L. D. Bell High School

History

L.D. Bell High School opened in 1957 at a campus on Pipeline Road. Lawrence Dale Bell High School was relocated to the current campus on Brown Trail Drive in 1965, at a site donated to the school district by Lawrence D. "Larry" Bell, Founder and President of Bell Helicopter Textron in Hurst. The new location was able to accommodate a growing student population resulting from the rapid suburban growth in Hurst, Euless, Bedford, and Colleyville. The former high school grounds now house Central Junior High, the H-E-B Athletic Complex, KEYS (Keeping Eligible Youth in School) High School, and the Forrest E. Watson (F.E.W.) Center.

Preceding Jim Bannister as principal was Jim Short. Both of these men were preceded by the state legislature-commended E. Don Brown, a former president of both the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) and the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals (TASSP).

In 2002, the school was at the center of a national zero tolerance debate when an honor student was expelled for having a non-serrated bread knife in his truck-bed. The knife was left in the truck by accident after the student had helped move his grandmother's possessions. His expulsion was rescinded when media attention mounted against principal Jim Short and the school district.

Campus and facilities

L. D. Bell High School moved to its present location in 1965. Venues on the L.D. Bell High School campus include Nathan F. Danford field (baseball); a softball field; the Raider Bowl - a football field with permanent bleachers, a track, a field house, and an observation deck; a practice football field for the marching band with an observation deck; several other large football fields; and four parking lots (faculty, student, band hall and Bell Freeway Entrance (B.F.E.) / Raider Bowl). An activity center named for former principal E. Don Brown opened in 2013 with a 60-yard indoor field, offices, and locker rooms.

The northern section of the campus grounds, including all buildings, is within the Hurst City limits. The baseball diamond and most of the Raider Bowl and track are located within Bedford city limits.

L.D. Bell shares the use of district facilities such as Pennington Field for soccer, football, and marching band events and the HEB athletic field located at Central Junior High.

Student body

During the 2014-2015 school year, L. D. Bell High School enrolled 2,143 total students in grade 10 (35.5%), grade 11 (32.5%), and grade 12 (32.0%). Ethnicities represented include white (49.5%), Hispanic (27.7%), Asian and Pacific Islander (6.7%), African American (13.3%), and American Indian (0.6%). Forty percent were economically disadvantaged.

There were 600 graduates in the class of 2014. The annual dropout rate is 0.2% (in 2013-2014).

L.D. Bell receives students from three feeder schools: all students from Bedford Junior High school and Hurst Junior High school attend Bell along with a share of the students from Central Junior High school. Students in the attendance zones for Bedford Heights, Bellaire, Bell Manor, Donna Park, Harrison Lane, Hurst Hills, River Trails, Shady Brook, Shady Oaks, Stonegate, and West Hurst elementary schools attend L. D. Bell High School.

L.D. Bell students carry on many traditions, including "head-banging" to the drumline during pep rallies and at football games, as well as Seniors storming the gym floor at the beginning of the fight song at the end of each pep rally.

Athletics

Despite not having freshmen on campus, the 9th graders at each feeder campus are technically eligible for varsity sports programs, and on rare occasion make the teams and participate with the high school attendees.

Football

L.D. Bell has three football teams: varsity, JV, and sophomore. For the game with rival Trinity High School, the teams alternate between home and visitor every two years. The varsity football team has lost against Trinity High School in each of their last 18 games. The 1982 varsity football team was defeated in the state championship game by West Brook Senior High (Beaumont, TX). Bell made the state semifinals in 1986 and the area finals in 1989. The sophomores of L.D. Bell showed the greatest growth, going 10-0 in their 1990 season. Athletes at Bell are encouraged to move at "Raider speed", which entails a "heightened sense of urgency, faster pace, and high enthusiasm".

Gymnastics

Men's Gymnastics State Championships: 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1993, 2007

The men's gymnastics team has won 16 state titles since it was founded by Coach Emil Millan in 1966. The Bell men's team, currently coached by Sean Sims, has been the district and regional champions for the past three years, and placed 3rd as a team in the 2006 state championship. In the 2007 state championship meet, the team won their 16th state title, bringing back the championship for the first time in 14 years. The team finished as state runner-up in 2008 while bringing home titles on floor, parallel bars and all-around.

Women's Gymnastics State Championships: 1967, 1968, 1970, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1993, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2016.

The women's gymnastics team has won 20 state championships since 1967. The team has claimed the first place spot at both district and regionals for at least the past six years, claimed state titles from 2002 to 2005, and placed second in the 2006 and 2007 state championship competition. The 2006-07 school year was Coach Debbie Williams' 32nd season at L.D. Bell. Lindsey Heartsfield, Renee McEntire, and Sara Bedford are the only gymnastics in the state of Texas that have won 4 Team State Championships. Individually, Heartsfield is the 2005 Uneven Bar State Champion; McEntire is the 2005 All-Around State Champion; Bedford is the 2003 Balance Beam State Champion and 2005 Floor State Champion.

Baseball

Men's baseball is played on campus at Nathan F. Danford field, located along Pleasantview Dr. on the northwest corner of campus. They're coached by Paul Gibson (1994–Present). The team made the regional finals in 2011, regional semifinals in 1983, 2012, 2013 and the regional quarterfinals in 2002. They won the district championships in 1995, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, and 2011.

Ice Hockey

The ice hockey team plays at area ice rinks, including the Dr. Pepper Star's Centers in Euless, Grapevine, and Coppell.

Tennis

The school has a full complement of tennis courts located between the new Don Brown Activity Center and the parking lot at the rear of the school building. The Varsity team accepts 9th graders from the two Junior High Schools that feed L.D. Bell - Bedford Junior High and Hurst Junior High. It plays both away and home matches against many high schools in North Texas, including Chisholm Trail, Boswell, Nimitz, MacArthur, Denton, Marcus, Richland, Hebron, Flower Mound, Trinity, Lewisville, Carroll Senior and Byron Nelson. The JV team also plays home and away games with select high schools. The Head Coach is Stefanie Rivera.

Other

The volleyball team won the district 7-5A championship in 2006. The women's soccer team won the district championship in 2007. The men's and women's soccer teams' home games are typically played at Pennington Field. Softball home games are played at the softball field on the south end of campus near the Raider Bowl. L.D. Bell High School also fields teams in golf and men's and women's basketball.

Band

The band program at L.D. Bell splits students into four concert season bands: Sub Non-Varsity 2, Sub Non-Varsity, Non-Varsity, and Varsity. The marching band consists of members from all four concert season bands and totals 310 students. Van Mathews is the head director of bands at L.D. Bell.

The marching band advanced to the UIL State competition in 2016, 2012, 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002, 2000, 1998, 1996 and 1988; advanced to the finals in 2016, 2012, 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002 (finals canceled due to inclement weather), and 2000, and won the championship in 2004 and 2000.

In addition to the University Interscholastic League (UIL) competitions, the band regularly competes in independent contests (usually run by schools) and Bands of America (BOA) contests at both the regional and national levels. In November 2007, the Bell marching band won the BOA Grand National Championship and additional awards for Outstanding Music Performance and Outstanding General Effect. In 2006, the marching band was awarded "Outstanding Musical Performance" and placed 2nd overall at the BOA Grand Nationals. In 2004, the band won the BOA St. Louis Super-Regional and captured all captions (specific categories of judgment - music, marching, and general effect). In other BOA Grand National competitions, the band placed 4th in 2001, 5th in 2003, 3rd in 2005, 2nd in 2006, 1st in 2007, 2nd in 2008, 2nd in 2009, 3rd in 2010, and 10th in 2013. Since 2000, the band has medaled at 22 BOA events and 4 of 4 times at the UIL State Marching Band Contest. From 1998 to 2013, the L.D. Bell Marching Band placed in the top 5 of every contest entered.

In recent years, the L.D. Bell High school and Trinity High school bands have cooperated to run the "H-E-B Marching Contest" as an additional fund-raising opportunity. Located at Pennington Field, the contest features an exhibition performance of both host bands along with other high schools from the state and surrounding areas in full preliminary and finals competitions.

Theatre

The theatre department participates in several activities each year. The UIL One act plays are competitive and advance through district, area, and state rounds. There are also senior directed one-act plays that allow students the opportunity to direct and produce their own play. In 1987, the Theatre department advanced through zone, district and area rounds to compete at the regional-level competition with their UIL One Act play "Amadeus". L.D. Bell Theatre won the 1995 state championship with the UIL One Act play "Black Angel". In 2014, the Theatre department advanced through zone and district rounds to compete at the area-level competition with their UIL One Act play "Cinderella Waltz".

Dance

The Raiderettes dance team performs at football games, basketball games, and in competitions. Consisting only of sophomore, junior and senior girls, the Raiderettes are known for their entrance onto the field to the song, "Grand Entry Swing March", and for their traditional kick/dance to the song, "Hey, Look Me Over!"

The step team performs at all pep rallies, in addition to competing locally & nationally. The boys' step team G-phi Smooth, also known as "The Hollywood Steppers" outside of school competition, consists of sophomore, junior, and senior boys. Always known for their elaborate entrances and outros as well as themes, G-Phi Smooth has won multiple state competitions and has competed on national television, going as far as Top 35 on America's Got Talent, where they competed with the world-famous dance group "The Jabbawockeez". The team was started in 2001 by Ronnie Jackson and Josh Ashford. Their biggest victory came when they beat their then-rivals Arlington Bowie HS "Bowie Souljahz" and Eastern Hills HS "Showtime Steppers" in Stomp Wars, the biggest and best statewide competition back-to-back-to-back and were considered the number 1 step team in the nation in 2007.

Choir

The choral program includes the Bell System show choir, an exclusive group that combines singing with dance steps and choreography. This group performs around the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, especially around the holiday season, when they perform at various venues such as the Fort Worth Petroleum Club, Cooks Children's Hospital, HEBISD conferences, Santa USA, Noteboom Injury Lawyers, and many others. Along with the nearly 30 shows in December alone, Bell System has its annual Showtime performance located in the L.D. Bell auditorium. In 2010, the show choir was featured on the front page of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram prior to the show in February.

The choral program is continuously recognized throughout the region and country. The choirs often receive the Sweepstakes award at UIL competitions, as well as bring home awards from annual out-of-state competitions. In 2010, the A Cappella choir was named Grand Vocal Champions in The Windy City Classic in Chicago. In October 2009, the A Cappella choir was featured on KERA Television in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area. By invitation, the choirs often perform with local orchestras and outside organizations such as the Northeast Tarrant County Orchestra. In March 2012, the choirs traveled to Italy, where they performed at St. Peter's Basilica. The program is expected to nearly double in participation in the next several years.

Speech and debate

L.D. Bell also features a vibrant speech and debate program that was revitalized in 1995. The speech and debate organization at the school had been largely non-competitive since the early 1980s. The team has competed in Lincoln-Douglas debates and several speech events at competitions run by the Texas Forensics Association, National Forensics League, and UIL. The Mock Trial team at L.D. Bell advanced to the Mock Trial state competition in 2013, 2014, and 2015.

Orchestra

The Orchestra program at Lawrence Dale Bell High School is a recent and fast growing program. With three Orchestras, Symphony, Philharmonic, and Concert, the program is quickly becoming renowned. Most notable is the Symphonic Orchestra which has been nationally recognized twice and has been invited to play at Carnegie Hall.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni are listed in chronological order by graduation (or expected graduation) year.