Woodrow Wilson High School (Tacoma, Washington)

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, Rindi Hartman, and Karl Hoseth. The school was formerly named Woodrow Wilson from its founding in 1958 until July 2021.

Silas High School
Address
1202 N. Orchard St.

Tacoma
,
Washington
98406

United States
Coordinates47°15′41″N 122°30′26″W
Information
TypePublic High School Secondary education
Motto"Developing Confident,
Contributing Citizens"
Established1958
School districtTacoma Public Schools
NCES School ID530870001513[1]
PrincipalBernadette Ray
Teaching staff58.50 (FTE)[1]
Grades9–12
Enrollment1,273 (2019–2020)[1]
Student to teacher ratio21.76[1]
Color(s)Red, White, & Blue
     
MascotRams
NicknameRedSilas
YearbookNOVA
Websitewilsonrams.org

HillTop Artists

Dale Chihuly, a glass artist who graduated from Wilson, 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

The Tacoma Public Schools Board of Directors approved a name change from Woodrow Wilson High School on February 11, 2021; this was prompted after letters from alumni illuminated the racist history of the school's original namesake, Woodrow Wilson, who was a known sympathizer of the KKK and supporter of the Confederacy.

A survey about the name change was sent with around 3,900 respondents, with 43% of responses voting to change the name of the school and 57% to keep the name.

Respondents in favor of the name change were split over naming the school after a person of color, removing the first name Woodrow (but keeping Wilson), or renaming the school after a geographical location.

Ultimately, the school was renamed after Dr. Delores Silas, the first Black woman to serve as an administrator for Tacoma Public Schools (as principal of DeLong Elementary), President of the Tacoma NAACP (elected in 1978), and also the first Black woman to serve on the Tacoma City Council (elected in 1991).

The new name became effective on July 1, 2021.

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

References
  1. "Search for Public Schools - Wilson (530870001513)". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved 16 November 2021.


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