Type Public School district KCMSD Founded 1927 | Established 1927 Grades 9-12 Colors Black, White, Orange | |
District Kansas City Public Schools Headquarters Kansas City, Missouri, United States | ||
Southwest High School was a comprehensive high school located at 6512 Wornall Road in Kansas City, Missouri. It was part of the Kansas City, Missouri School District.
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Background
Southwest High School was established in 1927. After closing its doors in the 1990s, the building was reoccupied by Southwest Charter School until 2005. The school is in the Brookside neighborhood, at 6512 Wornall Road, two blocks south of Border Star Montessori. This is the only school in the Kansas City, Missouri School District that has an on-site planetarium and science laboratories.
For five decades, Southwest High School had a predominantly white student body. In the late 1960s, a few black students began attending.
It was not until the 1970s that the black student population increased significantly at Southwest High. In 1973, Southwest had a black student population of 2%. By the late 1970s, the black student population was approximately 60% due to busing and attendance boundary changes that began during the 1975-1976 school year.
Future
Southwest became part of the school district again in August 2008, opening as Southwest Early College Campus. SWECC is based on math and science, and allows students to earn 20 to 60 hours of college credit from the University of Missouri-Kansas City before graduating.
The school opened for students in the 6th-9th grade and will stop at 12th grade.
Academie Lafayette, a French-immersion charter school, will have high school classes in the Southwest building starting with the 2015-2016 school year. The Kansas City School District made the announcement June 9, 2014. However, this plan was canceled.