George Washington Carver Regional High School was a special educational institution and an educational milestone for African-Americans in Culpeper, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock counties.

George Washington Carver Regional High School reflects the dedication, commitment, struggle and sacrifice of African-American parents and a dedicated faculty.

Prior to 1948 Young African-American men and women in Culpeper, Greene, Madison, Orange, and Rappahannock counties experienced extreme difficulties in acquiring a high school education. Culpeper and Orange counties had a secondary program; however, the offerings were so very limited that some parents paid for their children’s attendance to school elsewhere to ensure that they would be admitted to colleges.

Greene, Madison, and Rappahannock counties did not provide an educational opportunity beyond 7th grade. The children of these counties were forced to gain a high school education elsewhere at the total expense of their parents. Some parents in Rappahannock county sent their children to a boarding school in Manassas and Christiansburg, Virginia. As a result of the struggle by African-American citizens to acquire an equal education for African-American children, in 1946 Culpeper and Rappahannock counties signed an agreement that Culpeper would accept the Rappahannock students on a tuition basis. The Rappahannock county students were bused to Culpeper beginning in l946-47school year.

However, the continued struggle of the African-American citizens in these five counties and the threat of a legal suit caused the governing bodies of Culpeper, Greene, Orange, Madison and Rappahannock counties to explored the possibility of a regional high school. Later, Greene county withdrew and decided to join Albemarle county. The four remaining counties concluded that a regional high school would fulfill the requirement and provide significant economic advantages to the counties.

1946 The representative of Orange County proposed to the regional group (Culpeper, Madison, and Rappahannock) a resolution to request the approval and allocation of funds from the Governor of Virginia (Gov. William C. Tuck) to build a regional high school for the African-American citizens of these counties. The resolution thus read:

“WHEREAS the counties of Madison and Rappahannock have no high school facilities for Negroes, the county of Orange has but one four-room high school for Negroes, housing at present 125 Negro pupils, and the high school facilities for Negroes at Culpeper are inadequate.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Regional Board of Control of said high school, assembled at Culpeper, Virginia on October 11, 1946, does hereby urge the Honorable William M. Tuck, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, to approve the allocation of $75,000.00 to this project as soon as possible so the said Regional Board of Control may proceed with it’s plans to erect the high school building for the Negro pupil of the four counties at the earliest possible date.”

1948 George Washington Carver Regional High School, named for one of America’s greatest scientist, an African-American who revolutionized agriculture and economically saved agriculture in the South, opened its doors October 1, 1948, to 452 students, 14 teachers, a principal, a secretary, a cafeteria manager, a janitor and many volunteer parent workers.

As a result of a rapid increase in enrollment, the school’s physical plant was expanded by the addition of eight classrooms and a gymnasium shortly after opening.
George Washington Carver Regional High School quickly gained recognition on the state and national level. Its highly motivated and dedicated students distinguished themselves in high school activities, in colleges and universities, as citizens and in the work place.

1968 As a result of integration of the public school systems in Virginia, George Washington Carver Regional High School closed its doors in 1968, after 20 years of service as the high school for African-Americans. More than 2,500 young Afro-American men and women had graced its classrooms, young men and women who would later make significant contributions to their communities and the nation.

1969 It was converted to a Vocational High School, serving Culpeper, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock counties. During this change, the school was renamed Piedmont.

1992 Its mission and name (Piedmont) remained until the George Washington Carver Regional High School Alumni Association, Inc. (Culpeper, Va.) initiated action to restore Dr. Carver’s name to the institution.

August 1993 After much dedicated work, surveys and presentations to the Control Board by the George Washington Carver Regional High School Alumni Association, Inc., Dr. Carver’s name was restored to George Washington Carver – Piedmont.*

Today As George Washington Carver Piedmont Technical Education Center, it is managed and operated by Serrato Corporation to:

Serve students of all ages, offering career and training choices generally unavailable from traditional venues.

FEATURED COURSES:

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