Washington County High School is located in Sandersville, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1959 from a county-wide consolidation of small community high schools. Because segregation was still active, only white students could attend. A twin school for black students, Thomas Jefferson Elder High School, was built in 1959 on Hines Street in the Tybee neighborhood of Sandersville.
The school got its mascot by student vote among Hawks, Falcons, and Eagles. The colors are derived from the black of Tennille High School (the Tigers) and the gold of Sandersville High School (the Golden Hawks).
In 1972, the Washington County (WACO) school system fully integrated, and Washington County High started housing grades 11–12. T.J. Elder High became T.J. Junior High, and housed grades 9-10. In the 1984–85 school year, the current 9–12 format went into effect.
During the 1980–81 school year, a vocational building was built, housing a bigger library. In 1993, an extensive renovation took place on the original 1959 building, removing the numerous windows that lined the outside walls of most of the original building and enlarging the cafeteria.
In 1997, a gym, front office complex, science classrooms, and labs were built. The old gym complex was renovated into a fine arts wing, adding a larger band room, chorus room, and 300-seat theater.
The school has achieved many distinctions:
Advanced Placement courses and honors level college preparatory classes
Georgia Governor’s Honors Program participants and National Merit Scholars
Washington County STAR Student
Washington County DAR Good Citizen
Rotary Speech Contest and Optimist Essay Contest winners
Two National Board-certified teachers
Named by GeorgiaEducation.org as one of the three high schools in Georgia to have moved from a low-performing school to an exemplary school
Numerous region and state titles for SkillsUSA, HOSA, and FBLA with winners advancing to nationals
Entrepreneurship program through sponsorship by Georgia REAL Student
Business, Healthcare Science, and Construction programs industry certified
Percussion consistently receives "Superior" ratings at festivals throughout the state
District Honor band members as well as All-State Musicians
2 state titles and 4 state runner-up titles in theater competition
Region championships for the last six years for Debate and Literary teams
Literary team state champions 2008 and 2009, and 3rd place in 2010
Several students published in state and national publications
24 students in both Latin and Spanish inducted into the International Foreign Language Honor Society, Foreign Language Alliance for International Rapport (FLAIR), FLAIR's only Latin Student of the Year 2009
Governor's Honors Program participant in Communicative Arts in 2009
A.C.E. (Accepting the Challenge of Excellence) Award recipients Washington County scholarship winners
Georgia Career Student Association state champions 2010
Interact — 2009 District club of the year
Special Olympics participation 2009, 2010 State Fall Games with multiple medal winners; hosted regional Olympics 2011
Special Olympics "Face of the Year" student for State Fall Games
Georgia All-Classification Weightlifting Champions 2001-2002; State Runner-Up 2000, 2004, 2005
Area 4 All-Classification Weight-lifting Champions 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Set the Bigger, Faster, Stronger National Power Clean Record in 2000, 2002, 2003, and has set or broken 11 National BFS records
Girls' basketball team region champions in 2009-10 and 2010-2011 school years
Girls' basketball team appeared in several state playoffs prior to state AAA championship in 2011
Boys' basketball team appeared in several state playoffs
Fast-pitch softball team appeared in state playoffs 2010
Varsity football team appeared in several state playoffs
B-Team football achieved over 30 consecutive victories
"Hawk's Nest" voted "Best Baseball Field in the Region"
Girls' track team region champions 2010
Boys' track team region champions 2011, three track scholarships in 2011
Baseball team has several state playoff appearances
Numerous athletic scholarships awarded each year
Numerous academic scholarships awarded each year
