Ravenna High School

Story

Ravenna High School a public high school located in Ravenna, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in the Ravenna School District and serves students primarily in Ravenna and Ravenna Township. The school's colors are blue, white, and red and its athletic teams are known as the Ravens.HistoryRavenna High School was established in 1858, first meeting in a grocery store along West Main Street before moving to the new Union School building on Chestnut Street after it opened in December 1859. The first graduating class from the school was in 1862 and included two students. The Union School building would serve as home to all grades in the Ravenna City Schools until enrollment growth necessitated the construction of a new high school building. The next building, which stood on what is now Highland Avenue, opened in 1883 with an addition built in 1910. The addition still stands as is known as Walnut School, though it is no longer used as a school. The next home of Ravenna High School, located at the intersection of Clinton Street and East Main Street, opened in August 1923 after an August 1921 groundbreaking. It initially contained 28 classrooms, an auditorium, and a gymnasium. Additions were added to the building first in 1958–1959 with the Coll Annex on the north side and later in the late 1960s with Whittaker Hall on the south side of the building. In 1960, Ravenna Township High School was merged with Ravenna High School. Prior to that time, Ravenna High School was often referred to as "Ravenna City High School" to distinguish it from the township school.In 2006 voters approved a bond issue to fund construction of a new high school with assistance from the state of Ohio. The building was built adjacent to the district's existing athletic facilities on North Chestnut Street and was completed and dedicated in August 2010. The district carried two names from the old building to the new one as the school's main gym is named the "James L. Coll Gymnasium" while the field house gym is named the "James A. Whittaker Field House".