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}} Bolton High School is a secondary educational institution located in the Garden District of Alexandria, the parish seat of Rapides Parish and the largest city in Central Louisiana. The school is named for its benefactor, James W. Bolton, an Alexandria banker who was one of the most prominent civic and political leaders of Central Louisiana during the first third of the 20th century. During the long era of segregation, Bolton was the only high school for white students in Alexandria and neighboring Pineville, a smaller city located to the east of the Red River. African Americans attended historically black Peabody Magnet High School. The construction of Pineville High School and Alexandria Senior High School (sometimes known as ASH), along with Tioga High School thereafter provided new options. Bolton has a tradition of academic and extracurricular excellence and performance. On its website, the school claims "a demanding academic program, coupled with opportunities to excel in athletics, music, forensics, publications, and academic competition, helps prepare our students to meet the challenges they will face as productive adults." Bolton has had the highest average ACT composite in Rapides Parish for the past seven years. This year, Bolton's average ACT composite score is 23.20. Bolton is ranked in the top 3% of the nation’s public schools. Bolton is the only school in the parish that has received a gold, silver, or bronze medal by U.S. News & World Report, and is one of only five silver medal rated schools in the state. ==Modest beginnings== Bolton began in 1888 as a six-room framed structure on the corner of Seventh and Johnston Streets, next to what was then called the Red Ditch, for all then existing eleven grades. In 1900, as pushed by then-president of Alexandria Central High School, a brick building replaced the original structure at a cost of $50,000. During the 1907-1908 academic year, Alexandria High School, as it was known, enrolled only fifty-six students, with three instructors. Within seven years, enrollment grew to some two hundred, with eight faculty members. James Bolton, a member of the Rapides Parish School Board, proposed a separate building for high school students. He therefore purchased land at Sixth and Beauregard streets for the consideration of the board. On that site, the original Bolton High School, named for James Bolton, was constructed in 1915, a structure for up to four hundred students. Records show that for the year 1916-1917, there were a few more than 300 students, with 45 graduates and 15 teachers. For the first eleven years, enrollment increased from three hundred to nine hundred students. The overflow was handled through the old Presbyterian church next door and temporary frame building. Before the school was officially opened, there was an open house of sorts held in the school on September 25, 1915. The people were able to see their achievements towards education, and multiple teachers were stationed around the school, explaining the many merits of the different departments. 41 pupils graduated the first year it opened. As board president, Bolton obtained the purchase of for a new school, located adjacent to the City Park. The current building opened on November 2, 1926. The building contractor, George A. Caldwell, also designed twenty-five other public buildings in Louisiana, including courthouses in Baton Rouge, Minden, and Monroe.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Caldwell, George A. )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bolton High School (Louisiana)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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