HISTORY
The big school in the South Ward was built in 1912. It was originally constructed as South Side High School and Newark Junior College. The school has with stood several amazing changes over the years. Here is a brief description of how the high school changed to accommodate the community and honor the historical history of one of the great African-American figure heads, Malcom X Shabazz.
SOUTH SIDE HIGH SCHOOL
The school was founded as South Side (SS) High School in 1914 in Newark, New Jersey of Essex County as part of Newark Public Schools. In 1969, South Side became a host to another high school know as School Within A School (SWAS) which co-housed the building at 80 Johnson Avenue, Newark, NJ. South Side was renamed in honor of Malcolm X Shabazz in 1972.
MALCOM X SHABAZZ HIGH SCHOOL
In 1972 the school was named Malcom X Shabazz (MXS) High School. A ground-breaking ceremony was held in 1973 for a new addition to be built onto the school (formerly South Side). School Within A School had left the building in 1977 and Malcom X Shabazz received a State-of-the-art athletic stadium. This record-breaking event excited the students and made them stand proud. The Malcolm X Shabazz Athletic Field opened on October 6, 2001.
SCHOOL WITHIN A SCHOOL
School Within A School (SWAS) was a program that started inside the wall of South Side in 1969. The curriculum focused on humanities and sciences. It was known for providing college reparatory classes to Newark students. In 1977, SWAS relocated to High Street in Newark. The name was changed to University High School of Humanities (aka University High School) and became a six-year high school starting with grades seventh through twelfth. Our next move is where we are currently housed as of 1982, which is the old Clinton Place Jr. High school building.
SS/MXS SENIOR YEAR GRADUATION SONGS
1957 – Somewhere over the Rainbow
1962 – May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You
1962 – Bulldog… Bulldog.. Bulldog.. Bow Wow Wow.. South Side High
1962 – Any Day Now by Chuck Jackson
1965 – Any Day Now by Chuck Jackson
1966 – The Tune of Auld Lange Zyne by Casandra (Trutlin) Chambers
1966 – It’s So Hard to Say Good Bye
1968 – Our Day Will Come by Ruby and the Romantics
1971 – It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday
1973 – Young Gifted and Black (Nina Simone)
1976 – The Way We Were
1977 – It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday
1978 – The Greatest Love of All
1979 – Ain’t No Stoppin Us Now by McFadden and Whitehead
1980 – We’ve Only Just Begun
1982 – It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday
1983 – Ain’t No Stoppin Us Now
1983 – Everything Must Change
1984 – The Best Is Yet to Come (Patti Labelle)
1984 – Memories (Barbra Streisand)
1984 – This Magic Moment
1985 – We Are the World
1987 – Greatest Love of All
1988 – Ain’t No Stopping Us Now
1988 – Everything Must Change
1989 – One Moment in Time
1991 – Where Do We Go From Here
1997 – I Believe I Can Fly
Malcolm X Shabazz
High School
80 Johnson Avenue
Newark, NJ 07108
+1 973 733 6760
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SS/MXS ALUMNI
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