The first building to serve as Upper Arlington High School, now Jones Middle School, was built in 1924, becoming the first permanent school in Upper Arlington. It served as the high school until 1956, when its replacement opened on Ridgeview Road. The new building, still the district's sole high school, was significantly larger to accommodate the growing school district.
The second Upper Arlington High School, which served from 1956 until its demolition in 2021.
In 2015, amidst safety concerns with the school, plans were announced to construct a new, larger high school adjacent to the former. It was completed in the summer of 2021, while the old Ridgeview building was demolished to make room for parking and sports facilities.[6]
Upper Arlington High School also offers music programs, including band, orchestra, and vocal music performance classes, music theory, guitar, and IB music.[8]
The high school sports teams are named the Golden Bears. Golf pro and UAHS alumnusJack Nicklaus received his Golden Bear nickname from his alma mater. Golden Bear sports teams consistently rank among the top Division I schools in Ohio, particularly in the sports of football, golf, tennis, basketball, water polo, cross country, lacrosse, and swimming. The Upper Arlington football team captured the Division One state title in football in 2000, and were led by Jeff Backes, who earned the Mr. Football Award for Ohio, and Simon Fraser, who went on to play for the Ohio State Buckeyes and Cleveland Browns.
The school also has a rowing team that competes throughout the school year, rowing during Fall and Spring seasons. The Upper Arlington Crew team is the only scholastic rowing program in central Ohio, and it consistently races to top finishes at prestigious events such as the Midwest Scholastic, Midwest Junior, Scholastic Nationals and US Rowing Youth National Championship Regattas. The team also frequently sends boats to the Head of the Charles Regatta, a selective rowing event that attracts the best rowers from all over the world.[9]
Upper Arlington is 3rd all-time in Ohio with 49 Ohio High School Athletic Association team state championships. Upper Arlington has won 116 state titles overall, including sports not sponsored by the OHSAA.[citation needed] Upper Arlington holds the record for most OHSAA state championships in one year (Boys' Golf, Girls' Cross Country, Boys' Swimming & Diving, Boys' Baseball) set in 1986–1987.
Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(November 2016)
This list is incomplete. Portions of some school districts extend into other counties; only schools in Franklin County should be listed in this template.
