West End High School has proudly stood on West End Avenue since 1937.  In 1968, the last senior class graduated, and West End High School became West End Middle School.  Here is a brief history of the years in between.

West, which was a Public Works Administration project, opened as a high school in September, 1937, with 823 students in grades 10-12 and a faculty of 30.  The addition of grades 7-9 increased enrollment to 1,025. Dr. William Henry Yarbrough was selected as principal.

The building was formally dedicated in November, 1937 at a ceremony attended by many of the city’s most prominent educational and civic leaders.  The suggestion that the school be named in honor of the Mayor, Hilary E. Howse, was refused by the Mayor, based on the policy of the federal government through the Public Works Administration that no building in which they cooperated was to be named for any living person.  After the mayor died, it was suggested the name be changed to honor Mayor Howse, the students and the PTA protested, and the Board of Education relented.  The graduates even threatened to buy their own special diplomas just to show they were graduates of West!

The name, “West High Blue Jays”, was given by a local paper.  While not popular at first, it remained, becoming part of the West End High School tradition.

The first year saw the organization of the Men’s Club, the West Wind newspaper, the R.O.T.C, and student government.  At the first graduation in 1938, 122 seniors received diplomas.  In the second year, the National Honor Society and Quill and Scroll were organized. The third year saw the organization of the Beta Club and the football team became city co-champions.