News / The Northern Virginia Daily/nvdaily.com
Refurbished middle school dedicated
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Historic building previously housed senior high
By M.K. Luther - mkluther@nvdaily.com
FRONT ROYAL -- Warren County's former high school building on Luray Avenue began a new chapter in its 70-year history this week when it was reborn as Warren County Middle School.
The building's construction was first conceived and funded during the Depression, and the county's only high school was dedicated on Sept. 8. 1940. The facility went on to see several generations of county high school students pass through its halls, and ultimately became a key battleground in the struggle for public school integration.
The Warren County School Board, Board of Supervisors and officials from Lantz Construction Inc. of Winchester presided over a formal ribbon cutting, officially christening the historic building Wednesday night.
More than 100 people gathered in the newly refurbished stately auditorium to formally dedicate the new facility. School Board Chairman Roy K. Boyles, Warren County Middle School Principal Alan Fox and Board of Supervisors Chairman Archie Fox thanked the many people who were instrumental in bringing the renovation and construction project to fruition.
"We are preserving the past while preparing our students for the future," said School Board member Joanne Cherefko. "And you have got a blend here of the future and the past."
Superintendent Pamela McInnis, herself a Warren County High School alumna, said the decision to refurbish the circa-1940 building continued the lasting legacy of the community's high school and its many alumni.
"Some people thought this building had come to the end of its usefulness as a school when we moved to [the new] Warren County High School in 2007," McInnis said. "But many other people believed the only way to honor this building's history was to revitalize it as another school, and we were right."
"In order to appreciate where our future generation of students are going, we need to know where we have been," McInnis said.
School Board member Cathy Bower, also a graduate of the original Warren County High School, said re-entering the building brought on moments of pure "nostalgia."
"We have a strong-knit community and a lot of people have really strong ties to this school," Bower said. "It has a lot of good memories. There is a lot of history here."
The Rev. James M. Kilby, whose father, James W. Kilby, became a figure in civil rights movement when he filed suit to integrate public schools in Warren County, accented the importance of the school's role in the history of Massive Resistance.
"We know that this school has a deep history, a rich history and I think the superintendent and the school board should understand what it means to the community to embrace the history," he said.
"All children, when [the school] opened [Tuesday] were able to come because of because of James W. Kilby, because of the work he did" he said.
 Warren County Middle School principal, E. Alan Fox, addresses the gathering for the Warren County Middle School. Dennis Grundman/Daily
The entrance to the refurbished Warren County Middle School is a welcoming sight. Dennis Grundman/Daily
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