Woodrow Wilson High School (also, just “Beckley”) is a high school located in

Beckley, West Virginia Beckley is a city in and the county seat of Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States. It was founded on April 4, 1838. This city is the home of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology or West Virginia University, Beckley Campus. ...

, teaching grades nine through twelve. It is one of four secondary schools in the Raleigh County Public School District. The school’s colors are maroon and white, and the mascot is a Flying Eagle. The school’s principal is Rocky Powell. Feeder schools are Park Middle School and Beckley Stratton Middle School. In 1967, it moved from its original location to its current location at 400 Stanaford Road.

History

Beckley High School, the first public high school in the city, opened in 1917 using the facilities of the former Beckley Institute on Park Avenue. It operated there for one year, until a new high school was built on South Kanawha Street - Beckley Graded and High School. The Town District Board of Education made plans for a new building. Through the proceeds from a bond issue, a new structure was built and was occupied in December 1925. It was named for former President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

, who had died the previous year. Woodrow Wilson High School's new building was built on land adjacent to the former Beckley Institute on Park Avenue. When the school moved to its current site, outside of main Beckley, the former site was turned into Park Junior High School (now Park Middle School). During the first year of operation at the new site (1967–68), a record number of 2,432 students attended WWHS.

Notable alumni

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, Broadway choreographer/Tony Award Winner *

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, coal baron, owner of

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resort and 36th

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, Former NFL player *

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, First and only West Virginian Astronaut * Stephen M. Pachuta, retired United States Navy admiral *

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, actor *

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, 27th

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, politician, former

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from 2005 to 2010

References

External links

Woodrow Wilson High School website

{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1925 Public high schools in West Virginia Schools in Raleigh County, West Virginia Beckley, West Virginia