Ranburne High School
21045 Main Street
Ranburne AL 36273
Phone: 256-568-3402
Fax: 256-568-2605
Description:
Ranburne is the oldest settlement in Cleburne County. It was named for General Patrick R. Cleburne of Texas, a Confederate General who was killed during the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee, on November 20, 1864. It was settled in 1814, and was called Lost Creek. It was given its present name, Ranburne in 1894, by Judge T.J. Thomason, Judge of Randolph county and J.E. Thomason. The name was derived by taking the first three letters of Randolph and the last five letters of Cleburne. The settlement first got it name when a little boy from a wagon train was lost in the swamps of the nearby creek.
The first school building, a one-room log house, was constructed in 1860. Some of the teachers who taught there were Mr. George Pirkle, Miss Annie Bass, Sam Wiggins, Joe Walker, and John Ballard. When the log house became too small for the number of students the Baptist Church was used as a school.
A new school was later built where the Methodist Church stands today. It was a two-story, three-room building with a Masonic Hall and an Odd Fellows Hall upstairs. This building was destroyed by fire. A two-story building with four classrooms on the first floor, an auditorium, and two classrooms upstairs was built near the present site of the bus garage. In 1933, this building was sold to the highest bidder, Isaac Truitt, who built houses with the wood. A rock building was built on the site of our present school. This schoolhouse burned in 1936. Bernard York was the custodian and saved the piano and the school records.
Our present day school was built in 1940(1943). A concrete building built with the aid of the NYA and PWA. The plans were in the style of a prison. Our present enrollment is 376 (grades 7-12). The schoolhouse we now know was built in 1943 on lower Bankhead Highway--what we now know as Highway 46. Part of it in Carrollton is still Bankhead. Upper Bankhead Highway is now Highway 78. It was name for Senator Bankhead of Alabama, Tulla Bankhead's (the actress) father.
Football began in 1930 with Denson Simpson being the coach. The first team members were Vachel Smith, Red Jacobs, Clint Stevens, Joe Howle, James Vincent, Gordon Mobley, Preston Pounds, J.E. Thompson, Myron Sellers, Clio Otwell, Hearsten Smith, and Gus Hearst. The first game was with Cedar Bluff and the score was 96-0. Cedar Bluff WON!!! (This information was obtained from interviews in 1976 by Gus Hearst, Virgil Lowery, and John Smith).
The land for the school was donated by Daniel Alewine, born February 10, 1793, in South Carolina moving to Lost Creek before 1850. The family plot is located near the band building. He died August 15, 1880.
The mission of the principal, faculty, and staff of Ranburne High School is to provide each student with opportunites for learning and the desire to become life-long learners.
Our beliefs:
All students have the ability to learn.
All students have the right to learn in a healthy and safe environment.
Teachers and parents are natural allies in the education of children.
Parents have the responsibility to foster a positive attitude toward education.
Teachers have the responsibility to encourage students to reach their full potential, to provide learning experiences appropriate to content standards and grade level, and to promote student responsibility.
Administrators have the responsibility to establish an effective learning environment and to be knowledgeable of areas of curriculum, courses of study, supervision practices, and personnel management while upholding policies of the board of education.
Community support and parent involvement are integral to the overall success of the school program.