James River High School (JRHS) is a Group-2A-size

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 ...

Buchanan, Virginia Buchanan ( ) is a town in Botetourt County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,196 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Roanoke metropolitan area. It was the western terminus of the James River and Kanawha ...

. It serves the northern part of

Botetourt County Botetourt County ( ) is a US county that lies in the Roanoke Region of Virginia. Located in the mountainous portion of the state, the county is bordered by two major ranges, the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains. Botetourt Co ...

, including the towns of Buchanan,

Eagle Rock Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

, Fincastle, and Springwood. James River was founded in 1959 with the consolidation of the Buchanan, Eagle Rock, and Fincastle high schools.

FFA Organization

In June 2017, the James River FFA Chapter was named the #1 FFA Chapter in Virginia through the National Chapter Award. In October 2017, the chapter was named as a Model of Excellence Finalist and one of the top 10 FFA Chapters in the country.

Sports

James River athletes are referred to as the "Knights" and they compete in the

Three Rivers District Three Rivers is a local government district in south-west Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Rickmansworth. The district borders Hertsmere, Watford, St Albans, Dacorum, Buckinghamshire, and the London boroughs of Hillingdon and Ha ...

against similarly sized schools in the

Roanoke Roanoke may refer to: Places *Roanoke Colony, a former English colony that mysteriously disappeared *Roanoke Island, the location of the Roanoke colony in present-day North Carolina *Roanoke River, flowing through Virginia and North Carolina and ...

and New River Valleys. James River is classified as a Class 2, Region C school by the

Virginia High School League The Virginia High School League (VHSL) is the principal sanctioning organization for interscholastic athletic competition among Public school (government funded), public high schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The VHSL first sponsored deba ...

for Regional and State competitions. The Knights have captured four Group A State Championships in Women's Softball in 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2011. Pitcher

Angela Tincher Angela Tincher O'Brien (born Angela Susan Tincher; December 16, 1985) is an American, former collegiate All-American, retired professional All-Star softball pitcher and coach. She most recently served as the pitching coach at Virginia Tech. She ...

graduated from James River before having an All-American college career and playing professional softball. The Knights also won states in Group A Men's Basketball in 2010. James River has a successful volleyball team, winning the State Championship in 2010.

Drama

JRHS advanced to the Virginia State Theatre Competition in Charlottesville in 2007. The "Knightly" players won second in the Region C Theatre Competition earlier in November 2007.

Marching band

The James River Marching Knight Band is under the direction of Kevin English. The Marching Knights participate in many competitions in and out of state and have received honors, such as Band of the Day at the Lord Botetourt Cavalier Classic in 2016. Past Shows include: Minutes to Midnight (2010), Rock 'n Roll Road Trip (2011), Blues Brothers (2012), We Will Rock You (2013), Pirate Radio (2014), Power of Love (2015), Man of Steel (2016), Grimm Tales (2017), Les Miserables (2018), and Time After Time (2019).

Notable alumni

Akron Racers The Akron Racers were a women's softball team based in Akron, Ohio. In 2018 they moved to Cleveland and were renamed the Cleveland Comets. The team was started by Joey Arietta in 1999 to participate in the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL). Fro ...

professional softball pitcher *

Matthew Ramsey Matthew Thomas Ramsey (born October 21, 1977) is an American country music singer and songwriter who is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of his band Old Dominion (band), Old Dominion, with several hit songs on country radio to his credit. ...

, songwriter and lead vocalist of Old Dominion

References

__FORCETOC__ {{authority control Public high schools in Virginia Educational institutions established in 1959 Schools in Botetourt County, Virginia 1959 establishments in Virginia