Phone +1 225-294-3256 | ||
Address 27322 LA-42, Springfield, LA 70462, USA | ||
Springfield High School in Springfield, Louisiana, is a co-educational public high school under the Livingston Parish School Board. The school currently serves 361 students from the communities of Springfield and Killian in Livingston Parish, Louisiana. Principal is Spencer Harris. Colors are Royal blue and White.
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History
Springfield High School's history is not the most documented one, similar to the town it resides in. The earliest known record of a graduating class was the Class of 1923, in which two males and three females were among the honorees. The original school buildings were burned down sometime in the 1970s due to tensions between African-American students and White students. Neither party was found responsible for the ignition of the fire, as both parties were present on the school grounds during the fires and both sides claimed they were innocent whilst blaming the other. The only building that remained largely intact was the modern "3rd Hall" structure. While the town of Springfield has not had much population change in the last few decades, the school has grown at a slow and steady rate. The student population was in the 290s in the 1990s and now is up to 361. Much of this growth can likely be accounted for in the growth of the town of Killian and developments similar to Carter Plantation. Due to overcrowding concerns at the current campus, recent plans are to build a new high school just west of the city of Springfield on land owned by the school district. Funding for the plan was defeated by voters in 2016.
Athletics
The School's Mascot is the Bulldog and the teams are referred to as the "Bulldogs" and the "Lady Bulldogs". The Football Stadium is commonly referred to across South-East Louisiana as "The Dawg Pound". "The Dawg Pound" was unofficially ranked the 39th toughest place to play in for opponents in 2012 (out of 314 total). Springfield has two major rivals. One long time rival in nearby Class 3A Albany High School(Albany,LA). They meet annually on the gridiron in the Battle of I-12, so named for the interstate that separates the two nearby communities. The other rivalry has developed more recently and is St. Thomas Aquainas Catholic High School Falcons located in Hammond, LA. They have competed in the same district as the bulldogs for the last 25 years and the two teams have played in many memorable sporting events that many times decide the district championship.
Springfield High School competes as a member of the LHSAA(Louisiana High School Athletic Association) Class 2A. At times depending on school enrollment Springfield has been in Class 1A, though not recently. Basketball has been the most popular sport among students and community fans historically based on success. The Springfield High School Boys Basketball team has appeared in the Louisiana Class 2A Boys Basketball State Championship Game a total of three times. The first appearance, in 1982, saw the Bulldogs defeat Delta High School (Delta ,LA) 60-56. The next two appearances, in 1996 and 1997, were the pinnacle years of legendary Springfield Coach Mark Erdey. Erdey took control of the Basketball program in 1985, leading numerous teams to the State Semi-Finals and two teams to the State Championship up until his final season in 2009. Though he has recently returned from retirement as a volunteer coach and guided the bulldogs back to the playoffs in 2017. Both the 1996 and 1997 Championship games were fought against the same opponent, Christian Life Academy (Baton Rouge, LA). In 1996, Christian Life was victorious, 57-51; and in 1997, Springfield was victorious, 81-72 (OT).
Springfield Football has become more popular over the last decade as the bulldogs have enjoyed more success. The bulldogs were the Louisiana 6-man football state runners up in 1965. They began playing 11-man football the next year in 1966 under the leadership of legendary Missouri and Louisiana high school football coach Joseph Smith. Smith led the bulldogs until 1979. Even with all the success he had at Springfield, Smith was unable to guide the bulldogs to the playoffs, because at that time only the 1st place district finisher made the postseason. Smith left Springfield in 1979 for a job at football powerhouse Independence High School with another legendary coach, Charlie Baglio. However, while at Springfield, Smith was able to coach his son Ricky Smith, who died in a car accident at the age of 21. The fieldhouse on the campus of Springfield High School is named in his honor. Springfield would not make the playoffs in 11-man football until 1998 when they would travel to face powerhouse Riverside Academy the in Reserve, LA. Springfield lost 56-7. The Bulldogs hosted their first ever Playoff game the following season against Vermillion Catholic High School, under coach Mike Stant and Quarterback Steven Erdey, son of legendary basketball coach Mark Erdey. The final score was a 34-32 Vermillion Catholic victory. Springfield made the playoffs one more time under coach Mike Stant in 2001, another close loss at Welsh High School. In 2003, Coach Spencer Harris, the current principal at the school, took over the reigns of the program after many years guiding the middle school team. He narrowly missed the playoffs in his first season but from 2006-2009, the Springfield Football Team managed to get into playoffs every year, winning three games. This was mostly thanks to very talented and legendary running back Zeke Jones who went on to play at nearby Southeastern Louisiana University. Springfield's first ever Playoff victory in Football was in 2006 against Jonesboro-Hodge (Jonesboro, LA). 2007 and 2009 saw victories against rival school St. Thomas Aquinas (Hammond, LA) and Jeanerette (Jeanerette, LA), respectively. In 2012, Springfield experienced its most successful season in Football to date. Springfield drove itself all the way to the Class 2A Semi-Finals, defeating Northeast High (Baton Rouge, LA), district opponent Northlake Christian (Covington, LA), and Many High School (Many, LA) to face the well-known and well-respected John Curtis Patriots of River Ridge, LA. The game did not go well for the Bulldogs, and Curtis was eventually crowned State Champions the next week, but it solidified Springfield's position as the newest Class 2A power. In 2014, the Bulldogs survived until the Quarterfinal round, being beaten by eventual State Runner-Up Kinder High (Kinder, LA). The Bulldogs hope to obtain a State Championship in Football in the near future under leadership of current Head coach Ryan Serpas.
The bulldogs have enjoyed great fan support in all sports over the years. However, beginning in the early 2000s a Sprinfield alum ,Joshua Randall(Class of 2000), along with current students at the time named the officIal student section for the bulldogs the Springfield Crazies. This group is known across the state for intimidating opponents and their unwavering support of the bulldogs.
Academics
Springfield High School has always had one of the most successful 4-H and Agricultural Science (FFA) organizations in the entire region. Springfield has also received a "Bronze" Medal from the U.S. News and World Reports for being one of the most successful Public High Schools in the State of Louisiana and all of the United States. The Average ACT Score is a 24 and the graduation rate is 92% amongst students from 9-12 grade. Among Springfield's many distinguished graduates are very successful physicians, attorneys and businessmen.