West Forsyth High School is a four-year

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 ...

, secondary high school located in the

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina and the 91st-most populous city in the Uni ...

suburb of

Clemmons, North Carolina Clemmons is a village in Forsyth County, North Carolina, Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States and a suburb of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Winston-Salem. The population was 21,177 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, with an ...

, United States.

General

West Forsyth is located in Clemmons, a small suburb of

. Located between

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States, southeastern and Southwestern United States, southwestern portions of the United States. At a leng ...

and

U.S. Route 421 U.S. Route 421 (also U.S. Highway 421, US 421) is a diagonal northwest–southeast United States Numbered Highway System, United States Numbered Highway in the states of North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and Indiana. The highwa ...

, the school mainly serves students of Clemmons with some students from Lewisville and Winston-Salem. West Forsyth consistently scores highly on standardized tests. In 2007, it was ranked 356th in the ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' Top 1000 Best Schools in America. For the 2009–2010 school year, West Forsyth was the highest scoring high school in the county. It was also one of 13 North Carolina high schools in 2009 to receive the distinction of Honor School of Excellence due to high achievement on standardized tests. At West Forsyth High, students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement course work and exams. The AP participation rate at West Forsyth High is 57 percent. The student body is 50 percent male and 50 percent female, and the total minority enrollment is 37 percent. West Forsyth High is one of 18 high schools in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.

History

West Forsyth was built in 1964 after the merger of the Winston-Salem School District and Forsyth County School District. It originally served as the new home for students of Southwest High School (now Southwest Elementary), which is located within walking distance from the campus. In the beginning, only six buildings existed at West (100–600). The early 1970s brought several new additions, including the track, football stadium, and tennis courts. Five more buildings have also been built. The 700 and 900 buildings were constructed in the early 1980s. The Harold B. Simpson Gymnasium, named after West's first principal, was also built during that time. The 1000 building, the only two-story building on campus, was constructed last, in the late 1990s. A new auditorium (Performing Arts Center) was constructed, replacing the old auditorium in the 600 building, which is now the band room. The 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 buildings have been remodeled. Two PODS have been put in place as well, which house the school's Army JROTC program. The total budget for the overall upgrading of the facility was $10.5 million. In 2022, the WSFCS school board approved the basketball court located in the Harold B. Simpson Gymnasium to be dedicated and renamed in honor to former student

Chris Paul Christopher Emmanuel Paul (born May 6, 1985), nicknamed "CP3" and "the Point God", is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Regarded by some as one of the greatest p ...

, the basketball court's name was changed to "Chris Paul Court".

Athletics

West Forsyth is a part of the

North Carolina High School Athletic Association The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) is the governing organization of high school athletics in North Carolina, United States. The association maintains the official rule books and governs the officiating standards across ...

(NCHSAA) and is classified as a 4A school. It is a member of the 4A Central Piedmont Conference (CPC). The CPC features many of West's rivals, including

R.J. Reynolds Richard Joshua Reynolds (July 20, 1850 – July 29, 1918) was an American businessman and founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. The son of a tobacco farmer and major slaveowner, he worked for his father and attended Emory & Henry Coll ...

, Davie County, and Robert B. Glenn High School; and its main rivals, East Forsyth High School and Reagan High School. * Fall sports ** Cross country (boys and girls) **

Field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

(girls') **

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

(varsity and junior varsity) **

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

(girls) **

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

(boys) (varsity and junior varsity) **

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

(girls) **

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

(girls) (varsity and junior varsity) * Winter sports **

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 ...

(boys and girls) (varsity and junior varsity) ** Indoor track **

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

(boys and girls) **

Wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

(varsity and junior varsity) * Spring sports **

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

(varsity and junior varsity) **

(boys) **

Lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

(boys and girls) (varsity and junior varsity) **

(girls) (varsity and junior varsity) **

Softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

(varsity and junior varsity) **

(boys) ** Outdoor track (boys and girls)

State Championships

West Forsyth has won the following NCHSAA team state championships: * Baseball: 2014 (4A) * Girls Basketball: 2019 (4A) * Girls Cross Country: 1994 (4A), 1996 (4A) * Girls Soccer: 2017 (4A) * Softball: 2016 (4A) * Boys Outdoor Track & Field: 2017 (4A) * Wrestling Dual Team: 2016 (4A), 2017 (4A)

Extracurricular activities

West Forsyth's music programs include chorus, orchestra and band classes. In choral music, West Forsyth's Concert Choir has received a superior rating at the North Carolina Music Educators Association State Festival every year for the past nine years. In February 2017 the West Forsyth Army JROTC program scored a 99.5/100 on an inspection held every four years. This was among the highest scores in the entire country.

Notable alumni

* Tyrone Anthony

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

running back * Pazuzu Algarad American murderer * LaQuanda Barksdale WNBA player * Norton Barnhill

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

player *

Jalen Dalton Jalen Dalton (born August 5, 1997) is an American professional football defensive end. He played college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels and was signed by the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2019. He has also spent time wit ...

NFL defensive tackle * Dale Folwell current

North Carolina State Treasurer The North Carolina State Treasurer is a statewide elected office in the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina responsible for overseeing the financial operations of state government. The current state treasurer is Brad Briner. The office o ...

and former Speaker pro tempore of the

North Carolina House of Representatives The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Speaker of the House, who holds powers si ...

* Neal Hendrix professional

skateboarder Skateboarding is an action sport that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. Originating in the United Stat ...

KJ Henry Keith Jeremiah Henry (born January 27, 1999) is an American professional football defensive end for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Clemson Tigers and was selected by the Washingto ...

Defensive Tackle *

Byron Hill Byron Hill (born December 12, 1953), is an American songwriter from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Living and working professionally in Nashville, TN for more than forty years, his songs have been recorded by many country and pop artists. Musi ...

songwriter * Alex McCalister NFL and

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

linebacker * Ja'Quan McMillian

Defensive Back *

NBA player, 12x NBA All-Star, 2x

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

gold medalist and former Wake Forest Demon Deacon *

Tab Thacker Talmadge Layne "Tab" Thacker (March 10, 1962 – December 28, 2007) was an American wrestler and actor. Early life Thacker was on the football, basketball, track, and wrestling teams while at West Forsyth High School in Clemmons, North C ...

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and

wrestler Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves diffe ...

, won NCAA wrestling national championship at

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

Dustie Waring Robert Dustie Waring (born January 31, 1985) is an American guitarist. He is known for as the former guitarist for the progressive metalcore band Between the Buried and Me. He is also a guitarist for the deathcore band Glass Casket. Waring joined ...

rhythm guitarist for

Between the Buried and Me Between the Buried and Me, often abbreviated as BTBAM, is an American progressive metalcore band from Raleigh, North Carolina. Formed in 2000, the band consists of Tommy Giles Rogers Jr. (lead vocals, keyboards), Paul Waggoner (guitar, backing ...

* Jared Wilson NFL center, played collegiately for the Georgia BuldogsGeorgia flips offensive lineman Jared Wilson back from North Carolina
/ref> * Chris Young former member of the

United States men's national artistic gymnastics team The United States men's artistic gymnastics team represents the United States in Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, FIG international competitions. History The first national team roster was established in 1998. The team has competed at ...

and

1999 Pan American Games The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games () or the 13th Pan American Games and commonly known as Winnipeg 1999, were a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Ma ...

silver medalist

External links

West Forsyth High School official home page

Winston-Salem / Forsyth County Schools home page

West Forsyth High School Alumni Association

References

{{authority control 1964 establishments in North Carolina Educational institutions established in 1964 High schools in Winston-Salem, North Carolina Public high schools in North Carolina