Webster Groves High School was first established in 1889 as a ninth grade course. The school originally occupied the first floor of the original white frame Bristol School building, then known as Webster School, or sometimes the Gray Avenue School;[4] the elementary school took up the second floor. George L. Hawkins was the principal.[5] As enrollment increased, the high school used hallways and storerooms as supplementary classrooms. Eventually, they rented space in the Congregational Church and the Brannon Building. In 1905, the entire high school was moved to the second floor of the Brannon Building.[6]
In 1905, citizens started recognizing the need for a new high school for Webster Groves, so they voted for a $40,000 bond issue to purchase the site where it currently stands 100 Selma Avenue, and build the school. The building faced Selma Avenue but was closer to Bradford Avenue. It was far back from the street, and was very long and thin, likely built similar to the current day Bristol Elementary School building. The high school building was completed in 1907. At first the high school was a two-story brick building with three classrooms and an auditorium. In 1914, two wings were added to the school, a south wing for a gymnasium, and a north wing for an auditorium, 12 classrooms, and a "girls gym". In 1917 an Armory for the Home Guard was created behind the school, which was eventually given to the high school. It was used as a lunchroom and a gymnasium for seniors. James Hixson served as the first principal from 1907 to 1943.[7]
The senior entrance of Webster Groves High School, completed in 1927. Photo taken 2023.
In the 1920s a three-story section and the city's public library were added just north of this building. In 1925, a bond issue provided funding to completely redo the school. A new section was built meant specifically for seniors, children from 9-12th grade. This new section was completed on October 6, 1927 and was named Frank Hamsher High School, after the school district's 4th superintendent, who had died in 1924. This new addition contained an double level auditorium, gymnasium, and 9 classrooms. It is now referred to as the senior entrance. The second part of the plan involved building another new part of the school just to the south of the new section, called the junior entrance. The original building was used for juniors, children 6-8th grade from 1927 until 1935, when it was either torn down in 1935 or left behind the 1935 section. This new addition contained 28 classrooms for classes like drama and science, FACS rooms, art rooms. It also added the Little Theater, which was modeled after the Yale Repertory Theater of the time,[8] and had drama and music rooms above it.
Some time in the 1940s or 1950s, an autobody shop was built in the northeast corner of the high school property to serve auto maintenance classes. It was constructed as a separate building that could house small cars or large semi trucks. In the mid 1970's an indoor walkway was constructed between the main building and this sub-building.[9]
In 1947, the Armory building behind the school was replaced by Roberts Gym, named after Charles A. Roberts, who coached and taught at the school for 39 years.[10] The main entrance of this building was on the ground floor facing Bradford Avenue and led into the cafeteria.
Howard Latta was principal from 1943 to 1968.[7] WGHS was racially integrated in 1956, 2 years after Brown v Board of Education, bringing in children from Douglass High School. In 1966 a 2-story elevated wing was added onto the back of the building, now containing many classrooms for math and world languages. It enclosed a large section of the courtyard, but still let students travel underneath it. The Herbert Schooling Library was donated around this time. Jerry Knight was principal from 1969 to 1986.[11] The main auditorium within the Senior entrance is now named after him.
The main common area, used largely for lunch, was built under the 2 story section in 2002. It was named P.V. Commons is named after Patricia Voss, the principal from 1994-2003. She had been an assistant principal since 1977.[12] In October 2002 a white powdery substance found in a tissue box provoked a two-hour lockdown. Investigators later determined the substance was not Anthrax.[13] The Webster Groves School Board appointed Jon Clark as principal in 2003. Clark had been an assistant principal at the high school for seven years.[14]
In 2010, an old section of the school building was torn down (possibly the original high school building) to build an auxiliary gym between Robert's Gym and Junior Entrance. [9]
In 2011, construction began on a 106,000-square-foot addition to the school. During this time, the old auto maintenance shop and a small original north wing was torn down to make room for it. A temporary auto maintenance shop was set up under the 1966 section of building, where the plywood walls still stand, as of 2024. The major new addition was completed in 2012, it included new classrooms, state-of-the-art science labs, a main band room, private band practice rooms, art studios, industrial technology classrooms, and an autobody shop in the basement. The social studies department also had new rooms constructed in this section, as well as some utility rooms and a loading dock. To get to the car shop basement, an car elevator was constructed to bring cars down into the cavernous auto maintenance shop. The roof of the building also features a vegetation courtyard. In addition, three 20,000 gallon water harvesting tanks are located at the base of the building for rain collection and irrigation for the field behind the building. The expansion was built to resemble the look of the existing building, including the use of terrazzo floors and steps, and limestone accents.[15] The old gymnasium behind Knight Auditorium was sectioned off during this process and now contains the drama department rooms, as well as a black box theater.
For several years, the Little Theater had been dealing with black mold problems, and nobody was allowed inside. In 2024, the building was demolished and replaced with Frick Theater. It was built for $2 million, funded by Mr. and Ms. Frick, and was designed to be a clean theater, meaning nothing will be painted or drilled into the floors for performances, unlike the Knight Auditorium.
Facilities
The Webster Groves High School building has approximately 130 classrooms along with an auditorium, a media center, and a theater. It has a soccer field to the west and a baseball/softball field to the east. Moss Field, the football stadium, is located at Hixson Middle School at 630 South Elm Avenue, a short drive from the high school. The field was built in 1946 and has been renovated several times. It now has locker rooms, bleachers, lights and an all-weather track. As of 2024, it is undergoing a full transformation, including an eight lane track, turf field, concession stands, locker rooms and restrooms, concrete seating, and a video scoreboard.[16]
Curriculum
24 credits are required to graduate from Webster Groves High School. The class of 2010 required four credits of Communication Skills; three credits each of Science, Math, and Social Studies; one Fine Art credit; one and a half credits each of Practical Arts and Physical Education; and six and a half Elective Credits. Students are also required to take a half credit of Personal Finance, which is considered either a practical art or a social studies credit.
The 2023-24 school year required students to have 4 credits of English, 3 of Math, Science, and Social Studies, 1 of Fine Arts (such as Art, Drama, or Music), 1 of Practical Arts (such as Business, Family and Consumer Sciences, or Industrial Technology), 1 of Physical Education, 0.5 of health, and 1 Personal Finance course, combined with 7.5 elective credits.
Activities and clubs
Webster Groves High School marching band at the 2012 Turkey Day game vs Kirkwood at Moss Field.
Webster Groves High School offers over 60 clubs for its students to participate in, covering a wide range of student interests.
Webster Groves High School sponsors a number of different sports, including football (men's), field hockey, soccer (men's and women's), basketball (men's and women's), baseball (men's), softball (women's), golf (men's and women's), track and field (men's and women's), swimming (men's and women's), and lacrosse (women's). Ice hockey and men's lacrosse are non-affiliate sports at the high school.
The Turkey Day football game is an annual game held on Thanksgiving Day between Webster Groves High School and its longtime rival, Kirkwood High School. The rivalry between the two schools is the oldest current Thanksgiving Day rivalry west of the Mississippi River. The location of the game alternates each year between Webster’s Moss Field and Kirkwood’s Lyon’s Memorial field. A number of festivities surround the game, including a shared dance and a separate bonfire and pep rally at each school. It began in 1907 and is the longest running classic west of the Mississippi. The winner of each year's game is presented with the Frisco Bell, a bell from a train donated by the Frisco Railroad line. The losers used to get the Little Brown Jug, however it has not been seen in a while. 2007 was the 100th year of this storied series between the two schools, and the game had attendance exceeding 12,000 fans.
State championship wins
1931: Boys Track
1947: Boys Golf
1951: Boys Golf
1954: Boys Golf
1954: Football
1967: Boys Swimming
1968: Boys Swimming
1970: Boys Swimming
1979: Football
1983: Girls Golf
1984: Girls Golf
1988: Football
1996: Boys Basketball
2002: Football
2008: Boys Basketball; Ranked 18th in the Nation
2009: Football; Ranked 7th in the Midwest/Midlands Region
2014: Boys Soccer; first ever in school history
2015: Boys Soccer; first public school to win twice in a row
2017: Boys Basketball
2017: Girls Soccer; first ever in school history
2018: Boys Basketball
2020: Softball
2022: Boys Basketball
2022: Boys Golf
2022: Boys Soccer
Media references
In 1966 CBS produced an award winning documentary called 16 In Webster Groves, which was about the lives of students in Webster Groves. In 1996 then-President Bill Clinton came to the school to recognize the Webster Groves School District’s work towards preventing drugs and violence among its students. In 1999 Time magazine devoted a cover story to a week at Webster Groves High School.
Faculty
Average professional experience: 15.3 years.
Percentage of teachers with advanced degrees: 79.4%.
School information
Grades: 9-12
Enrollment: 1,378
Senior class of 2018: 339
Student/teacher Ratio: 19:1
Rate of Attendance: 93.6%
Graduation Rate: 97.9%
2008 Composite ACT Score: 23.4
2014 National Merit Semifinalist Students: 4
2014 National Merit Commended Students: 4
Courses offering College Credit: 23
Webster Groves High School is a closed campus for grades 9-10. Juniors and Seniors are given the privilege to leave campus during their lunch hour, with Juniors being given said privilege more recently.
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