In 1988, the Blue Springs School District began what came to be known as the 2-2-2 plan. Junior Highs would include the 7th and 8th grades, while Freshmen and Sophomores would be at the Vesper Campus (now the BSHS Freshman Center) and Juniors and Seniors would be at the Ashton Campus which is the current Blue Springs High School. After two years of this configuration, it was decided that because of crowding at the Vesper Campus and a desire to move to the middle school concept, a bond issue was needed to build a second high school and convert existing junior highs to middle schools. With overwhelming approval, the community supported this issue and the reality of a second high school began its long process to completion.
It was decided to convert the existing Butler-Dwyer Junior High School to the second high school by more than tripling the size of the facility. This included the addition of what was known as the East Wing, the addition of the Performing Arts Center, the Commons, and the remodeling of the gym and most classrooms. All outdoor athletic facilities were either shared with the City of Blue Springs at Young Park (tennis, softball, and baseball) or located at Blue Springs High School (football, swimming, track, and soccer). While there were many details to be considered in the construction phase, what was of more importance to the students and parents were issues such as name, colors, mascot, etc.
Without a doubt, the easiest decision was naming the new high school. It was almost unanimous that students and parents wanted everyone to know what community was being represented by the high school so Blue Springs was a definite part of the name. It had been determined that a very definable border between the two high schools would be 40 Highway and that the new school would be located in the southern half of the district. Therefore, the most obvious and acceptable name became Blue Springs South High School.
Since all Seniors would be remaining at BSHS for the first year of operation, the future Blue Springs South Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors that resided south of 40 Highway were polled and asked to submit ideas for school colors and mascots. These were tallied and the top four nominees were presented for a final vote. Relating to school colors, since we lived in Blue Springs, there were many that believed blue should definitely be one of the colors. The top four colors presented to the students for the vote were orange, green, red, and black. In a close decision, green won out over orange and it was determined that silver would be the accent color over white. With blue, green, and silver now being the colors of Blue Springs South, a mascot needed to be determined. The student's top four choices for mascot were Timberwolves (T-Wolves), Gators, Jaguars, and Mustangs. In another close vote, Jaguars was a narrow winner over Gators. An interesting side note was that the students didn't want just the face of the Jaguar as their mascot, they wanted a "running, jumping, leaping" Jaguar and that is how the current mascot came to be. Other necessary and important decisions had to be made regarding the school fight song and alma mater. It was determined that we would "borrow" the University of Michigan's fight song and the task of writing the school alma mater was given to soon-to-be BSSHS Junior, Elyse VerDught, who did an outstanding job of composing our school song.
With construction 95% complete, and with the school mascot, colors, name, and song in hand, we opened the doors to a new adventure in September 1992. The excitement of the students, staff, and parents was overwhelming. The groundwork for the academic and athletic success that Blue Springs South still enjoys today was established early on and the traditions that began thirty years ago remain an important part of our student's experience.
Over the past 15+ years the BSSD, with the support of our community, has made a number of major improvements on our campus, including:
- Larry Stewart Memorial Stadium, 2005
- Baseball and Softball complex, 2007 (check this date with a yearbook)
- Addition of the new Library, Choir Room, Wrestling Room, Locker Rooms, and Administrative Offices, 2009
- Addition of the Freshmen Wing, Black Box Theatre, and Soccer Stadium, 2019
- Purchase and renovation of the Aquatic Center (former YMCA), 2019