Overton High School (Memphis, Tennessee)

Overton High School (currently known as Watkins Overton High School) is a secondary school for the Creative and Performing Arts located in Memphis, Tennessee.

Overton High School
Address
1770 Lanier Lane

Memphis
,
Tennessee
38117

United States
Coordinates35.08361°N 89.90452°W / 35.08361; -89.90452
Information
TypePublic secondary Creative and Performing Arts
Motto"Producing stars, in the classroom and on the stage."
Established1959
School districtMemphis City Schools (former), Shelby County Schools (current)
NCES District ID4700148
NCES School ID470014801130[1]
PrincipalReginald Williams[2]
Teaching staff73.83 (FTE)[1]
Grades9–12[1]
Enrollment1,363 (2021-2022[1])
Student to teacher ratio18.46[1]
CampusUrban
Color(s)Blue and Gray
MascotWolverines
Websiteschools.scsk12.org/overton-hs

The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Shelby County Schools district.[1] It was a Memphis City School when it was built in 1959. It became Shelby County School when Memphis surrender their charter back in 2014.

The school was named in honor of Memphis mayor S. Watkins Overton.

Athletics

Overton's sports programs include:

  • Boys' sports: basketball, baseball, bowling, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis, and track.
  • Girls' sports: basketball, bowling, cheerleading, cross country, golf, pom pom, soccer, softball, tennis, track, and volleyball.

Fine arts

Overton was declared a performing arts high school in 1976. The late Dr. Lulah M. Hedgeman was selected as choir director in 1976 and within five years, grew the program from 25 students to a choir of 150 students. The choir, under Hedgeman, performed a full concert in 1988 at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The choirs were invited to Nice, France, four times as guests of the city. Hedgeman was honored by the Walt Disney company in 1990 in their first production of The Salute to the American Teacher Awards. The Overton Choirs program, under the direction of Hedgeman, were ranked number 1 in the state of Tennessee for 21 consecutive years until Hedgeman's death in December 1997.

The vocal music department at Overton is still ranked the number 1 performing arts high school choir in the city of Memphis as of April 2016.

The band is the 2008 Division AAA Champions of the University of Memphis Bandmasters Championship and the 2008 Smoky Mountains Invitational Champions.

Other aspects of the CAPA program include creative writing, choirs, orchestra, jazz ensembles, drama, dance, and visual arts. Students must audition to qualify for CAPA programs.

The creative writing program, run by Shannon Marszalek, frequently hosts poetry slams. A Poetry Out Loud competition was held on Saturday, February 4, 2012. Many of the Scholastic Gold Keys come from both the creative writing department and the art department.

Notable alumni

References
  1. "Overton High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  2. "Meet the Administration". Overton High School. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
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