Festus High School

Festus High School
Location
501 Westwind Drive Festus, MO 63028
Coordinates	38°13′25″N 90°24′53″W / 38.223740°N 90.414765°W / 38.223740; -90.414765
Information
Type	Public High School
Motto	Educating All Children To Meet Tomorrow's Challenges
Established	1901
School district	Festus R-VI School District
Principal	Karl Shininger
Staff	55.81 (FTE)[1]
Grades	9–12
Number of students	979 (2022–23)[1]
Student to teacher ratio	17.54[1]
Color(s)	Black and Gold
Athletics conference	Jefferson County Conference
Mascot	Tiger
Rival	Hillsboro High School
Affiliation	MSHAA
Website	School website

Festus High School is a public high school in Festus, Missouri. It is a part of the Festus R-VI School District. It is the only high school in the school district. The school has 1,011 students.^[2] In 2018, the school earned a bronze medal for academic achievement due to a higher proficiency in reading and math in comparison to the state's average.^[3]

In 2017, a 10-man Rocketry club from Festus High won first place in an International Rocketry Challenge, where students from around the world compete to see who has the best rocket apparatus.^[4]

Girls Athletics
Athletics at Festus began long before any organized program, probably during a recess period. Girls' basketball was popular since at least 1908. Girls athletics was an uphill struggle for years, though it is unknown if this was due to in sufficient funds or a general feeling about girls in competitive sports. The Festus team was "The Jefferson County League" Champions in basketball in 1923-24, and won the 1929 county track and field meet. Competition was strong in the county during this time, and there large events and major achievements even when communications was mainly through the town's weekly newspaper. In 1936, and again in 1946, the girls softball team were the Jefferson County champs. At some point the girls track and field was discontinued.^[5]
Until 1945, Festus High School had no separate department for girls sports. At that time, all classes and any other extra-curricular activities were taught by men, and there were no competitive sports. A female Physical Education teacher was hired at this time, and an intra-mural program was started, beginning with volleyball and tumbling. Over time, more sports were added such as basketball, softball, archery, field hockey and gymnastics. Other schools also started hiring women for their physical education classes and games began between Festus, Crystal City and Herculaneum. Later a formal schedule was formed and eventually girls sports were included in the Activities Association.^[5]
The Festus girls teams were successful in several sports, particularly volleyball and basketball, in the 1970s. Gymnastics was discontinued after the 1980-81 season.^[5]

Boys Athletics
As with girls sports, boys athletics began long before organized programs. There is little record of early successes, but in 1949, the football team was unscored upon until the last game of the season, and finished the season outscoring opponents 231-6. The team's quarterback was recognized as the leading scorer in Missouri with 131 points.
The boys baseball team was particularly successful in the late 1950s and early 1960s, playing six consecutive years without a conference loss, and winning seven conference championships.^[5]

• A.J. Ofodile, Tight End for the Baltimore Ravens in 1994