J. C. Harmon High School

J. C. Harmon High School is a public 9–12 school of Kansas City USD 500 at 2400 Steele Road in Kansas City, Kansas. It opened in September 1973 as the merger of Argentine Senior High School and Rosedale Senior High School, named for J. C. Harmon, principal of Argentine High from 1924 to 1954. The two predecessor high schools became middle schools. Mascot: Hawks. Wikipedia lists the school as KSHSAA 6A (Wyandotte High School’s page says Harmon is one of two 6A schools in USD 500); Harmon’s own infobox also says 5A in one field. Classification is unsettled here.¹

Overview

Opened	September 19731
Address	2400 Steele Road, Kansas City, KS1
Named for	J. C. Harmon, Argentine High principal 1924–19541
Formed from	Argentine Senior High + Rosedale Senior High (both became middle schools)1
Enrollment	1,285 (2024–25)1
Athletics	Hawks; purple, yellow, white; KCK-Atchison League1
First principal	Bill D. Todd1
Website	https://harmon.kckschools.org/

History

Harmon opened the same year as F. L. Schlagle High School, completing a pair of new comprehensive high schools on the west and south sides of the USD 500 map. The name honors the long Argentine High principal. Margaret Landis’s Rosedale history, cited by Wikipedia, records the conversion of the two older high schools into middle schools when Harmon opened.¹

Athletics

Wikipedia, citing the KSHSAA records book, attributes two discontinued-event state records to Harmon athletes: Ron Talley, 5A boys 880-yard run, 1:56.1 (1974); Jeff Smith, 6A boys 100-meter low hurdles, 14.3 (1979).¹

Notable alumni

Wikipedia names former NFL players Richard Estell and Mark Haynes (three Pro Bowls, three Super Bowls); producer Bernard Harvey (“Harv”); Janet Murguia, president and CEO of UnidosUS; and Mary H. Murguia, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Living-person details beyond those offices are not expanded here.¹

Sources

See also

• rosedale-kck
• argentine
• f-l-schlagle-high-school
• wyandotte-high-school
• Wiki

Footnotes

1. Wikipedia — “J. C. Harmon High School.” — asserts: 2400 Steele Road; opened September 1973; named for J. C. Harmon, Argentine HS principal 1924–1954; fusion of Argentine and Rosedale senior highs, which became middle schools; first principal Bill D. Todd; 1,285 students 2024–25; Hawks, purple/yellow/white; Talley 1974 and Smith 1979 records; alumni as named. Landis PDF cited there: kckpl.org. Official site: harmon.kckschools.org ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹