Warren County High School (Virginia)
Encyclopedia
Warren County High School is located in Front Royal, Virginia
. It was, 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 Evergreen District
, Region II
, Group AA. Its main rivals are Skyline High School
and John Handley High School
.
Skyline High School
opened in the fall of 2007, serving the western 60% of the county.
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
.
crisis of the late 1950s. Warren County High School was ordered to close in the fall of 1958 by then-Virginia governor Lindsay Almond
under authority given to him by the Stanley plan
. When it re-opened a year later, there were no White students; they had 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. Black students were split between Warren County and the newly-opened Criser High School
. Criser High School closed in 1966 due to declining enrollment and is now Ressie Jeffries Elementary School.
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 became the Middle School (grades 6-7) before closing as a school building in the fall of 2010. Interest from the sale proceeds gives the highest-ranking man and woman from each year's graduating class a college scholarship for two years. This also allowed the building to hold grades 10-12, alleviating what was already the first of several overcrowding problems.
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.
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.
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 High School is one of the smallest high schools in Group AA. Enrollment at Warren is lower than at Skyline. Since Warren serves the eastern end of the county that is closer to Washington, DC, it was hoped that population and enrollment would increase faster at Warren than at Skyline to make up the difference. The downturn in the economy has prevented that thus far.
Certain students at the high school are also eligible to apply to Mountain Vista Governor's School
to take advanced math, science, humanities, and research courses
On November 19th 2011, the Warren County theatre department, known as the Maroon Masques, competed in the VHSL Region II Theatre Festival at Tuscarora High School and placed first with the play ‘The Greek Mythology Olympiaganza! (Iliad! Iliad! Iliad!)’ By Don Zolidis. They are moving on to the State competition on December 6th, being held at Monticello High School.
Front Royal, Virginia
Front Royal is a town in Warren County, Virginia, United States. The population was 13,589 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Warren County.-Geography:Front Royal is roughly west of Washington, D.C....
. It was, for nearly 80 years, the only public high school in Warren County, Virginia
Warren County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 31,584 people, 12,087 households, and 8,521 families residing in the county. The population density was 148 people per square mile . There were 13,299 housing units at an average density of 62 per square mile...
. The mascot is a Wildcat and its colors are maroon and white. Warren County competes in VHSL activities in the Evergreen District
AA Evergreen District
The AA Evergreen District is a high-school athletics conference in the state of Virginia that currently stretches from Warren County to Prince William County...
, Region II
AA Region II
Region II is one of the four AA regions in the Virginia High School League. It is made up of four districts: the AA Dulles District, the AA Evergreen District, the AA Jefferson District and the AA Northwestern District....
, Group AA. Its main rivals are Skyline High School
Skyline High School (Virginia)
Skyline High School is located at 151 Skyline Vista Drive in Front Royal and serves students residing in the western part of Warren County, VA. The school is and educates 1,186 students as of school year 2007-08. Andrew Keller is the current principal...
and John Handley High School
John Handley High School
John Handley High School is an endowed public high school located in the city of Winchester, Virginia. It was founded by a grant from Judge John Handley, hence the school mascot, the Judges. Construction on Handley High School started in 1922, and continues to the present day...
.
Skyline High School
Skyline High School (Virginia)
Skyline High School is located at 151 Skyline Vista Drive in Front Royal and serves students residing in the western part of Warren County, VA. The school is and educates 1,186 students as of school year 2007-08. Andrew Keller is the current principal...
opened in the fall of 2007, serving the western 60% of the county.
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 AdministrationWorks Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
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
John Handley High School
John Handley High School is an endowed public high school located in the city of Winchester, Virginia. It was founded by a grant from Judge John Handley, hence the school mascot, the Judges. Construction on Handley High School started in 1922, and continues to the present day...
in Winchester
Winchester, Virginia
Winchester is an independent city located in the northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA. The city's population was 26,203 according to the 2010 Census...
, although in the 1960s and 1970s, Handley became more focused on nearby rivals James Wood High School
James Wood High School
James Wood High School is located at the northern tip of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, Virginia and is a part of the Frederick County Public School system. It is located at 161 Apple Pie Ridge Road....
.
Massive resistance: the 1950s
In the 1950s, the football team had several undefeated seasons, although this success came to an end during the massive resistanceMassive resistance
Massive resistance was a policy declared by U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr. on February 24, 1956, to unite other white politicians and leaders in Virginia in a campaign of new state laws and policies to prevent public school desegregation after the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision...
crisis of the late 1950s. Warren County High School was ordered to close in the fall of 1958 by then-Virginia governor Lindsay Almond
James Lindsay Almond, Jr.
James Lindsay Almond, Jr. was a United States federal judge and politician. He served as the 58th Governor of Virginia from 1958 until 1962.-Early life:...
under authority given to him by the Stanley plan
Stanley plan
The Stanley plan was a package of 13 statutes adopted in September 1956 by the U.S. state of Virginia designed to ensure racial segregation in that state's public schools despite the ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, 347 U.S. 483 ....
. When it re-opened a year later, there were no White students; they had unanimously chosen to attend the John S. Mosby Academy, one of Virginia's several segregation academies
Segregation academies
Segregation academies are private schools started in the United States during the 1950s, '60s, and 70s as a way for white parents to avoid the desegregation of public schools as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Brown v...
. Only by the mid-1960s had enough White students returned to Warren County to field viable athletic teams. Black students were split between Warren County and the newly-opened Criser High School
Criser high school
Criser High School was an all-black school accommodating grades 1-12 constructed in 1959 in the Northern Virginia town of Front Royal, Virginia...
. Criser High School closed in 1966 due to declining enrollment and is now Ressie Jeffries Elementary School.
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 became the Middle School (grades 6-7) before closing as a school building in the fall of 2010. Interest from the sale proceeds gives the highest-ranking man and woman from each year's graduating class a college 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 (four winning seasons in 1965-66-67-69) 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
AA Region II
Region II is one of the four AA regions in the Virginia High School League. It is made up of four districts: the AA Dulles District, the AA Evergreen District, the AA Jefferson District and the AA Northwestern District....
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
AA Northwestern District
The AA Northwestern District is a high school conference in the state of Virginia that currently includes Frederick County and Warren County. The Northwestern District member schools compete in Region II with the schools from the AA Dulles District, AA Jefferson District, and AA Evergreen...
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
James Wood High School
James Wood High School is located at the northern tip of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, Virginia and is a part of the Frederick County Public School system. It is located at 161 Apple Pie Ridge Road....
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 High School is one of the smallest high schools in Group AA. Enrollment at Warren is lower than at Skyline. Since Warren serves the eastern end of the county that is closer to Washington, DC, it was hoped that population and enrollment would increase faster at Warren than at Skyline to make up the difference. The downturn in the economy has prevented that thus far.
Certain students at the high school are also eligible to apply to Mountain Vista Governor's School
Mountain Vista Governor's School
Mountain Vista Governor's School for Science, Math & Technology is one of Virginia's 18 state-initiated governor's schools, serving primarily 11th and 12th graders. The school is composed of two campuses, one each in Middletown, Virginia, USA and Warrenton, Virginia, USA...
to take advanced math, science, humanities, and research courses
On November 19th 2011, the Warren County theatre department, known as the Maroon Masques, competed in the VHSL Region II Theatre Festival at Tuscarora High School and placed first with the play ‘The Greek Mythology Olympiaganza! (Iliad! Iliad! Iliad!)’ By Don Zolidis. They are moving on to the State competition on December 6th, being held at Monticello High School.