For generations of Sylvania schools graduates, the colors may have been orange and brown or black and gold, but the memories are shared. In August, alumni from Sylvania High School, Northview High School and Southview High School will come together to celebrate a milestone that shaped the community’s educational history — the 50th anniversary of the final graduating class of Sylvania High School and the opening of Southview High School, marking the birth of Sylvania’s two-high-school tradition.

Sylvania Schools Foundation has planned an All Sylvania Reunion Weekend from Aug. 20-22, bringing together former classmates, athletes, teachers and families for a celebration of school pride spanning nearly a century.

The festivities begin Thursday, Aug. 20, with the Sylvania Reunion Festival at Centennial Terrace. The free event starts at 6 pm and invites all alumni to celebrate the community’s rich educational heritage. Historical yearbooks and school memorabilia, courtesy of the Sylvania Historical Society, will be on display. Photographer, Kurt Nielsen will capture reunion memories, and live entertainment will feature North of Nashville, Kall Me Kendra and BoxFan. Food and beverages will be available for purchase.

Several class reunions are also planned, including the Sylvania High School Class of 1976; Northview and Southview classes of 1981, with an additional reunion planned Sept. 25; Southview classes of 1986, 1996 and 2016; and the Northview Class of 2006.

Vintage Sylvania Northview and Southview high school T-shirts will be available for purchase at the festival. Sylvania Schools Alumni/Foundation Coordinator Jodi Hess has scheduled tours of both high schools, and interested alumni may call Hess to join a tour.

The celebration continues Friday, Aug. 21, with the second annual Taste of Sylvania from 5 to 7 pm before the annual Northview-Southview football game kicking off at 7 pm at Northview. Food trucks with ties to Sylvania Schools, including T-Town Burgers, Stubborn Brother Pizza Bar, Detroit Doughnuts, and Pop Fry, will be on hand. Halftime of the rivalry game will spotlight a tradition of excellence as the 2026 Sylvania Schools Athletic Hall of Fame class is introduced. Honorees include Sylvania High School graduates Martha Chicles-Adams, Class of 1976, for tennis, basketball and track; Tom Jones, Class of 1976, hockey; Jon Ulrich, Class of 1974, basketball; and Eunice White, Class of 1968, professional football. Northview inductees are Casey Meridieth, Class of 2008, football; Megan Miller Holdridge, Class of 2014, tennis; and Janelle Noe, Class of 2013, track and cross country. Southview inductees include Brian Kezur, Class of 2001, football; Chris Moore, Class of 1994, track and cross country; and Jason Robbins, Class of 2000, football, soccer, basketball and track. Additional honors include the Larry Morrison Coaches Award to Denny Shoemaker, the Team Award to the 1976 Sylvania Hockey Team and the Jim Glase Award to Cary Weaver of Northview. The Hall of Fame class will be formally recognized during a luncheon Saturday, Aug. 22, at Highland Meadows Golf Club.

Founding and lead sponsor is Mark Feldstein & Associates Inc., Legacy, Kripke Enterprises Inc. and the Chou Family Foundation. Community sponsor is Signature Bank, N.A. Pride sponsors include West Suburban Animal Hospital, Reeb Funeral Home and Premier Wealth Management Group. Business sponsors are Kurt Nielsen Photography and Sylvania Advantage.

A community transformed

According to Sylvania historian Gayleen Gindy, a member of Southview’s first graduating class in 1977, the roots of the school district stretch back more than 100 years. The Sylvania Township Board of Education, Sylvania Village Board of Education and Sylvania High School Board merged in 1920 to form the district. Burnham High School, serving grades 7-12, opened in 1926 on land purchased from Henry Burnham and Edna Keisser, with its first graduating class following in 1927. As Sylvania’s population expanded, overcrowding led to the opening of Sylvania High School on Silica Drive in 1960. Burnham became a junior high and, later, a high school annex after Arbor Hills Junior High School opened in 1969. By the mid-1970s, continued growth led to construction of Southview High School. When the new school opened in 1976, Sylvania High School was renamed Northview High School, creating the friendly cross-town rivalry that has become one of the community’s defining traditions.

Southview’s first principal, Don Bahna, spent a year preparing for the school’s opening. He hired faculty and staff, selected furniture and school colors, helped choose the Cougar mascot and even wrote the school’s alma mater. Across town, Roy Becker became Northview’s first principal after serving as principal of Sylvania High School since 1967. A lifelong Sylvania resident and a 1942 Burnham graduate, Becker devoted more than 30 years to the district as a teacher, guidance counselor and basketball and tennis coach. Burnham’s Wildcat mascot lived on through Burnham High School, Sylvania High School and continues today as Northview’s mascot.

Fifty years after one high school became two, the reunion weekend offers alumni an opportunity to celebrate not only longtime but friendly rivalries but also the shared history that continues to unite generations of Sylvania graduates.