High School

Woodlawn High School was organized in 1920 by a three-member grade school board which served as the Board for both Woodlawn Grade School and Woodlawn High School until the High School moved into its new building in 1949. The High School began as a two-year school, with a third year added in the fall of 1922. This school functioned as a three-year high school until 1939 when a state law required them to adopt a four-year program.

The first year there was only one teacher, Mr. T.D. Slater (also the principal). A second teacher was added the next two years, Mr. Willie Watkins. This arrangement lasted for several years.

The present main building of Woodlawn High School was built in 1949, with 8 classrooms, a library, a cafeteria, and a gymnasium with a stage (the Old Gym). Classes were to begin in the fall of 1949 under the supervision of Mr. Charles Helwig, Principal. Because the rooms were not finished in time, classes were held in tents for the first two months in the fall of 1949.

Information taken from a paper written by John David Reynolds for a SIU-C class in 1964