• Since 1968, Southwest's first year in existence, thousands of changes have taken place in our school, city, state, country, and world. Years ago we were the Rebels, a new small school in a rural section of the city. The only thing in the area was Southwest and a McDonalds! Today we are the Raiders, one of the 13 Fort Worth ISD high schools in a city of more than 600,000 residents. Over the past four decades, our school has integrated, expanded, changed mascots, had hundreds of teachers, and thousands of students. Yet one thing that Southwest has always taken pride in has never changed; our striving for academic excellence. Southwest has consistently led the district in all aspects of academic life over the past 53 years.
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    SHS Motto, Mission, Mantra Vision, and Values

    Mission: Excellence in Everything! Focus on building strong relationships with stakeholders, providing academic rigorous classroom instruction and ensuring that students understand the relevance of what they are learning.

    Motto: The place to be!

    Mantra: Be Better than Yesterday

    Vision: We strive to be the best high school in the city of Fort Worth, where students are challenged and supported in a way that produces excellent and equitable outcomes.

    Values: Perseverance, Creativity, Community, Dedication, School Spirit, Family

  • History and notables:

    Southwest High School was established in the fall of 1967 and first opened in January 1968 when the student body transferred from temporary facilities at Paschal High School. Since 1968, thousands of changes have taken place in the school, city, state, country, and world. At the time it first opened its doors, Southwest was in a new neighborhood adjacent to ranch land, serving a 20-year-old neighborhood that bordered its back fence. The student population reached the 2,000 mark within a year, peaking at approximately 2,400. Today, Southwest is just one of the twenty-one Fort Worth ISD high schools in a city of more than 800,000 residents.

    The school mascot was originally a Confederate Rebel and was later changed to the Raider because of complaints by community leaders and to better represent the diverse student body. The school's colors are cardinal red, royal blue, and white.

     

    Raider Athletics:

    The 2010 football season led to the Raiders' first playoff win in school history. The Raiders played Springtown High School in the first round and won by scoring a touchdown in the final seconds of the game 38-37. In 2012, the Raiders advanced two rounds, beating the Everman Bulldogs on a touchdown pass, then advancing to meet Rider in Wichita Falls in a hard-fought game ending with Rider advancing.

    In 2007, the Southwest Raider basketball team advanced to the state championship game against South Oak Cliff High School but lost by a score of 80-77.

    The Raiders baseball team has advanced to the playoffs for the last 20 consecutive years.

    The Southwest boys track team won their first regional championship in 2013 and made their third straight trip to the state meet.

     

    Raider Music: 

    Choir

    In the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years, the Southwest High School A Cappella choir earned three first divisions on stage and two first divisions and one-second division in sight singing for the University Interscholastic League's concert/sight-singing contest. In the 2010-2011 school year, Southwest's A Cappella choir was the only high school choir in FWISD to receive sweepstakes awards at the UIL competition. In the 2012-2013 school year, the A Capella choir was, again, the only FWISD high school choir to receive sweepstakes at the UIL competition.

    Band

    In recent years, the Southwest Raider band has earned numerous first divisions and awards in UIL, TMEA, and other contests across the state.

    The Southwest Wind Ensemble placed third in the 2007 TMEA State Honor Band competition and fifth in the same contest in 2009, being the only band in class 4A to repeat finalist status in those two years. The competition was held among 4A finalists from the regions across the state of Texas. Southwest actually tied for second place but came in third after the tie-breaker rules were applied. This honor makes Southwest the first school ever in the history of the FWISD to advance to the state finals in the competition.

    In the fall of 2009, the Southwest Raider Marching Band advanced to compete at the state level in San Antonio, Texas, which is an accomplishment that no other FWISD school has ever achieved in the history of UIL. The band also advanced to the state competition in 2016 as well as in 2018 as the only inner-city high in the whole state of Texas. The following winter, the band set a new ISD record with 12 students advancing to the state finals for individual competition.

    Contemporary Academy of Music (CAM)

    Students create original Rock, Hip-Hop, Pop, EDM, Gospel, and beyond in the state-of-the-art Southwest H.S. studio.

     

    Notable alumni