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Itasca High School
Itasca High School
Address
	123 North College Street; Itasca, Texas 76055-2307; United States
Coordinates	32°09′52″N 97°08′43″W / 32.164578°N 97.145177°W
Information
School type	Public high school
School district	Itasca Independent School District
Principal	Christopher Stroud
Teaching staff	19.65 (FTE)
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	199 (2018–19)
Student to teacher ratio	10.13
Color(s)	Black & Gold
Athletics conference	UIL Class 2A
Mascot	Wampus Cats/Lady Cats
Website	Itasca High School

Itasca High School is a 2A public high school located in Itasca, Texas (USA). It is part of the Itasca Independent School District located in north central Hill County. In 2013, the school was rated "Academically Acceptable" by the Texas Education Agency.^[2]

Unique nickname

According to local legend in Itasca, a student from the late 1920s helped them come up with one of the state's most unusual nicknames: Wampus Cats. The imaginary mascot has made Itasca recognizable to people who don't even know the town of 1,500 is 45 miles south of Fort Worth. ESPN has done a story on it, as has The New York Times. A Dallas radio station has called it the quintessential Texas high school football nickname.^[3]

Nancy Bowman, a lifelong Itascan who runs the school's special services, explains that the team was having trouble finding a nickname until the perfect one erupted from a post-game locker room celebration.

Wow, we were really Wampus Cats tonight! shouted Trav Burks, the story goes.^[4]

Leesville High School in Louisiana and Conway High in Arkansas also have the Wampus Cat as a mascot.

Athletics

The Itasca Wampus Cats compete in the following sports:^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "ITASCA H S". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
^ "2013 Accountability Rating System". Texas Education Agency. Archived from the original on 2013-06-15.
^ "Lubbock Online". Jamie Aron 1996.
^ "Lubbock Online". Jamie Aron 1996.
^ "Itasca Athletics".