Princess Anne High School


Princess Anne High School is one of 11 high schools in the Virginia Beach City Public School System. Opened in 1954, it is the oldest remaining high school in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States. The school is named after the now extinct Princess Anne County, Virginia which was annexed with the founding of Virginia Beach.

History

Origins

The school was built during a period of rapid expansion of the then Princess Anne County. The cost of construction and equipment was $3,500,000, which included approximately $1,000,000 of federal funds. The school was first occupied in September 1954. Several schools had previously been built and remain in use today, however, they were converted to smaller middle or elementary schools in order to address ballooning class sizes. In 1963, Princess Anne County was incorporated into the newly formed City of Virginia Beach and thus PAHS became the oldest remaining high school in the system.

September 1, 1995, fire

Four days before the opening of school in September 1995, a fire destroyed approximately one-third of the building. The blaze began in the library, destroying numerous valuable records, among them the entire collection of PA yearbooks before 1995 and numerous printed and digital course materials collected by teachers throughout their careers. The exact cause of the fire has never been announced.
Throughout both the 1995-1996 school year and the 1996-1997 fall semester, classes were held in a nearby vacant shopping mall known as "Celebration Station", which has since been demolished. Shuttle buses transported students between the temporary location and the remaining, intact portion of the school/portable classrooms on the main campus.
Following the fire, a large portion of the school was entirely rebuilt. As a result, the PA library now maintains one of the most extensive and up-to-date media collections of any Virginia Beach high school. A new wing was also added for art classes and studios. The school reopened in January 1997, with the official re-dedication ceremony held on May 4, 1997.

Academics

The school is part of the Virginia Beach Public School System, which has a reputation of being the best in the Hampton Roads region. Princess Anne maintained its place as the highest ranked high school in Virginia Beach as well as the Hampton Roads region in the Newsweek listing of "America's Best High Schools", continuing to place in the list annually. In 2012, The Washington Post released its list for "America's Most Challenging High Schools", and all eleven Virginia Beach City High Schools were in the top 1,900, but Princess Anne held the highest rank by a significant margin at #250. The only Virginia Beach high school International Baccalaureate program is housed in PA, attracting gifted students from throughout Virginia Beach.
The school has excelled in the VHSL academic competitions, with numerous championships in forensics and debate.
On GreatSchools, the school's overall rating is 7/10; college readiness being a 9/10; test scores a 7/10, and equity being a 4/10.

Special programs

In addition to serving regularly zoned students and the International Baccalaureate program, the school hosts the Virginia Beach center for students with moderate to severe disabilities and used to host a citywide center for pregnant teenagers, which now is located in the Renaissance Academy. Princess Anne is also one of the few high schools in Virginia Beach with an NJROTC program.

Athletics

Princess Anne has won 27 team VHSL State team sports championships and 19 State individual sports championships. 22 of the team titles have come since 1999. PA students participate in the following sports, in accordance with the Virginia High School League :
Princess Anne's golf team won the Virginia State High School Golf Championship in 1971 and 1972. The team was notable in that it included Curtis Strange, Allan Strange, Phil Stewart and Jay Williams. All went on to become PGA golf professionals.
Princess Anne's women's basketball team won the VHSL State Championship six consecutive years, which had never been previously accomplished. The team has won 10 championships, all since 2002.
Princess Anne's men's volleyball team won the VHSL State Championship three consecutive years from 2013-2015.
Princess Anne's women's volleyball team won the VHSL State Championship in 2018.
Club sports including lacrosse and crew have recently been founded, since the Virginia Beach school system does not formally participate in them. Informal extramural competitions between other local clubs and varsity teams of private institutions are common.
A long-standing club of athletic trainers allows students to voluntarily assist local team trainers and physicians.

School activities

Princess Anne is centrally located within the city of Virginia Beach along Virginia Beach Blvd. The school is adjacent to the recently erected downtown area. The two middle schools that feed into the student body include portions of Independence Middle School and Plaza Middle School. This includes portions of the Thoroughgood, Thalia, Pembroke, Lynnhaven, Princess Anne Plaza and Windsor Woods neighborhoods. Additionally, due to the International Baccalaureate programme, those under the IB Middle Years Programme automatically feed into Princess Anne, assuming they have completed the respective requirements. Also, a nearby gifted middle school, Kemps Landing Magnet School, tends to feed heavily into its International Baccalaureate programme.

Notable alumni