AFRICAN AMERICAN SCHOOL BUILDING REVIVAL
Westside High School
Tangipahoa Parish
Westside High School in Amite opened in September 1954 with students in grades 1-12, fifteen teachers, and its first principal, Mr. W. E. Martin, who also taught math. With this new school, students no longer had to travel all the way to Kentwood or Hammond each day. Previously, the area’s only school was Amite Colored School, which only educated students in grades 1-8. Enrollment at Westside High grew rapidly over the next fifteen years, and the number of faculty quadrupled to 65. The last graduating class was in 1969, and with integration, the school was downgraded to an elementary school, serving grades 1-8 once more. Its name was changed to Westside Middle School. Professor Martin continued to be principal of the new school until he retired in 1975 after 42 years as an educator and administrator in the Tangipahoa Parish public school system.
Westside High School
OPENED: 1954
CLOSED: N/A
OTHER NAMES OF SCHOOL: Westside Middle School
OTHER USES/CURRENT USE: Middle school
401 W. Oak Street
Amite, LA 70422
