Ronald W. Reagan High School


Ronald W. Reagan High School is a public high school in Pfafftown, North Carolina, United States, under the direction of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools system. It is named after former U.S. president Ronald Reagan. It had a student population of approximately 1,850 for the 2014-2015 school year. The school was constructed to begin operation at the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year. Reagan was a North Carolina 4A school, the state's highest level. Reagan's student population increased since its opening, reaching the full available capacity until additions are made. A new wing was completed and opened for the 2009-2010 school year. The class of 2007 was the first to graduate from Reagan High School. The current principal is Brad Royal.

Academics

As of the 2011-2012 school year, 93% of students met proficiency levels on state tests, the highest level of any high school in the WS/FCS district. Reagan has a graduation rate of 94.1%, also ranking number one for the county. The average reading and writing scores for the SAT are 73 points over the state average. Over half of the junior and senior class take college level, Advanced Placement classes.
The school's publications, The Rooster and The Nexus, have won numerous awards. The Nexus won the Tarheel publication award of North Carolina for its 08/09 yearbook.
For three consecutive years, Reagan's academic team won the Academic Competition championship against West Forsyth High School in 2007, R.J. Reynolds High School in 2008, and Mount Tabor High School in 2009. The academic team won another championship in 2011, beating R.J. Reynolds High School in a close championship game. They lost the 2013 championship match by a margin of just eight points to R.J. Reynolds after an unexpected comeback in the social studies round, led by Tyler Pallen, in which the team rose from a seventeen-point deficit to a five-point lead.

Athletics

Reagan is home to the following athletic teams: baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, field hockey, football, golf, ice hockey, indoor track, lacrosse, dance, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, winter guard, wrestling, and marching band.
The cross country team were 2010 regional champions.
The Reagan men's soccer team takes part in the Central Piedmont Conference. In the 2014-2015 school year they made history for the Raiders by winning the Forsyth Cup, a local pre-season tournament for members of the CPC, for the first time in the program's history. The Reagan team achieved the honor of CPC conference champions with an 11-1 record. The Raiders continued their run into the playoff where they advanced to the NCHSAA 4A Soccer Championship for the first time in school history after winning the Regional Finals with a 3-1 win over Hough. The Reagan Raiders went on to win the 4A State Championship. This was the first sport state championship in the school's history. The Reagan men's soccer team would finish ranked 9th in the nation for all men's soccer teams during the fall season and were recognized for this achievement by MaxPrep Sports and the National Guard for ending the season with a 25-3 record.
The Reagan Raiders ice hockey team is a part of the Carolina Hockey League. The league consists of teams from Virginia Beach, Virginia; Roanoke, VA; Florence, SC; Wilmington, NC; and Fayetteville, NC. Reagan represents the city of Winston-Salem, NC.
The Reagan girls' golf team placed second in the state championships during the 2011-2012 school year.
Caroline Neil placed 24th in the 200 meter breaststroke at the USA Swimming Nation Championships, and made the 2012 Olympic cuts.

Music

The school's "Band of Raiders" was one of the school's first successful extracurricular programs. Over the years the band has grown from 25 in 2006 to around 140 members in 2018. In 2014 the Band was invited to march in the National Independence Day Parade in Washington DC and was re invited in 2018. The Band of Raiders performed in the 2016 London New Year's Day Parade in London, England.

School layout

Reagan is the largest school in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools system, covering an area of over 245,000 square feet. The school features a baseball field, a softball field, six tennis courts, a football field, and track. The main school, which has a modern architecture, hosts two gyms, a cafeteria which seats up to 500, an auditorium with room for 750, and around eighty classrooms.
Reagan received a grant worth over 23 million dollars for new technology. Each classroom is now equipped with 52' inch flat screen televisions, computer stations, a personal teacher computer, new telephone and intercom systems, microphones, and a Mobie that enables teachers to write on a blank tablet and have it appear via television screen. The school also features the televisions throughout the hallways, cafeteria, and administrative offices.
The school currently has plans for expansion due to overpopulation.

Deaths

In the 2006-2007 school year student Josh Shelton died on crashing into a tree with his car one night shortly after obtaining his driving license.
In the 2008-2009 school year, Kaitlyn Fitzgerald, a member of the 2009 graduating class, died of cancer. The student body created a volleyball series in her honor, named "Spike Leukemia," held annually every volleyball season.
In 2010-2011 there were five unrelated deaths: seniors Nicholas "Doobie" Doub and Jessica Davis, freshman Brooke Edwards, and two teachers.
In the 2011-2012 school year a freshman drowned.
At the start of the 2012-13 school year a recent graduate died of leukemia, and another died in a single-vehicle accident believed to have been due to sending text messages while driving.
A memorial garden has been established in the southeast corner of the campus.

Notable alumni