East Jefferson High School is a public high school located in Metairie in unincorporated Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States.^[3] It serves portions of Metairie and Kenner.^[4][5][6] East Jefferson High School was built in 1955 in a residential neighborhood. The school serves grades 9–12. It is a part of the Jefferson Parish Public Schools system.

Gender segregation and platoon years

Beginning in 1964, East Jefferson was a boys-only school for grades 10 to 11. The graduating class of 1963 was the last coed class for many years. In 1962, a new girls-only high school, Riverdale High School, was opened in Jefferson, LA shifting the 10th & 11th grade EJ girls. Starting in the 1963-64 school year girls-only Riverdale HS had 10th, 11th and 12th grades. By 1970, the East Jefferson attendance swelled to over 2000 boys and forced a two-shift "platoon" system to be implemented. Under the "A.M. & P.M." platoon shifts, the first classes went to school from 7 A.M. until noon, and the second shift went from 1 P.M. to 6 P.M. (the school cafeteria was converted to a library). In 1973, the school board began building a new all-male school near Kenner, called Alfred T. Bonnabel High. Even though it would not be completed until 2 years later, they decided to call the East Jefferson morning shift “Bonnabel” and the afternoon shift “East Jefferson”. The following year, the two shifts flip-flopped. For the third year, the students who had been using the name “Bonnabel” moved into their new buildings, just north of I-10 near Power Blvd. All Jefferson Parish high schools returned to co-ed status in the early 1980s.

Athletics

East Jefferson High athletics competes in the LHSAA.

Notable alumni

• Micah Blunt (class of 1978): basketball player who was the first Louisiana player to be selected to the McDonald's All-American Game^[7] Blunt was drafted in 1982 by the Los Angeles Lakers.^[8]
• Joe Brockhoff (class of 1956): head baseball coach at Tulane University from 1975 to 1993. Brockhoff also played baseball in the New York Yankees organization.
• Matthew Brunson: guitarist for the bands Crowbar and Kingdom of Sorrow
• John T. Curtis, Jr.: second-winningest head coach in high school football history at John Curtis Christian School^[9]
• Eddie Doucet (class of 1942): state representative for Jefferson Parish from 1972 to 1988^[10]
• Randy Hilliard (class of 1985): American football defensive back who played in the National Football League^[11]
• Art Lentini (class of 1971): Republican in the Louisiana State Senate from Jefferson Parish from 1996 to 2008^[12]
• Bunny Matthews: music journalist and cartoonist, best known for his characters Vic and Nat'ly^[13]
• Mike Miley (class of 1971): athlete known for being a two-sport athlete playing quarterback and shortstop at LSU. Shortstop for the California Angels from 1975 to 1976, until his death in 1976 at the age of twenty-three. Airline Park Playground was renamed in his honor.
• Neil Reed (class of 1994): most recognized for his choking incident with coach Bob Knight while attending Indiana University.^[14] He was named Louisiana Player of the Year in 1994 and was a two-time state MVP.^[8]
• John Schroder (class of 1979): state representative from St. Tammany Parish^[15]
• Otis Smith: former NFL cornerback and defensive assistant coach for the New England Patriots of the National Football League
• Julie Skinner Stokes (class of 1988): State Representative from Jefferson Parish
• Dwight Walker (class of 1977): football running back for Nicholls State University. Drafted in the 4th round by the Cleveland Browns as a RB and WR from 1982 to 1984. Played for the New Orleans Saints as a WR in 1987.
• Marty Wetzel (class of 1977): football player for Tulane University then drafted in the 10th round by the New York Jets in 1981–1982

References

External links

• Official website