Staunton High School is a public

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

in Staunton,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is a part of Staunton City Schools, a public

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public Primary school, primary or Secondary school, secondary schools or both in various countries. It is not to be confused with an attendance zone, which is within a school dis ...

that also includes three

elementary schools A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, a

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

, and an

alternative education Alternative education encompasses educational philosophy differing from mainstream pedagogy and evidence-based education. Such alternative learning environments may be found within state, charter, and independent schools as well as home-based ...

program.

History

Staunton High School was originally opened in the early 1900s and renamed

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

High School in 1914 during the monthly school board meeting held on April 30, 1914 at the urging of the

United Daughters of the Confederacy The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, a ...

. In 1983, the school moved to what had been John Lewis Junior High School, on North Coalter Street. The original building subsequently housed a summer

ESL English as a second or foreign language refers to the use of English by individuals whose native language is different, commonly among students learning to speak and write English. Variably known as English as a foreign language (EFL), Engli ...

school and a

parochial school A parochial school is a private school, private Primary school, primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathem ...

operated by the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond The Diocese of Richmond () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in Virginia in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore. The diocese's current bisho ...

, and was later renovated into senior apartments. an
''Accompanying four photos''
It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2009. In July 2014 ''

The News Leader ''The News Leader'' is a daily newspaper owned by Gannett and serving Staunton, Virginia Staunton ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 Un ...

'' received a letter to the editor that suggested renaming Robert E. Lee High School; The majority of the newspaper's editorial board and key employees agreed and suggested possible names. In August 2017, in the wake of the

Unite the Right rally The Unite the Right rally was a White supremacy#United States, white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11 to 12, 2017. Marchers included members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, whi ...

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the county seat, seat of government of Albemarle County, Virginia, Albemarle County, which surrounds the ...

, the editorial board stated that it may be "tougher" to keep the school named after Lee. In October 2018, after months of debate, as well as "focus groups and community listening sessions" conducted by the

Virginia Center For Inclusive Communities Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The state's capital is Richmond and its most populou ...

, the Staunton School Board voted 4–2 in favor of renaming the school. The next month, following a public survey with over 4,000 submissions, it was decided the school would return to its original name, Staunton High School. The change took effect on July 1, 2019.

Notable alumni

Francis Collins Francis Sellers Collins (born April 14, 1950) is an American physician-scientist who discovered the genes associated with a number of diseases and led the Human Genome Project. He served as director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) ...

– geneticist with the Human Genome Project * John C. Reed – cell biologist with Roche Pharmaceuticals *

Larry Sheets Larry Kent Sheets (born December 6, 1959) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and designated hitter who played for the Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, and Seattle Mariners from 1984 to 1990 and 1993. He also played on ...

– former

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player (

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

) *

Frederick Swann Frederick Lewis Swann (July 30, 1931 – November 13, 2022) was an American church and concert organist, choral conductor, composer, and president of the American Guild of Organists. His extensive discography includes both solo organ works an ...

– composer and concert organist

References

External links

Staunton High School
{{authority control School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Public high schools in Virginia Colonial Revival architecture in Virginia School buildings completed in 1926 Schools in Staunton, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Staunton, Virginia 1926 establishments in Virginia Brick buildings and structures in Virginia