Fifty is Nifty
Warren Hills teachers Susan DeYoung, Beth Viglianco, Sandy Young, Laurie Kerr, and Danielle Miksch all served on the 50th Anniversary Committee. In total, the anniversary activities were two years in the making, with help from the students and community who provided pictures for the video montage. (Photo courtesy of Laurie Kerr)
This year’s Community Day was unique because Warren Hills celebrated its fiftieth year as a high school in its current location.
The activities honoring the semi-centennial during Community Day started in the auditorium with a video presentation made by Film Design Teacher Richard Patricia and his students. The video montage recounted the history of Warren Hills since the opening of Washington High School, which would later become the Warren Hills Regional Middle School.
After watching the video presentation, guests took a tour of the school, accompanied by a historical recap of each part of the building, including renovations that have occurred over time.
The story of Warren Hills actually started with the erection of the Washington High School in 1932. Later, due to higher enrollment, the Warren Hills Regional High School was opened on September 21, 1967, two weeks after the anticipated end of construction. At that time, Washington High School reopened as the Warren Hills Regional Junior High School.
At that time, the high school taught grades 10 through 12, and the junior high school taught grades six through nine. This changed when the high school was expanded to accommodate increased enrollment, starting in 1989. Since the early 90’s, the high school has included grade nine, and the junior high school was designated as the middle school and has only housed grades seven and eight.
A number of renovations occurred at Warren Hills in 1992. In that year, the expansion of the Guidance Office was completed, and the former Main Office was converted into the current Child Study Team Office. Nearby, the Nurse’s Office and Technology Office took the place of the original library. History and Math rooms were also installed in 1992.
The current Main Office and foyer were added that year, as was the Band Room. The Wings classroom, current location of the radio station, was renovated the same year.
Another wave of change came in 2009. The original Gymnasium was subjected to renovation and opened as the current library. 2009 also saw the addition of a conference room near the Guidance Office. The Fine Arts wing was completed the same year, where the second renovation of the Library used to be.
The original Cafeteria was renovated in 2009, and the space was used to open two Biology classrooms, and an Agriculture classroom, including the Greenhouse. The current Cafeteria was the replacement. The Auxiliary Gym and Main Gym were also added that year.
