WV's biggest high schools

So I spent part of today collecting enrollments of public school enrollments in West Virginia so I could ask myself the burning question, "What are the largest high schools in West Virginia?"

Here are the 10 largest high schools in the state, followed by some of the other high schools in our part of West Virginia. (I might get ambitious and do the same kind of list for Ohio and/or Kentucky some time).

SCHOOL (COUNTY) ENROLLMENT (9-12 only)
Jefferson (Jefferson) 2,342
Cabell Midland (Cabell) 1,833
Wheeling Park (Ohio) 1,803
Morgantown (Monongalia)1,733
Martinsburg (Berkeley)1,645
Huntington (Cabell) 1,633
Hedgesville (Berkeley) 1,565
Musselman (Berkeley) 1,444
John Marshall (Marshall) 1,399
Preston (Preston) 1,337

Spring Valley (Wayne) 1,136 (18th)
Wayne (Wayne) 655 (55th)
Tolsia (Wayne) 539 (66th)

Lincoln County (Lincoln) 904 (28th)

Hurricane (Putnam) 1,078 (20th)
Winfield (Putnam) 836 (33rd)
Buffalo (Putnam) 305 (42nd)

Point Pleasant (Mason) 775 (42nd)
Hannan (Mason) 192 (107th)


As usual, the smallest high school in West Virginia belongs to Paw Paw in Morgan County, with 65 students in 9-12.


One reason this interests me more now is that my daughter is a freshman at Huntington High. It took her a day or so to get used to being in such a huge building, but she's adapted pretty well. She did have some trouble when the bus schedule changed a bit a few weeks ago, but she's over that now. She does have to walk a long way between some classes, however.

At one time I thought Huntington High was too big. I still do, but I'm not as adamant about it now that my daughter is doing okay in high school. In fact, she's doing academically better now than she did in middle school. Part of that may be maturity and part may be the lure of a Promise scholarship. That's why the scholarships should not be tightened so much. They're making a difference in one girl's life. Who knows how many kids are studying better now that the promise of four years of free tuition is out there.

But I still would prefer her to go to a smaller school. Sixteen hundred kids is still too many to be in one place at one time.