William Chrisman High School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| William Chrisman High School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
 | |
1223 North Noland Road , 64050-1947 | |
| Coordinates | 39°6′12″N 94°24′42″W / 39.10333°N 94.41167°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Public, grades 9–12 |
| Established | 1888 |
| School district | Independence School District |
| Superintendent | Dale Herl |
| Principal | Denise Textor |
| Teaching staff | 83.63 (on an FTE basis)[1] |
| Enrollment | 1,441 (2023–2024)[1] |
| Student to teacher ratio | 17.23[1] |
| Colors | Navy and Vegas gold [2] |
| Nickname | Bears[2] |
| Website | sites |
William Chrisman High School is a high school located in Independence, Missouri, United States, as part of the Independence School District.
The school was founded in 1888 and was known as Independence High School. The first building was located at the intersection of Pleasant and Truman Road, the current location of the Palmer/Central Office Building. It is from this location that President Harry S. Truman, First Lady Bess Truman, and Truman White House Press Secretary and Pulitzer Prize winner Charles Griffith Ross graduated in 1901.
In 1917 the Independence School District passed a levy and bond to build a new high school building. Margaret Chrisman Swope offered to sell the district land for the new school at the southeast corner of Union and Maple for $1 in exchange for naming the school after her father, William Chrisman. Chrisman had served as a member of the first school board in 1866 and was also a prominent lawyer and banker in the community. The new building opened in 1918 as William Chrisman High School. The high school moved to its current site in 1956, at the northeast corner of Noland Road and U.S. Route 24 (Independence Avenue), when a major addition was added to Ott Elementary School and the building was converted into the high school. Since that time the building has undergone numerous additions.
Demographics
William Chrisman is home to 1,441 students from Independence, Missouri, and part of Sugar Creek, Missouri, (as of the 2025–2026 school year). The student population's racial breakdown is: 62.9% white, 17.8% Hispanic, 12.8% Black, 2.2% Asian and Pacific Islander, and 0.8% Native American, with 3.5% of students identifying as two or more races.[3]
Extracurricular
Sports and activities
William Chrisman is a member of the Greater Kansas City Suburban Conference: White Division. These divisions are realigned every two years. As of 2025, members of the White Division are as follows: Belton, Fort Osage, Grain Valley, Platte County, Raytown, Ruskin, Truman, and William Chrisman; Ruskin will depart this division in 2026.[4]
William Chrisman also plays its local rivals, Truman, and Van Horn, which are also part of the Independence School District.
The William Chrisman Bears compete in the following sports:
- Fall
- Boys: cross country, football, soccer, swimming
- Girls: volleyball, cross country, golf, softball, tennis, dance, cheer
- Winter
- Boys: basketball, wrestling
- Girls: basketball, swimming, dance, cheer
- Spring
- Boys: baseball, golf, tennis, track & field
- Girls: soccer, track & field
