Gallia Academy High School (Gallipolis, Ohio)


Gallia Academy High School is a public high school near Gallipolis at Centenary, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in the Gallipolis City School District. The boys' sports teams are known as the Blue Devils, while the girls' teams are called the Blue Angels.

History

GAHS was originally built as a military academy in 1811, then renovated in 1936. The older part of the high school was turned into a junior high, after the replacement in the 1950s, which was added on. In 2005, it was voted to build a new high school after many protests about the state of the high school and three local elementary schools. The new high school has recently been completed and has been in use since August 24, 2009. Controversy ensued after the new school was built outside the town limits far into basically the middle of nowhere, instead of being built inside the town limits which would have boosted much needed heavy tax revenue into the town. The parcel of land it sits on now has long been rumored to be sacred native burial mounds according to the Ohio Historical Society, these religious mounds are not to ever be disturbed by outsiders. Many local townfolk were very disappointed at the wrong decision made to move the new high school outside the town limits, an informal phone poll showed that 98% were against the choice while the other 2% abstained or offered no comments, due to the very remote location, bus routes are often forced to start at the crack of dawn for pickups and to meet the time table of the opening bell for classes. The alternate location for the high school was said to be next to the former Rax fast food on Eastern avenue, which would have allowed for large tax revenues by school employees to be used for the town infrastructure.

Athletics

The Gallipolis Gallia Academy Blue Devils will be a part of the Ohio Valley Conference, starting in 2016-17.

Notable alumni