Salem High School is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

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., ...

Salem, Virginia Salem is an independent city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,346. It is the county seat of Roanoke County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combine ...

. It is the sole high school for th
City of Salem public school system
Until 2022, Salem was an

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

world school, certified for the Diploma Programme.

History

Salem High School was opened for the 1977-1978 school year b
Roanoke County public schools
to consolidate the student bodies of Andrew Lewis High School in Salem and

Glenvar High School Glenvar High School is a public high school in Roanoke County, Virginia, United States. It is one of the five high schools for thRoanoke County public school system. Glenvar High School serves the western end of Roanoke County and is located in ...

in western

Roanoke County Roanoke County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, its population was 96,929. Its county seat is Salem, but the county administrative offices are located in the census-designated place of ...

. Beginning with the 1983-1984 school year, the city of Salem established a separate school district. Glenvar High School was reopened. Salem competed in the now defunct Group AAA Roanoke Valley District in the

AAA Northwest Region 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 st ...

when it was opened but dropped down to the Group AA Blue Ridge District in 1988, a few years after Glenvar's student population left. When the Blue Ridge split in 2003, Salem was assigned to the new River Ridge District. Salem was a member of Region III from 1988 to 2007. Salem has won VHSL state championships in athletic and academic competitions. The football team plays in the

Salem Football Stadium Salem Stadium is a stadium in Salem, Virginia, United States. It is primarily used for American football and hosts the home football games of the Salem High School (Salem, Virginia), Salem High School Spartans. It was built in 1985 and seats 7,1 ...

, and has won ten Group AA, Division 4 championships, in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2015, 2016, 2017 and spring 2021 (Covid-19 delayed 2020 season). Salem has also won Group AA state titles in boys basketball (1994, 1999, 2013), boys tennis (1993, 1994, 2011), girls basketball (2013), girls volleyball (1998), girls soccer (2003), golf (2012), baseball (2018) and softball (1991). The school's only Group AAA team state championship was won by the boys golf team in the spring of 1983. The Boy's Lacrosse Team won their 1st VHSL 4A State Title in 2025, defeating Loudoun Count 11-7 in the Final. The

Quiz bowl Quiz bowl (quizbowl, scholars' bowl, scholastic bowl, academic bowl, academic team, academic challenge, etc.) is a family of quiz-based competitions that test players on Outline of academic disciplines, a wide variety of academic subjects. Stand ...

team won the Group AA VHSL state championship in 2003) and the

forensics Forensic science combines principles of law and science to investigate criminal activity. Through crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis, forensic scientists are able to link suspects to evidence. An example is determining the time and ...

team won in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024. The forensics team holds the top four scores for team points in state forensics competition with 79 (2008), 69 (2007), 67 (2009), and 64 (2010). Salem won the VHSL's

Wachovia Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo and Company in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States, based on total asset ...

Cup in Group AA for academic competitions in the 2009-2010 school year. Salem's ''FIRST'' Robotics Competition team 5724 Spartan Robotics attended ''FIRST'' Championship, the ''FIRST'' Robotics World Championship, in 2018 and 2019. Additionally, they won the Hampton Roads District Event in 2018 and were the Miami Valley Regional Champions in 2019.

Notable alumni

Mark Byington Mark Byington (born April 22, 1976) is an American basketball coach and former player who is currently the head men's basketball coach at Vanderbilt University. He previously served as the head basketball coach at James Madison University. High ...

— current head

men's basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

(class of 1994) *

Dennis Haley Dennis Sean Haley (born February 18, 1982) is an American former professional football linebacker. He most recently played for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was originally signed by the New York Jets of the National Foo ...

— former NFL linebacker for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

, and

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

; played college football at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

(class of 2000) *

Alex Light Alex Light (born May 2, 1996) is an American former professional football offensive tackle. He last played for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Richmond, and was originally signed by the Gr ...

— former NFL offensive tackle for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

; played college football at the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...

(class of 2014) * Chris Cole — college football linebacker for the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...

(class of 2024)

References

{{authority control Public high schools in Virginia Schools in Salem, Virginia 1977 establishments in Virginia Educational institutions established in 1977