Mehlville High School

The school and surrounding unincorporated community are both named for Charles Mehl, a German-born contractor, whose family moved into a rural area a few miles south of St. Louis, in what is today South St. Louis County. Mehl was given a land-grant in 1846 to acknowledge his service in the Mexican-American War.[4]

Mehlville High School was first established in 1925 after parents demanded local secondary education for their children. Previously, teens in the Mehlville-Oakville area had to commute to Hancock Place or Kirkwood.[4] The school was first housed at the old St. John's School on Will Avenue, across the street from the school's current site.[4] Mehlville's first graduating class (Class of 1930) consisted of just two students.[4] In 1939, the school moved across the street to a small two-story building at 3100 Lemay Ferry Road. It was rumored that the building was constructed on the site of an old gypsy camp.[4] To handle the rapidly growing student body, the current building was built adjacent to the previous one in 1955.[4]

Both of the old school buildings still stand. St. John's School sat dormant for many years, but it was eventually renovated and reopened as MOSAIC in 2017. The second building (now known as the Witzel Learning Center) served as a junior high school from 1955 until 1974, when Margaret Buerkle Middle School was built. After that, it housed the district's Early Childhood program. It is currently home to SCOPE, an alternative education program, and some district offices, including the IT department. The building is set to be demolished in the near future, with SCOPE and the district offices being moved elsewhere off-campus. What will replace the Witzel Learning Center currently remains unknown, but it assumed to be used simply as an open lot for the foreseeable future.[5]

The school's original colors were maroon and gold, but they were changed in 1940 because the old color scheme looked similar to Affton High School's colors and there was concern "it would cause confusion on the court and field"[4] Today's colors are green and white, often accented with black or grey.

Since the current school building was constructed, it has been renovated on numerous occasions.

The first renovation was in 1957, when the school built a gymnasium and cafeteria.

In 1962, a second gymnasium and home economics rooms were added (Gymnasiums at the time were sex segregated; the Boy's Gymnasium was the older gym and the Girl's Gymnasium was the newer gym).

In 1970 the school built a new library media center and drama center.

Renovations in 1993 added the school's commons area, a two-story addition towards the front of the school that acts as a gathering place for students and events. The first level (the "Lower Commons") includes access to the cafeteria, library media center, and the drama center, as well as the Mehlville School District Hall of Fame. The second level (the "Upper Commons") includes a new entrance to the main gymnasium (Gym A), a trophy hall, and 12 science classrooms with labs.[6] A wood-carved panther statue was gifted by the Class of 2000, which includes a time capsule to be opened for the school's centennial in 2025.

The front facade of the school was rebuilt in the early 2000s

The William Nottelman auditorium, built adjacent to the school, was opened in 2013

Throughout the next few years, the Mehlville School District will use the money from bond measure Proposition S to renovate the school further, including security renovations, improved accessibility for individuals with disabilities, new classrooms, renovations to the school's football/soccer stadium (including adding new restrooms), and the construction of a new baseball field and renovations to the schools softball field.[7]

Mehlville High School's Commons, pictured in May 2022

One of the school's most notable achievements was their Class 5A football State Championship in fall 1999. The team had an 13-1 overall record. This is the school's only state championship in football, but the team has been Class 5A runner-ups twice, in 1994 and 2007. All three of these championship games were played at the Trans World Dome in Downtown St. Louis.[8]

In 2020, the school renamed their football field "Jack Jordan Stadium" in honor of Jack Jordan, who died on April 25 at the age of 79. He worked for the Mehlville School District for 33 years as a teacher, coach, counselor, and principal.[9]

One of the many traditions for seniors at Mehlville High School is the tradition of "painting a paw print." The asphalt path that lead to Jack Jordan Stadium from the school is painted with many white paw prints, and at the beginning of the school year, right before football season, each senior is given one of these paw prints to design however they want. This is a great way to express a student's interests, hobbies and creativity and to leave a lasting impact at the school.

Mehlville's mascot, an anthropomorphic black panther, is commonly seen at sporting events greeting students and cheering on the team along with the Green Pit, Mehlville's student section known for its loud and rowdy antics. In March 2022, this mascot finally got a name: "Mehlvin the Panther". It was chosen through a student poll run by the Mehlville Student Leadership group, and the name "Mehlvin," a play on words of the school's name, was the most popular and well received by the student body.

Mehlville's mascot, Mehlvin the Panther, pictured in October 2017