West Hall High School
West Hall High School opened in the fall of 1988. It was the first of the modern high schools built recently in Hall County as the population has swelled. The school building has been used as a model for other newly built schools throughout the region.
At 30 years old, WHHS has become a school known for its excellence in achievement and acceptance of ethnic diversity. Currently, our school is comprised of about 1,200 students in grades 9-12 with roughly 50% White, 40% Hispanic, 5% African-American, 3% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 1% American Indian/Alaskan Native. In past decade, West Hall’s demographics have changed drastically to include many Hispanic students whose parents migrated here. As time has passed, these families have become an integrated and integral part of our community, establishing businesses and places of worship. Our school culture truly reflects our community in which mutual respect for all groups of people has become the standard.
The site of West Hall High School was once known as the McDonald farm. In 1944, Glenn T. and Nellie Crow McDonald purchased from the Rufus M. Crow estate the section of land which today is the site of our school. Mr. and Mrs. McDonald, who lived in Oakwood at that time, employed a tenant to assist in the daily operation of their farm, but in 1960 they built a brick home on the land and moved to their farm. For many years, the land was planted in row crops: cotton, corn, and sugar cane. Years of drought and boll weevil destruction, however, caused Mr. McDonald to turn his acreage into fine pastureland. After clearing, filling in gullies, and fertilizing, Mr. McDonald had pastures covered in lush coastal Bermuda on which his Black Angus and Simmental cattle grazed. The McDonalds were named the “Soil Conservationists of 1971” by the United States Soil Conservation Service in Hall County. For over forty years, Mr. McDonald tended the land that he loved so well. Declining health had made each year’s work more difficult for him. In January of 1985, Mr. McDonald passed away, and in August of 1985 his lush pastures were sold to the Hall County Board of Education to become the site of West Hall High School.
Now you know!
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