Warren County High School (Virginia)

Warren County High School is located in Front Royal, Virginia. It has been for nearly 80 years the only public high school in Warren County, Virginia. The mascot is a "Wildcat" and its colors are maroon and white. Warren County competes in VHSL activities in the Northwestern District, Region II, Group AA. It and John Handley High School were charter members of the District and have remained in it since the District's founding in 1970.

Skyline High School opened in the fall of 2007, serving the western 60% of the county. The current building will become Luray Avenue Middle School, which will feed into Skyline.

Early history: the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s

The high school opened for the entire county at the site of the current E. Wilson Morrison Elementary School. In 1939-40, the high school had outgrown the Morrison building and so a Works Progress Administration grant was secured to build the school, which originally housed grades eight through twelve. A rivalry was quickly formed with nearby John Handley High School in Winchester, although in the 1960s and 1970s, Handley became more focused on nearby rivals James Wood High School.

Massive resistance: the 1950s

In the 1950s, the football team had several undefeated seasons, although this success came to an end during the massive resistance crisis of the late 1950s. Warren County High School was ordered to close in the fall of 1958 by then-Virginia governor Lindsay Almond. When it re-opened a year later, there were no White students; they had nearly unanimously chosen to attend the John S. Mosby Academy, one of Virginia's several segregation academies. Only by the mid-1960s had enough White students returned to Warren County to field viable athletic teams.

Mosby was closed by 1970; the land was sold to the Warren County School Board. The Mosby facility was used as the Junior High (grades 7-9) until 1988, became the Middle School (grades 6-8) for another ten years and is currently the Middle School (grades 6-7). It is slated to become 15th Street Middle School, which will feed into Warren County. Interest from the sale proceeds gives the highest-ranking man and woman from each year's graduating class a $2,500 per year scholarship for two years. This also allowed the building to hold grades 10-12, alleviating what was already the first of several overcrowding problems.

After integration: the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s

The 1960s also saw the last success of Warren County football for over 35 years. A promising start during the integrated era (three winning seasons in 1965-66-67) sputtered, with a 6-4 season in 1977 the last winning season until the 2003 campaign. The 1960s also saw several Wildcats win state titles in forensics.

Overcrowding was alleviated again in the late 1970s, with the construction of the Fine Arts wing (which included a gymnasium) and the Vocational Technology (also known as the "Vo-Tech") building. Sports teams had never played on the facility: the baseball team played at Bing Crosby Stadium and the football team played at the junior high (and before the Mosby building was bought, they had played at Bing Crosby as well.) There was no longer room for the facility to expand, a fact that would affect planning in the 1990s.

Warren County's basketball teams began to achieve some success in the late 1970s under long-time head coach Jim Moose. While other powers such as R.E. Lee-Staunton were dominant during this era, Moose's Warren County teams provided Lee and other Region II powers with good competition. Warren County advanced to the state quarterfinals three times during the 1980s and 1990s, but never advanced past the semifinals.

Softball teams under Bob Mason won two state titles in 1983 and 1984. The arrival of Charlie Dodge and Roger Seemiller created a strong wrestling program that has improved the entire Northwestern District in the past 10 years, winning several district titles and even a region title.

A growing population to serve: the 90s and today

The high school became a political issue during the late 1980s as Warren County's population grew. A movement grew to build a new and larger high school, and a bond issue to build a larger high school was defeated in 1991.

Opposition was based around the cost of the new school, and a fear of the school being too large and thus being forced to compete in VHSL Group AAA activities. This was not solely an issue of wanting Warren County to do well: nearby James Wood High School had been forced into Group AAA during the 1980s and was forced to travel two or more hours simply to play required district matches. This was in addition to the concern over students "being lost" in a school that was too big.

Eventually, the pressure of numbers, especially in the lower grades, became too much to bear: a realignment saw the High School with freshmen for the first time in many years in the fall of 1988. The situation continued for several years, with an additional elementary school built for the eastern part of the county in the mid 1990s, and a junior high for grades 8 and 9 built a few years later, meaning the high school was once again for grades 10-12.

A new school

A revival of the football program also occurred starting in 2003, with new coach Heath Gilbert leading the Wildcats to three straight 6-4 seasons with the single wing offense, and running back H.B. Banjoman breaking the VHSL's 10-game rushing record in 2005. Gilbert has been selected to be the first-ever head coach at Skyline High School.

By 2004, the writing was on the wall. Warren County was one of the largest schools in Group AA (with over 1,650 students) and the facility simply could not handle the additional numbers that were coming in due to Warren County becoming an outer suburb of Washington, DC. The Warren County School Board approved an ambitious capital improvement plan that would see Warren County High School split into two. The two new schools would be a completely remodeled junior high for the eastern part of the county and a new school built for the western half of the county. Also, for the first time in decades, each school would contain a full complement of athletic fields.

The name Skyline High School was given to the western high school after hearing suggestions from the community. This allowed the colors and records of Warren County High School to remain in place. A suggested alternate naming plan would have named the schools "East Warren County High School" and "West Warren County High School." A mascot of the Hawks was selected by the future student body, and the colors picked were blue, green and gold.

Warren County will be one of the smallest high schools in Group AA when it opens for the 2007-08 school year. Enrollment at Warren will be initially slightly lower than at Skyline. Since Warren will serve the eastern end of the county, that is closer to Washington, DC, population and enrollment will increase faster at Warren than at Skyline.

Links

* [http://www.wcps.k12.va.us/wchs/ Warren County High School webpage]
* [http://www.warrencountysports.org Warren County High School athletics]