South High School is a historical public high school in the Washington Park neighborhood on the south side of Denver, Colorado, United States. It is part of Denver Public Schools, and is one of four original high schools in Denver. The other three are East, North, and West. History In 1893, high school classes were established in two rooms of the Grant school (now Grant Middle School). By 1907, an addition was required because of overcrowding. In January 1925, there were 800 students in the senior high school section and more space was desperately needed. A bond issue was voted into effect in October 1925, and funds for a new school were raised. The cost of construction was $1,252,000 ($ in dollars ) and the building was intended to last a century. Denver South officially separated from Grant in fall 1926. South High School was one of 16 schools nationwide selected by the College Board for inclusion in the EXCELerator School Improvement Model program, beginning in the 2007–2008 school year. The project was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Campus South High School was designed by the architectural firm of Fisher & Fisher in the time's popular Romanesque style. Sculptor Robert Garrison created many of the building's adornments, including the 3 foot (1 meter) tall gargoyle above the building's main entrance; this symbolic protector of South was inspired by a gargoyle at the Italian Cathedral of Spoleto. On either side of the main entrance, bas-relief figures of teachers hold in their hands creatures representing examinations who are attempting to devour students. On the door are friezes of Faculty Row (a scene resembling the Last Supper, with the principal in the center) and Animal Spirits (frolicking student-like creatures). Although there are some differences, South's Clock Tower is thought to be a replica of the one at Santa Maria in Cosmedin. After the tower's original roof deck began to leak, a State Historical Fund grant was secured to replace the roof and update the electrical work. Many of the changes to the building have been to subdivide former study halls and repurpose other rooms into usable classroom space. The boys' gym, or North Gym, had a balcony allowing for spectator basketball games, which was removed in the late 1950s and early 1960s with the addition of the auxiliary gym, the girls' locker rooms and the new JROTC offices. In 1964