn
- George Peabody
- Rosemont Primary (PK-2), Rosemont (3-5)
- Winnetka
Margaret B Henderson
One middle school, W.E. Greiner, feeds into Sunset.http://www.dallasisd.org/demo/schoolinfo/hzones2007.htm
Notable alumni
- Hank FoldbergHank FoldbergHenry Christian "Hank" Foldberg, Sr. was an American college and professional football player who became a college football coach. Foldberg played college football for Texas A&M University and the U.S. Military Academy, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Chicago Hornets and Brooklyn...
, All America football player at West Point, 1946; Member, Sunset 1944 State Championship Basketball Team - Dan FoldbergDan FoldbergJohn Daniel Foldberg was an American military officer and football player. He played as an end for the Army Cadets at the United States Military Academy. Army head coach Earl Blaik rated him the best end he had ever coached. He was selected in the 1951 NFL Draft, but pursued a 27-year military career...
, Army officer; All-America football player at West Point, 1950 - Louise LathamLouise LathamLouise Latham is an American actress, perhaps best known for her portrayal of Bernice Edgar in Alfred Hitchcock's film Marnie...
, film, television and Broadway actress - Linda DarnellLinda DarnellLinda Darnell was an American film actress.Darnell was a model as a child, and progressed to theater and film acting as an adolescent. At the encouragement of her mother, she made her first film in 1939, and appeared in supporting roles in big budget films for 20th Century Fox throughout the 1940s...
, film actress - Henry CalvinHenry CalvinHenry Calvin was an American comic actor best known for his role as Sergeant Garcia on Walt Disney's live-action television series Zorro .-Early life:...
(born Wimberly Goodman), TV actor - Davey Williams, Played for New York/San Francisco Giants; 1953 MLB All Star Game; 1954 World Series Champion
- Don JanuaryDon JanuaryDonald Ray January is an American professional golfer.January was born in Plainview, Texas, and graduated from Sunset High School in Dallas...
, Professional Golfer; four-time NCAA Champion at North Texas State University - Jerry RhomeJerry RhomeJerry Byron Rhome is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League. He played for the Dallas Cowboys , the Cleveland Browns , the Houston Oilers , and the Los Angeles Rams...
,(1960) Runner-up, 1964 Heisman Trophy at Tulsa; College Football Hall of Fame; Coach, Super Bowl XXII Champion Washington Redskins - Don "Tiny" Goss, football player, SMU and (Cleveland BrownsCleveland BrownsThe Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
) - Billy Lee BrammerBilly Lee BrammerBilly Lee Brammer was an author, journalist, and political staffer in Texas and Washington, D.C.. He is best known for his set of three linked novellas, The Gay Place.- Life :...
, journalist and novelist - Clay Armstrong, PhD, Physiologist; leading authority on Ion Channel Structures; Louisa Gross Horwitz Award
- Rudy JaramilloRudy JaramilloRudolpho "Rudy" Jaramillo [ha-dah-MEE-yoh] is the hitting coach for the Chicago Cubs. During his time with the Texas Rangers, Jaramillo was the first individual in Rangers history to serve more than eight seasons on their major league coaching staff. He served as the Texas Rangers' major league...
, hitting coach for the Chicago CubsChicago CubsThe Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
. - John CerminaroJohn CerminaroJohn Paul Cerminaro, Jr. is an American horn player who is best known for his principal tenures with two notable American orchestras, the New York Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Philharmonic...
, principal hornHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
player of the New York PhilharmonicNew York PhilharmonicThe New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
, Los Angeles PhilharmonicLos Angeles PhilharmonicThe Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...
, and Seattle Symphony Orchestra. - Terry SouthernTerry SouthernTerry Southern was an American author, essayist, screenwriter and university lecturer, noted for his distinctive satirical style...
, author of CandyCandy (novel)Candy is a 1958 novel written by Maxwell Kenton in collaboration with Mason Hoffenberg published by Olympia Press. It was later published in North America by Putnam under the authors' own names...
, The Magic ChristianThe Magic Christian (novel)The Magic Christian is a 1959 comic novel by American author Terry Southern. In 1969 the novel was made into a film starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr, by director Joseph McGrath, also titled The Magic Christian...
, and other novels; was screenwriter on Easy RiderEasy RiderEasy Rider is a 1969 American road movie written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. It tells the story of two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South with the aim of achieving freedom...
, Dr. Strangelove and other notable movies; contributed to scripts on Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
in the early 1980s; and taught writing at NYU and Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in the 80s and 90s, was a member of the class of 1942. He died in 1995. - Dr. Michael Hinojosa, former DISD Superintendent, is a Sunset alumnus.
- Charles Collum, 1960 graduate went on to publish two volumes of photography, Dallas Nude and New York Nude.
- Roger Herrera, 1987 graduate, successful Dallas attorney, 2007 candidate for Dallas mayor.
- Bill Meeks (1921—1999), music industry and radio station jingles entrepreneur
- Eddie Southern, 1955 graduate, 1956 Olympic Silver Medal winner in 400 Meter Hurdles; Member, World Record 440 and 880 Relay Teams at The University of Texas at Austin; 1959 NCAA 440 yard Champion.
- Gerald (Jerry) Avery Mays, All Southwest Conference football player at SMU; Captain, Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl I and Champion with Chiefs in Super Bowl IV.
- Robert S. Folsom, Mayor of Dallas (1977-1981); Chairman, DISD Board of Trustees; Captain of Sunset's 1944 State Championship Basketball Team.
- Bill Melton, (1958) Dallas County Treasurer (1977-2002); Announcer, 1996 Olympic Games; Announcer, Super Bowls VI, VIII & IX; Announcer, Cotton Bowl Classic, 32 years; Announcer, 2001 and 2005 Presidential Inaugural Ceremonies.
- Dick PennerDick PennerDick Penner is a retired professor of English, who, while in college in 1955, co-composed, with Wade Lee Moore , Ooby Dooby, Roy Orbison's rockabilly classic. Penner also had been a singer, guitar player, and recording artist.In 1957, Penner switched from country music to rock & roll...
(born 1936), retired English professor and co-composer of "Ooby Dooby", Roy OrbisonRoy OrbisonRoy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
's rockabilly classic - John M. Stemmons, Dallas developer and "Father" of Stemmons Corridor in Dallas; Linz Award Winner, Dallas' highest civic Honor.
- Michael A. Jenkins, (1960) President, Dallas Summer Musicals; winner, four Tony Awards; winner, Broadway's League of Excellence in Management Award.
- John D. Dodd, (1958) Mayor, Farmers Branch, Texas (1975-1988); Vice President, DISD Board; Chairman, Dallas Mental Health and Mental Rehabilitation Board; President, Honor's Academy Charter Schools.
- Mickey Jones, (1959) Drummer for Trini Lopez, Johnny Rivers and Bob Dylan; movie, television and commercials actor.
- Robert M. Haley, M.D., Head, Division of Epidemiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center; U.S. Armed Forces Veterans Distinguished Chair for Medical Research Honoring Robert M. Haley, M.D. and American Gulf War Veterans; leader in "Agent Orange" Research.
Fundraising
Sunset Foundation Inc. is a group of alumni who raise money and award college scholarships to Sunset High School students.Sunset Alumni Association is a group which uses its membership contributions to award yearly grants to classes and organizations of Sunset High School benefiting her students.
Alumni Associations
- The Sunset Alumni Association...Alumni Association and website
- The Sunset Class of 1950...Alumni Association and website
- The Sunset Class of 1968...Alumni Association and website
- The Sunset class of 1969...Alumni Association and website
- The Sunset class of 1970...Alumni Association and website
- The Sunset Class of 1994...Alumni Association and website
- The Sunset Class of 1994...Alumni Association and website
- The Sunset Class of 1998...Alumni Association and website