George Washington High School is a

public high school A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

in Charleston,

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, United States. The school was nicknamed "The Hill", as it is located in the South Hills neighborhood, and has been referred to as "GW" dating back at least to the 1970s and “GeeDub” more recently.

District

The school serves the South Hills neighborhood of the city and several incorporated areas nearby. It is one of eight public high schools in

Kanawha County Kanawha County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 180,745, making it West Virginia's most populous county. The county seat is Charleston, which is also the state capital and most po ...

History

The school, which opened in 1965, based on a plan developed by local educators, members of the West Virginia Department of Education, and faculty from Ohio State University. The school's ideals of "self-direction", flexible scheduling and independent study, were intended to provide students with opportunities to direct themselves and to prepare them for college academic life. The high school's first graduating class (who attended high school entirely at school) included fifteen

National Merit Scholar The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and university scholarships. The program is managed by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a privately funded not-for-profit ...

finalists. In 1974, the school became involved in a notable textbook controversy, the so-called "Battle of the Books" . In order to comply with a 1970 mandate to provide multicultural reading material, the board of education for Kanawha County took up a motion to purchase 300 different titles of new language arts textbooks. The titles included '' Soul on Ice'' by

Eldridge Cleaver Leroy Eldridge Cleaver (August 31, 1935 – May 1, 1998) was an American writer and political activist who became an early leader of the Black Panther Party. In 1968, Cleaver wrote '' Soul on Ice'', a collection of essays that, at the time of i ...

and ''

The Autobiography of Malcolm X ''The Autobiography of Malcolm X'' is an autobiography written by Muslim American minister and activist Malcolm X in collaboration with American journalist Alex Haley. It was released posthumously on October 29, 1965, nine months after his assas ...

''. After a public outcry, the board decided to not purchase the books, but community was still in turmoil.Provenzo, Eugene F. ''Religious Fundamentalism and American Education'' (Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press: 1990), pp. 20-24. In September, students at George Washington High School began a 30-day walk out in protest of the removal of the books. By November the school voted that all but one of the books be returned to the schools. During the 1983-84 school year, the United States

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

recognized the high school as a National School of Excellence in the President's Search for Excellence in Education. The school made national headlines in 1992, when, during an illegal off-campus Senior Skip Day party with students from

South Charleston High School South Charleston High School is a public high school in West Virginia serving grades 9 through 12. It is located south of the Kanawha River, west of the city of Charleston, West Virginia, Charleston, in the city of South Charleston, West Virgini ...

, two students were fatally shot in an argument over payment for a keg of beer.

Academics

The school's average

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...

scores for Math and Verbal were 480 and 495, as of 2020. In 2005, it was the only high school in

to win a blue ribbon for excelling in

No Child Left Behind The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a 2002 United States Act of Congress promoted by the presidential administration of George W. Bush. It reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and included Title I provision ...

requirements. The school offers a wide array of

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere ...

courses to students such as English Literature and Composition, English Language and Composition, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Calculus, Statistics, Computer Science, US History, US Government and Politics, Art History, Music Theory, World History,and Spanish.

Extracurricular and co-curricular activities

The school has many extra curricular and co-curricular activities, including baseball, softball, JROTC, football, volleyball, swimming, soccer, cross-country, golf, basketball, tennis, wrestling, lacrosse, track teams and cheerleading, many of which consistently compete for state championships. The competitive cheer team not only excels in competitions, winning Regionals and MSACS in 2021 and placing 7th at Nationals after winning Game Day States in 2023, but they also cheer at football and basketball games, showcasing their spirit and skills year-round. The school's marching band was the 2022 West Virginia Music Educators Association State Honor Band, an award held by the band every other year since 1992. The band has also won the

Gazette-Mail Kanawha County Majorette and Band Festival The Gazette-Mail Kanawha County Majorette and Band Festival (formerly Daily Mail) is an annual festival dedicated to the public high school marching bands and majorette corps in Kanawha County, West Virginia. It is the longest running music festiva ...

Grand Championship numerous times (1986, 1991–92, 1994, 1996, 1998–2000, 2017-2022), and has had six girls named Miss Kanawha Majorette (in 1989, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2021,2023).

Notable alumni

The school's noted alumni include: * Shawn Clark,

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

head coach, currently at

Appalachian State Appalachian State University (), or App State, is a public research university in Boone, North Carolina, United States. It was founded as a teachers' college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dou ...

Jennifer Garner Jennifer Anne Garner (born April 17, 1972) is an American actress. Born in Houston, Texas and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Garner studied theater at Denison University and began acting as an understudy for the Roundabout Theatre Company ...

, actress *

Danny Jones Daniel Alan David Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1984–2005'' (born 12 March 1986) is a British singer, songwriter and musician who is one of the lead vocalists and the lead guitarist for pop-rock band McFly. From ...

, former mayor of

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in West Virginia, most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Kanawha County, West Virginia, Kanawha County and ...

Conor Knighton Conor Knighton (born February 1, 1981) is an American actor, host, and television producer. He is a correspondent for ''CBS Sunday Morning''. In 2016, Knighton launched "On The Trail," a year-long, cross-country look at America's National Parks ...

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and television host *

Ann Magnuson Ann Magnuson is an American actress, performance artist, and nightclub performer. She was described by ''The New York Times'' in 1990 as "An endearing theatrical chameleon who has as many characters at her fingertips as Lily Tomlin does". A f ...

, actress *

Ryan Switzer Ryan Switzer (born November 4, 1994) is an American football coach and former professional football player who is currently the wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. He previously played as a wide rec ...

, is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

and

punt returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punt (gridiron football), punts and kickoff (gridiron football), kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusivel ...

, who played at the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) *

Sam Trammell Sam Trammell (born January 29, 1969) is an American actor, best known for his role as Sam Merlotte on the HBO fantasy drama series ''True Blood''. He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance as Richa ...

, actor *

Anne White Anne White (born September 28, 1961) is an American former professional tennis player from Charleston, West Virginia. She is most famous for wearing a white body suit at 1985 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles, Wimbledon in 1985. Earl ...

, a former professional

tennis player Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

Bob Wise Robert Ellsworth Wise Jr. (born January 6, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 33rd governor of West Virginia from 2001 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, Wise also served in the United States House of Representatives fro ...

, former

Governor of West Virginia A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

References

External links

Official websiteOnline community for alumni
(link not functioning as of 8/26/16) {{authority control Buildings and structures in Charleston, West Virginia Schools in Kanawha County, West Virginia Public high schools in West Virginia Educational institutions established in 1965 1965 establishments in West Virginia Education in Charleston, West Virginia