Strongsville High School defies easy summarization. On a weekday morning, it appears to be just another suburban Ohio campus when you drive past the brick exterior on Lunn Road. Buses are parked, children are carrying backpacks, and a flag is flapping in the wind off Cuyahoga County. However, a more nuanced image begins to take shape when you spend some time there, conversing with parents in the parking lot or looking through decades’ worth of clippings. It’s a school with genuine pride, genuine wounds, and a community that appears to have reconciled both.
Located within the Strongsville City School District, the school was established in 1968 and serves approximately 1,900 students in four grades. Today, Cameron Ryba is in charge of the district from above, while Bill Wingler manages the building. The fight song takes its melody from “On Wisconsin,” which seems appropriate for a Midwestern town that has always taken football seriously, the hallways are still dominated by forest green and white, and the mascot is Marty Mustang.
Outsiders may underestimate how deeply ingrained sports are in this culture. The 5,200-seat football stadium Pat Catan Stadium, which was constructed for $1.85 million in just 84 days in 2002, was fully financed by private funds, which raises a question that is uncommon in the public education community. Who constructs a stadium so quickly, without using public funds, and passes city inspectors? It was Strongsville. The Mustangs have won numerous state titles in baseball, boys’ soccer, and girls’ soccer, and former quarterback Tim Arthurs continues to hold the Ohio record for the highest single-season completion percentage (72.5 percent, set in 1998).
Strangely, the marching band has gone farther than the majority of the pupils. The Rose Parade, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Orange Bowl, and even President George H. W. Bush’s inauguration parade have all featured Marching Mustangs. For a school located in a Cleveland suburb, that is a significant distance.
However, discussing Strongsville High without mentioning the more difficult parts would be dishonest. There was the 1996 arson, an unsolved fire that destroyed the administrative offices and resulted in $1.4 million in damage; despite a substantial reward, the case was never resolved. The mid-2000s saw teacher misconduct cases, lawsuits, convictions, and headlines that no district wants. The teachers’ strike in 2013 lasted for eight weeks. The school was recently mentioned in relation to a tragedy that occurred in 2022 involving former students Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan, whose deaths are currently the subject of a Netflix documentary titled The Crash. No one requests this level of national attention.
Nevertheless, 425 students boarded party buses for prom at La Centre in Westlake last Saturday, laughing, dressing up, and sharing pictures. Life never stops. As you read these stories, you get the impression that Strongsville High is neither the worst headline nor the polished marketing version. Like most places that have existed long enough to amass true history, it is in the middle. It feels about right to be ranked 52nd in Ohio by U.S. News, which is respectable but not outstanding. The school has its scars, its excellence, and its unwavering devotion to the green and white. As you watch it all, you get the impression that one school day at a time, the next chapter is already being written in the hallways.
