Public, coeducational high school in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, United States
Aliquippa Junior/Senior High School is a public high school in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. It is the only high school in the Aliquippa School District. Athletic teams compete as the Aliquippa Quips in the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL).
In 2009, the middle school building that housed grades 5–8 was renovated to house grades 7–12 and the elementary school building that housed grades K-4 was renovated to house grades K-6. The former high school building, built in 1924, was demolished in 2009.[3]
History
20th century
On June 7, 1909, the Woodlawn School District was formed to provide education to the growing population of Woodlawn, which was later annexed into Aliquippa.[4] In 1910, Highland School located in the Plan 6 area of Woodlawn was opened and, in 1911, Logstown School was constructed as well.[4]
The first high school students were housed in elementary schools or sent to Beaver for senior classes and graduation, in 1913 the first senior class graduated from the Logstown building and whose names are as follows: Lehman Howard, Elvira Davis, Carol Howard, Eleanor Calhoun, Edwin Davis, and Ruth Scott.[4] Shortly after that a two-story building was erected on the foot of the Plan 12 hill and was dedicated as Woodlawn High School. The first graduating class from that school was the Class of 1914 and its members were Dewitt Baker, Rose Eberlie, Helen McGaughy, Alda Johnson, Ruth Stevenson, Orie Cochran, and Joseph Cochran. In 1924, a new high school was erected on the hilltop overlooking the Franklin Avenue Business District. The school consisted of two wings which included 34 classrooms, laboratories, and offices and shortly after that a second building phase followed the construction of a gymnasium and the first part of a vocational shop on the hill above the school was completed. Named Harding High School after the late President Warren G. Harding who died in office during its construction, it was renamed Aliquippa High School on June 8, 1930, due to the merger of the Boroughs of Woodlawn and Aliquippa two years earlier in 1928.
Aliquippa High School continued serving the community for more than 80 years until 2009.[4] At that time the structure was in a state of deterioration and needed either remodeled or replaced. The Aliquippa School District took remodeling the school into consideration, but the project would have cost $63 million and due to the heavy loss of tax revenue because of the closing of the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company in 1985 and the heavy population & school enrollment loss the school could not afford the project.[4] The school decided to cut down from three buildings to two by renovating Aliquippa Elementary School to house Grades K-6 instead of K-4 and renovating Aliquippa Middle School to house Grades 7-12 instead of 5-8 and it was to be renamed Aliquippa Junior/Senior High School . Aliquippa High School would be razed since there was nothing that could be done to the building. The Class of 2009 was the final graduating class from AHS and the Class of 2010 was the first class to graduate from the new Aliquippa Junior/Senior High School. Over 20,000 people graduated from Aliquippa High School from 1925 to 2009.[4]
The Aliquippa Jr/Sr High School was built in 1959 as the Aliquippa Junior High School. The school was built by orders of the Aliquippa Board of School Directors due to the rising enrollment in the District. The school was built from 1958 to 1959 and was built to house 1,000 Students. The school was estimated to cost $750,000 to $850,000. The Junior High School was operated from 1959 to 1985, When by the decision of the Aliquippa School Board, The grades would be realigned, Aliquippa's population was declining due to the collapse of the steel industry, And the school district's enrollment dropped from 3,900 in 1973 to 1,500 that year. The school board decided to put grades Kindergarten through Sixth in the then New Sheffield Elementary School (currently Aliquippa Elementary School), And put grades Seventh through Twelfth Grades at the Aliquippa High school, renaming it Aliquippa Junior/Senior High School, and closing the over 30-year-old Junior High School. This remained until 1991 when due to a spike up in Enrollment, The Aliquippa School Board voted to reopen the Junior High School after being closed for six years. But in order to reopen the Junior High, The building had to be brought up to Code by the Regulations of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Department of Education, County of Beaver, and the City of Aliquippa. After the work was finished, the school was dedicated. A new air conditioning system, doors to the classrooms/building, new kitchen equipment, floors, lights, ceiling panels, paint, and a new main school entrance.
21st century
The school was renamed Aliquippa Middle School and operated normally until 2008. After the Aliquippa School Board decided to once again realign the grades, Aliquippa Elementary School now houses kindergarten through sixth grade and Aliquippa Middle School will house grades seven through twelve and was renamed Aliquippa Junior/Senior High School. Aliquippa High School, built in 1924, would be demolished.
The Class of 2009 was the last graduating class from the former Aliquippa High School. As of the 2019-2020 school year, Aliquippa Junior/Senior High School houses 405 pupils in grades 7 through 12.[5]
