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Silas High School is a four-year public secondary school in Tacoma, Washington. It is one of five traditional high schools in the Tacoma Public Schools and is located at the intersection of Orchard Street and 11th Street. Silas' current principal is Bernadette Ray; assistant principals are Alli Bennett, and Rindi Hartman. The school was formerly named Woodrow Wilson High School from its founding in 1958 until July 2021 after a wave of name changes following the 2020 racial protests that swept the world.

Its attendance boundary includes Ruston.

HillTop artists

Dale Chihuly, a glass artist who graduated from the school, established HillTop Artists, a glass working program at Silas. For a $20 fee, students can blow glass, make glass beads, and participate in kiln work. This program is run by glass artists who trained with Chihuly at the Pilchuck Glass School.

Daffodil Festival

Every year, Silas participates in the Pierce County Daffodil Festival. A competition is held in house to select the Silas Princess. The Princess must have at least a 3.5 GPA and must be a senior. She will go on to compete against other regional schools for the Daffodil Festival Queen title. The Queen title is considered the highest honor of the regional festival. In April, the Silas band accompanies the Princesses on a float in the annual parade.

Name change

In 2020, two Tacoma Public Schools principals proposed renaming Woodrow Wilson High School and other schools in response to public outcry due to their association with controversial historic figures. Woodrow Wilson, the school's namesake, was a segregationist who had sympathized with the Ku Klux Klan and held pro-Confederacy views. A public survey circulated to 3,900 respondents in September 2020 was returned with 43 percent in favor of renaming the school and 57 percent in favor of retaining Wilson's name. On February 11, 2021, Tacoma Public Schools Board of Directors approved a plan to rename the school for Dr. Dolores Silas, the first Black woman to serve as a school administrator and city council member in Tacoma. The official renaming to Silas High School took effect on July 1 and is planned to take 18 months to fully transition, at a cost of $400,000 to replace signage and uniforms.

Sports

Silas participates in Cross Country, Girls' Soccer, Football, Girls' Swimming, Boys' Tennis, Girls Volleyball, Boys' Water Polo, Boys' Basketball Girls' Basketball, Boys' Swimming, Girls' Bowling, Wrestling, Project Unify, Boys' Baseball, Girls' Fast pitch, Boys' Soccer, Girls' Tennis, Golf, Girls' Water Polo, and Track. The Silas Boys Swimming and Diving team has won 29 State titles, with 24 consecutive titles between 1960–1983. The Boys Water Polo Team has won 4 state Titles. The Girls Bowling team have won 3 State Titles. The Boys Track And Field Team has won 6 State Titles. The Baseball team has won 1 State title in 1977. The Boys Golf Team has won 2 State titles.

Notable alumni

• Ted Bundy, serial killer, graduated in 1965, executed in 1989
• Dale Chihuly, (1959) noted glass artist
• Xavier Cooper, (2010) defensive tackle for the Cleveland Browns.
• Joey Gjertsen, (2000) midfielder for the San Jose Earthquakes
• Kaye Hall, 1968 Olympic gold and bronze medalist in women's swimming
• Dick Hannula, former swimming coach, won 24 consecutive state swimming titles, 1960-1983
• Leo Randolph, 1976 Olympic gold medalist in boxing
• Darrell Robinson, holder of the 400-meter national high school track record (44.69 seconds) since July 24, 1982
• Geoff Tate, lead singer of the Grammy-nominated band Queensrÿche
• Desmond Trufant, cornerback for the Chicago Bears, first round selection in 2013 NFL draft
• Isaiah Trufant, former cornerback for the Cleveland Browns
• Marcus Trufant, former cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks
• Clyde Werner, former linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs
• John Zamberlin, former linebacker for the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs; former head coach at Idaho State University

References

1. ^ "Search for Public Schools - Wilson (530870001513)". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
2. "School Boundaries". Tacoma Public Schools. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
3. U.S. Census Bureau Geography Division (December 23, 2009). 2020 Census – School District Reference Map: Pierce County, WA (PDF) (Map). 1:80,000. U.S. Census Bureau. p. 2. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
4. Needles, Allison (July 16, 2020). "Name change process underway for Tacoma schools amid racism concerns". The News Tribune. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
5. Needles, Allison (February 12, 2021). "It's official: Tacoma's Woodrow Wilson High School will get a new name". The News Tribune. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
6. Needles, Allison (January 29, 2021). "Here's the proposed new name for Wilson High School in Tacoma". The News Tribune. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
7. Dobkin, Finn. "Tracing the infamous Ted Bundy’s Tacoma roots." The Trail, 25 Oct. 2018, https://trail.pugetsound.edu/?p=15586. Accessed 11/10/24.
8. "Dale Chihuly Biography." Robin Rile Fine Art, https://robinrile.com/contemporary-sculptures/dale-chihuly-biography/. Accessed 11/10/24.
9. "Xavier Cooper - Player News." ESPN College Sports, https://www.espn.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/news/_/id/104712/xavier-cooper. Accessed 11/10/24.
10. "A Geoduck in the Big Time." Washington Premier FC, https://washingtonpremierfc.demosphere-secure.com/wpfc-in-the-pros/joey-gjertsen/a-geoduck-in-the-big-time. Accessed 11/10/24.
11. "Summer Olympics Individual Gold Medalists from Washington" HistoryLink.org, https://www.historylink.org/File/22471. Accessed 11/10/24.

Further reading

Video:

• Overman, Tony (2020-07-15). "Woodrow Wilson's KKK ties prompts effort to rename Tacoma high school". The News Tribune.

External links

• Official website
• The Woodrow student newspaper
• Daffodil Festival

• High schools in Pierce County, Washington
• Schools in Tacoma, Washington
• Public high schools in Washington (state)
• 1958 establishments in Washington (state)