Theodore Roosevelt High School (RHS or TRHS), often referred to as Kent Roosevelt (KRHS), is a public high school in Kent, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in Kent and the Kent City School District and serves students in grades 9–12 living in Kent, Franklin Township, Brady Lake, and Sugar Bush Knolls as well as a small portion of southern Streetsboro. As of the 2024–25 academic year, enrollment was 1,325 students with 67 teachers for a student–teacher ratio of 19.78. Recognition for academic performance over the years has come from the United States Department of Education, Ohio Department of Education, and U.S. News & World Report.

The school was founded in 1868 as Kent High School and was first housed at the Franklin Township Hall until the completion of the Union School building in March 1869. In 1922, the school was moved to a new facility named for U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt on a campus, which would serve as the high school until 1959. Following completion of a new building on a larger campus along North Mantua Street in northern Kent, Roosevelt was moved to this location. The building has had a number of additions made beginning in the mid-1960s and contains nearly 70 classrooms, a library, two gymnasiums, auditorium, and indoor pool. The campus has been expanded over the years to and also includes several athletic facilities and practice fields, and Stanton Middle School.

Nearly 200 courses are offered at the school including 13 Advanced Placement classes and 25 vocational education programs. Roosevelt is part of the Six District Educational Compact which pools vocational resources with five nearby high schools. There are also two academy programs for students with various educational needs. Other elective courses offered include those in the study Arabic language, lifeguard training, various aspects of American history and culture, multiple writing and journalism courses, and the visual, performing, and practical arts. There are multiple co- and extracurricular clubs and activities, many of which have earned outside recognition at the state and national levels. Roosevelt athletic teams are known as the Rough Riders with school colors of red, white, and black, and compete in the Metro Athletic Conference as part of the Ohio High School Athletic Association. Notable Roosevelt alumni include a Governor of Ohio, professional athletes, and entertainment figures.

History

The establishment of what is today Theodore Roosevelt High School occurred in 1868 when the first classes of what was originally known as Kent High School were held. This was preceded first by the formation of the Franklin Union School District around 1860, which brought four smaller schoolhouse districts under one administration in what was then known as Franklin Mills. In 1867, the school board decided to consolidate the various neighborhood schoolhouses and create a graded curriculum, which included separate high school classes. As part of the consolidation effort, construction of a new building, known as the Union School, began at the corner of Park Avenue and North Mantua Street on a hill overlooking the newly named village of Kent. Construction of the school was part of a number of building developments in Kent in the late 1860s, including two churches and a large bank building. The name of the settlement was changed from Franklin Mills to Kent in 1864 and the village was incorporated from part of Franklin Township in early May 1867 after population growth began in the mid-1860s following the arrival of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad and its shops in 1863. The laying of the Union School's cornerstone on May 29, 1867, was hailed by the local newspaper, the Kent Bulletin, as an event "which is brighter than anything heretofore recorded in our favor."

Because of construction delays, the building was not ready for classes in September 1868, so the first classes of the high school were held at the nearby Franklin Township Hall while students in grades 1–8 remained at their old schoolhouses. The new building opened on March 14, 1869 with the high school grades located in the southwest room of the second floor and the four primary grades on the first floor. The third floor of the building was an open, multi-purpose room. The school held its first graduation ceremony in July 1869 with a class of just one, a student named Anna Nutting. Nutting later taught at the Union School and eventually became its principal, serving until 1888. The Union School, which would later be known as Central School, served as the home of all Kent students until two additional elementary schools for grades 1–6 were constructed in the 1880s. For most of the 1910s, all of the school buildings were overcrowded and the high school graduating classes had grown to nearly 40 students. As a result, a new, separate high school building was built in 1922. The Union/Central building remained in service mainly for grades K–7 until December 1952, when it was closed after the completion of the first phase of a new Central Elementary School on the same property. It was razed in 1953 to make way for the second phase of the new Central, which opened in 1954. Because of Kent High School's location in what became known as the Central School by the late 19th century, the school is often referred to contemporarily and historically as Kent Central High or simply as Central High. The Roosevelt High School yearbook of 1923, done at the completion of the first school year the school was known as Roosevelt, uses "Kent Central" on several pages to refer to the school in previous years. The official name of the school prior to 1922 was always "Kent High School". Like the term "Kent Roosevelt" used today, "Kent Central" and similar terms are colloquial.

North Prospect campus

Increases in enrollment throughout the 1910s led the school board to request funds to build a new high school building along with additions to other district buildings to ease overcrowding and prepare for expected growth in enrollment. A bond issue for the various construction projects was approved by voters June 24, 1919. Initially, the school board had planned to build the school on property along South Water Street adjacent to downtown, but decided against this citing the need for a larger lot and building to accommodate expected growth. Eventually, a site at the intersection of Park Avenue and North Prospect Street was purchased and construction began May 31, 1921. It was completed less than a year later, on May 22, 1922, and hosted commencement exercises for the graduating class in June.

The four-story building cost $400,000 (approximately $ present-day) and contained a gymnasium with seating for 300, an 833-seat auditorium, and 27 classrooms. Later that year, in August, the Kent School Board adopted a resolution to name the building after former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. The first classes were held in the building September 5, 1922 and it was dedicated September 22.Grismer, pp. 100–101 By then, the high school enrollment had grown to approximately 400 students. In the late 1930s, a separate annex was built behind the building to house industrial arts classes. The North Prospect Street building served as the high school until 1959, when Roosevelt was relocated to a new building and campus along North Mantua Street in northern Kent. The building on North Prospect street was rededicated in 1959 as Davey Junior High School after the local Davey family and served as the junior high school for grades 7–9. It was later renamed Davey Middle School and housed grades 6–8. At the conclusion of the 1998–1999 school year, the building was closed for an extensive renovation, and reopened in 2000 as Davey Elementary School.

North Mantua campus

Further growth in Kent during the 1950s spurred discussion of a new high school with a larger campus offering more room for future expansion. In 1955, district voters approved a $1.5 million bond issue (approximately $ present-day) followed by a $650,000 bond issue (about $ present-day) in 1957 to fund a new high school, new elementary school, and renovation of the old high school to become a junior high school. Also in 1957, the school board purchased several acres of farmland along North Mantua Street as the site for the new high school campus.Darrow, pp. 11–12 Although some viewed the site as too remote, construction began in 1958 and the building was opened September 8, 1959 housing 550 students in grades 10–12. Enrollment increases throughout the 1960s and 1970s would necessitate several additions and by 1968, the graduating class numbered 238 students. Also in 1959, the Franklin Township and Brady Lake districts merged with the Kent City School District, bringing additional students to Roosevelt. Prior to that time some students from Franklin Township and Brady Lake, neither of which had an accredited high school, attended Roosevelt as tuition-paying students to complete their high school diploma, while others finished at Kent State High School. The state of Ohio had previously paid tuition for rural schools without accredited high schools, but discontinued doing so in the late 1950s.

In 1972, 121 students from Kent State High School, which had closed earlier that year, were transferred to Roosevelt. Beginning in 1978, ninth graders started attending the high school again for the first time since 1959 due to overcrowding at Davey Junior High School. In 1985, Roosevelt was honored as one of 212 high schools in the United States to earn the Presidential Excellence in Education award from the U.S. Department of Education.Darrow, p. 175 Since 2004, Roosevelt has consistently been rated "Excellent" by the Ohio Department of Education and in December 2009, U.S. News & World Report named Roosevelt in the 2010 "Best High Schools" issue as a Bronze Medal school. The school earned a "Bronze Medal" ranking and was one of only 46 high schools in the state of Ohio to be named in the report. Roosevelt was named as a Bronze Medal school again in 2015, 2016, and 2018.

Campus and facilities

In addition to approximately 70 classrooms, the building contains two multi-purpose gymnasiums, a 1,225 seat auditorium, a library, and a six-lane indoor swimming pool. When first opened in 1959, the building contained 27 classrooms, a library, and a gymnasium. Several additions have been made to the building and campus since 1959. In the mid-1960s, an additional classroom wing was added, followed in the early 1970s by construction of a vocational classroom wing and the auditorium and adjoining scene shop. In the late 1970s, two more additions were built; one wing containing classrooms and an indoor swimming pool and the other an expansion of the second floor.Darrow, pp. 173–174 Additions in 1997 expanded the cafeteria and added a new art room and music storage room, along with several renovations and upgrades throughout the building. The most recent additions and updates to the building and campus were completed in 2022 and 2025. The 2022 addition was and included a new competition gymnasium, physical education classroom, and entrance lobby, as well as a renovation of the Richard Roberts Auditorium. On the campus, a field house was constructed at the football stadium, and the staff and student parking lots were reconfigured and updated. The improvements were part of a district-wide project approved by voters in 2020. The 2025 addition was for the Engineering and Advanced Technologies program and was funded mainly by a $2.3 million grant from the Ohio Career Technical Construction Program. It was dedicated April 24, 2025, by Ohio governor Mike DeWine.