tennis, girls' softball, and girls' volleyball. In addition to its current activities, Soldan students have won several state championships, including: Boys' Basketball: 1981, 2012 Boys' Swimming and Diving: 1938, 1941 Boys' Indoor Track and Field: 1961, 1970 Ciara Jones - Women's Track and Field: 400m Dash 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 200m 2003 and 2004 and 100m Dash 2003 and 2004 Ronnie Pines-Men's Track and Field: 100 meter dash Missouri Class 3 state champion in 2002 and 2003 The school also has produced one tennis doubles state champion and three boys' outdoor track and field individual events champions. Demographics In the 2009–2010 school year, Soldan had an enrollment of 749 students with 53.6 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio of 13.97. In 2010, more than 80 percent of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunches. Since 2006, more than 65% of the student population at Soldan has been African American and the white student population has declined by roughly half. Academic and discipline issues Soldan has a low dropout rate; for the 2009–2010 school year, 1.8 percent of students dropped out compared to the Missouri state dropout rate of 3.5 percent. Soldan also has a discipline incident rate of 3.1 percent, which is comparable to the average Missouri rate. Since the passage of No Child Left Behind in 2001, Soldan has met the requirements for adequate yearly progress (AYP) twice. In 2006, Soldan students achieved 17.2 percent proficiency in communication arts, allowing the school to meet AYP via making satisfactory progress. In 2009, the school met AYP in communication arts via a confidence interval. Notable people Alumni Fontella Bass (1958), singer Jerry Berger, columnist and press agent Gerald Boyd, managing editor and metropolitan editor of the New York Times Clark Clifford, presidential adviser and United States Secretary of Defense from 1968 to 1969 Willis Crenshaw, NFL player Georgia Frontiere, owner of the St. Louis Rams, an NFL team Louis A. Gottschalk, psychiatrist Thomas M. Graber, American orthodontist Lee Handley, MLB player Emily Hahn, author Johnny Haymer, actor Thomas C. Hennings Jr. (1920), United States Senator and United States Representative from Missouri Erin Marie Hogan, actress A.E. Hotchner, author and co-founder of the Newman's Own food company Larron Jackson, NFL player Raynard Jackson, Republican Party consultant Stan Kann, vacuum cleaner collector and organist Harold Koplar, hotelier Melvin Kranzberg, historian and co-founder of the Society for the History of Technology Con Maffie,