South first opened its doors in 1959. South's floor plan was modeled exactly after the Southeast's floor plan for their original building on Edgemoor. When South opened, their sports teams were known as the Colonels, though their colors were still red and blue. In the 1970s, the Wichita School board requested that South change their mascot name. The name Titans was chosen by students and the original Titan logo, which is still used by the school to this day, was drawn by a student. In the late 1970s, a $2 million football stadium was built. In 1985, South High athletic director C. Elmer Carpenter died and the football stadium was named in his honor. Also, in the 1980s, Sims Elementary, which was situated just a few hundred feet from the eastern end of the school, closed. South began using the old elementary school for the language arts department.