AberdareHigh School was a comprehensive school in Aberdare, Wales. The school was situated between the villages of Trecynon and Cwmdare and sited opposite the Coleg y Cymoedd site. Over 600 pupils attended the school, which had a separate sports facility, two annexes, an upper school and a lower school. The school was a member of the Cynon Valley 16+ Consortium, which combined the resources of several local schools for sixth form tuition. The school's 'Dare Valley Sports Hall' was used by the public and the pupils of the school. Prior to September 2009, the school's name was Aberdare Boys' Comprehensive School.
Aberdare Boys' Grammar School was located in Aberdare, Wales. Situated in Trecynon, it was called the Aberdare Intermediate School when it opened in 1896. It was also a mixed school at that time. There were 80 such schools in Wales in 1896, rising to 101 by 1920. The change of name to "Grammar School" followed the 1944 Education Act. In 1964, the school relocated to Cwmdare Road. It ceased to be a grammar school in 1978, when the buildings were used to house the new Aberdare Boys' Comprehensive School.
It was announced in 2012 that Aberdare High School, Aberdare Girls' School and Blaengwawr Comprehensive School would merge to form a new 'super-school' which became Aberdare Community School. The construction of the new £50m campus began on the Michael SobellSports Centre site in 2013 with the intentions of creating a unified education, leisure and community hub. After several delays, the intended September 2014 opening date of the new 1,600 pupil building was pushed back to April 2015 with the formation of Aberdare Community School still set for September 2014. Blaengwawr Comprehensive, Aberdare High and Aberdare Girls' schools were closed at the end of the Summer Term 2014. It was announced that due to delays of the new campus, the four buildings previously occupied by the three schools would temporarily house various school years until a gradual move is possible once the new building was completed in 2015.