In the Beginning

The Jefferson County Board of Education (JCBE) began plans in 1955 to build a new high school to relieve overcrowding at Fern Creek High School. In September 1957, Goldsmith Junior High School opened with an enrollment of approximately 900 seventh, eighth, and ninth graders.

At the end of the 1957 school year, students chose a new school name (Seneca), colors (red and gold), and team name (Redskins). With cartoonist Al Capp's consent, Lonesome Polecat, of Capp's comic strip Li'l Abner, became the school's exclusive mascot. In the school year of 1958-59, Seneca had an enrollment of 1,455 students in grades seven through ten.

By 1961-62, Seneca's Beta Club had become the largest chapter in the nation with more than 200 members. The school's enrollment had increased to about 3,400 by 1968, including seventh and eighth grades. A second gymnasium, the Kenneth Farmer Athletic Building, was added in the late 1960s. It was named for the school's first principal.

Basketball provided the excitement for two years as Seneca's basketball team achieved back-to-back state championships in 1963 and 1964. The team was led by Wes Unseld, who recently retired as the Bullets' head coach. In 1965, Seneca's football team, led by former Assistant Principal Jack Jacobs, won the state football championship.

The theater building, located in the courtyard, was originally built to accommodate the large television classes of the 1960s and 1970s. The main room of the building has since been named Stickler Theater, in honor of the school's longtime drama teacher, C. Eugene Stickler. Even today, Seneca continues to have great performances in Stickler Theater!

Seneca was one of the first high schools in the area to have the Advance Program. We continue this program today and have consistently been one of the top three schools in the district to have the highest pass percentage on the Advance Program exams.

Halls of Fame

Such graduates as Diane Sawyer, Judge Ellen Ewing, Mayor Jerry Abramson, and Wes Unseld have brought fame to the school and its varied programs. It is, and has long been, a culturally diverse school. The International Studies/Liberal Arts Magnet Program's focus on writing and an interdisciplinary approach to teaching coupled with the research activities of the Math/Science/Technology Program provide excellent opportunities and educational experiences for students to excel.

Some traditions continue while others are being altered as the school continues to develop. The band still stirs crowds to support teams at ball games, trophies in the trophy cases must be rearranged to make space for newly acquired prizes, and each November a senior class mounts another ambitious musical to pack the house. Students still solve math equations, but now they use computers, the Internet, and video cameras.

Seneca Forever

Seneca Past & Present is your high school alumni association. Stay in touch with your high school and your high school classmates. Membership is free to seniors! Tell any friends or family members who are also graduates of Seneca about us!

Contact Seneca Past & Present President Brant Stevens for additional information. He can be e-mailed at brant@jwmit.com, or call him at (404) 375-5397. Information can also be picked up in the counseling office.