Walter Hines Page Senior High School - History

History

Walter Hines Page Senior High School opened its doors in September, 1958, under the leadership of Principal Luther R. Medlin (formerly the principal of Central Junior High School). The school was named for Walter Hines Page, a North Carolina journalist, diplomat, supporter of education, and ambassador to Great Britain.

Page Senior High School began with a small student body of approximately five hundred and a staff of thirty. It was the first school in North Carolina to earn accreditation in the first year of its existence. As the school population grew, the existing facility became inadequate. The auditorium and G-wings were added in 1962-63. Other additions throughout the years included an extension to A-wing, a second gymnasium, lighted tennis courts, a football stadium, and a cafeteria extension. When Page began including ninth grade in 1986, mobile classroom units were added around the campus.

In 1967, Medlin, who had led the school through its developmental years, left Page to become President of Guilford Technical Institute (now Guilford Technical Community College). He was succeeded by Robert A. Newton, who was principal from 1967-70. Robert A. Clendenin, formerly the principal of Aycock Junior High School, became the third principal in 1970 and remained through 1991. Paul J. Puryear became the fourth principal of Page in the August 1991. Puryear attended Page as a student, served as an assistant principal for nine years, and returned to Page from a two-year term as principal of Athens Drive High School in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Between 1959 and 1965, Page produced two Morehead Scholars each year. A chapter of the National Honor Society was chartered during the 1958-59 school year. From 1981 to 1982, Page's Cultural Arts Department was a national finalist for the coveted $10,000 Rockefeller Foundation Grant.