Salem-Keizer Public Schools history

September of 1954 marked the grand opening of South Salem High School.

By 1960, South was moving into adolescence and suffering growing pains.

With the greater school population, an expanded faculty included 89 by 1966 with two full-time Vice-Principals.

The year 1969 was memorable for at least two reasons: there were four sets of twins in the class of 1969 and Oklahoma!, the Broadway musical opened as the first in a series of school musical productions.

By the 1970's, the school had put adolescence behind and by the end of the decade celebrated its silver anniversary. "New" and "change" were operational words during these years.

Most notably was the retirement of Carl "Pappy" Aschenbrenner, South's first principal, who was replaced by Wes Ediger in the fall of 1972.

In 1974, a new process for registration called arena scheduling was instituted along with a different form of student government.

Principal Wes Ediger moved to North Salem High in 1981 after fifteen years at South, and he was replaced by Dan Johnson.

Changes also involved a more formal Homecoming celebration starting in 1985, with the queen being announced and crowned at an all-school assembly rather than at the football game.

In 1990 Dan Johnson left South to become part of a new district organization with five administrative areas each arranged around a high school and its area feeder schools.

The student government was once again reorganized to allow more student involvement; Fine Arts Week was revived in 1993; Channel One, an educational news program, was shown daily; and a reorganized daily schedule was introduced to encourage student participation in clubs and activities.

By the end of 1996, the staff of South Salem High School included 24 former Saxons.

As a gift to the school, members of the class of 1997 presented bricks to Principal Dyer after receiving their diplomas at graduation.

One more significant change South High experienced was the retirement of George Dyer at the conclusion of the 1998-99 school year.

South High and the Saxons entered the 2000-01 school year, a year that saw the graduation of the first class of the new millennium, the entrance of a freshman class that will be the 50th class to graduate from South High, and a year affected by significant remodeling to the school and its programs.

The excitement of the opening of the 2001-02 school year could not equal the relief expressed by the school community that the remodeling of the previous two years was finally completed.

As school began in September 2002, South's enrollment dropped by approximately 300 students to 1695.

The Saxon Hall of Fame was under development to induct its first group of alumni in the fall of 2003.