Newport News High School was a high school located in

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

, United States. It was located at 3100 Huntington Avenue and operated by

Newport News Public Schools Newport News Public Schools (NNPS) is a division of Newport News, Virginia that operates the city's system of public schools. , NNPS had an enrollment of 28,669. The division employs about 4,700 people, including approximately 2,630 teachers an ...

History

In 1896, the first segregated white high school in Newport News was in the First National Bank building at Washington Ave. & 28th Street. Its first principal was Horace H. Epes. It later held classes at Central School from 1899 until Central School burned down in 1913. Classes then met at John W. Daniel School which was constructed in 1908. Both Central and Daniel Schools were in the 3100 block of Lafayette (later Huntington) Ave. Walter Reed School at 2410 Wickham Ave. served as a high school until Newport News High School was built in 1924. Daniel served as a public school until 1960, when it became the first home of

Christopher Newport University Christopher Newport University (CNU) is a public university in Newport News, Virginia. It was founded in 1960 and is named after Christopher Newport, captain of Susan Constant, one of the ships which carried settlers of Jamestown, Virginia, Jam ...

. Newport News boasted one of the finest athletic fields in Virginia with the opening in 1935 of a concrete stadium, Saunders Stadium, with classrooms below at Newport News High School. A new gymnasium, named for the long-time athletic director and coach Julius "Julie" Conn, was opened in 1964. In 1971, Newport News High School was converted, along with George Washington Carver and

Collis P. Huntington High School Collis P. Huntington High School, commonly referred to as just Huntington High School (opened in 1927) was a black high school located in the East End (Newport News, Virginia), East End section of Newport News, Virginia, US, during the era of raci ...

s, to an intermediate school after the city's school district freedom-of-choice plan was struck down in the federal court and school districting went into effect. In 1980, Newport News Intermediate School was closed. The school building is now used by the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

as an enlisted barracks for ships undergoing maintenance at

Newport News Shipbuilding Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is the largest industrial employer in Virginia, and sole designer, builder and refueler of United States Navy aircraft carriers and one of two providers of U.S. Navy ...

and is named Huntington Hall.

Notable alumni and faculty

* Willie Armstead * Thomas Granville Pullen Jr. former principal (1926) President University of Baltimore. * Herbert H. Bateman * Susan Sandler, author/screenwriter ''

Crossing Delancey ''Crossing Delancey'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy film starring Amy Irving and Peter Riegert. Joan Micklin Silver directed it, drawing upon a play by Susan Sandler, who also wrote the screenplay. The film also features performances from ...

'' *Eric Burden, the first black student to attend the all-white Newport News High School in 1963. *

Lefty Driesell Charles Grice "Lefty" Driesell (born December 25, 1931) is a retired American college basketball coach. He was the first coach to win more than 100 games at four different NCAA Division I schools, Driesell led the programs of Davidson College, t ...

, basketball coach. * John Montague, former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher *

Thomas N. Downing Thomas Nelms Downing (February 1, 1919 – October 23, 2001) was a lawyer, politician, and Democratic Congressman from for nine terms. Biography Downing was born and raised in Newport News, Virginia. He attended Newport News High School, and ...

, politician. *

David Ellenson David Ellenson is an American rabbi and academic who is known as a leader of the Reform movement in Judaism. Ellenson is currently director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies and visiting professor of Near Eastern and Judaic studies at ...

, rabbi. * Joe S. Frank, politician *

Ava Gardner Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' attention in 1946 with her perform ...

, actor *

Jimmye Laycock Jimmye McFarland Laycock (born February 6, 1948) is a former American football coach. He served as the head football coach at the College of William & Mary from 1980 through 2018, retiring with the third-longest continuous head coaching tenure in ...

, 1970, offensive coach, Newport News High School and former head football coach,

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III a ...

. * Charles Nuttycombe * Parke S. Rouse, Jr., 1933 graduate, newspaper columnist and author of several regional history books. * John B. Todd * Coney A. Turbeville, Jr. (1955) Successful business and real estate entrepreneur *

Nathaniel Jarrett Webb Nathaniel Jarrett Webb (April 25, 1891 – July 18, 1943) was an American Democratic politician who served as a member of the Newport News City Council, and a member of the Virginia House of Delegates representing Newport News and Warwick County ...

(1891–1943) 1919–1921, football coach, math and science teacher (later member of Virginia House of Delegates, 1936–1939).

Athletics

Virginia high school athletic records are kept by the

Virginia High School League The Virginia High School League (VHSL) is the principal sanctioning organization for interscholastic athletic competition among public high schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The VHSL first sponsored debate and also continues to sponsor sta ...

Baseball

* State IA baseball championship runner-up 1953 G. Washington-Danville. 1, Newport News 0 * State IA baseball championship 1920

Basketball

*State IA basketball championship 1964 Newport News 66, Hampton 54 *State I basketball championship 1958 Newport News 50, Granby 48 *State I basketball championship 1957 Newport News 53, Virginia-Bristol 31 *State I basketball championship 1956 Newport News 63, Geo. Washington-Alex. 52 *State I basketball championship 1952 Newport News 55, Washington-Lee 37 *State I basketball championship 1951 Newport News 44, Woodrow Wilson 42 *State I basketball championship runner-up 1950 Granby 57, Newport News 34 *State I basketball championship runner-up 1948 John Marshall 45, Newport News 35 *State I basketball championship runner-up 1944 Thom. Jefferson-Rich 32, Newport News 27 *State I basketball championship runner-up 1943 Newport News 33, Thom. Jefferson-Rich. 26 *State I basketball championship 1942 Newport News 31, John Marshall 24 *State I basketball championship 1938 Newport News 25, Thom. Jefferson-Rich. 23 *State I basketball championship runner-up 1934 Jefferson Sr.-Roanoke 23, Newport News 22 *State I basketball championship runner-up 1933 George Washington 24, Newport News 17 *State I basketball championship 1931 Newport News 29, Geo. Washington-Dan. 19

Football

* State AAA football championship 1931 * State AAA football championship 1929 - Maury, Norfolk, Newport News (tie) * State AAA football championship 1925 - Newport News 7, Lynchburg 6 * State AAA football championship 1920 - Newport News 14 / Jefferson Senior, Roanoke 7. Newport News' coach in the 1920 season was

, Sr. (April 25, 1891 - July 18, 1943).

Virginia State Track and Field Championships

Newport News High School won 21 State Outdoor Track and Field Championships. * Note: Ronald Ray still holds the legacy national record for 440 yards, set in 1973

References

{{authority control Defunct schools in Virginia Educational institutions established in 1924 Educational institutions disestablished in 1980 High schools in Newport News, Virginia 1924 establishments in Virginia