Washington High School (Kansas City, Kansas)

Washington High School is a public 9–12 school of Kansas City USD 500 at 7340 Leavenworth Road in northwest Kansas City, Kansas. It opened January 4, 1932, as Washington Rural High School (Rural High School District #2 of Wyandotte County), outside the city limits, and was absorbed into USD 500 in 1967 after a narrowly passed 1966 annexation vote. Mascot: Wildcats. Classification: KSHSAA 5A.¹

Overview

Opened	January 4, 1932 (as Washington Rural High School)1
Address	7340 Leavenworth Road, Kansas City, KS 661091
District	USD 201 (1962–1967); USD 500 from 19671
Enrollment	1,188 (2024–25)1
Athletics	KSHSAA 5A; Meadowlark League; Wildcats; burgundy and white1
Website	https://washington.kckschools.org/

History

The school opened on Leavenworth Road on January 4, 1932, named for George Washington, as the high school of Rural High School District #2. Its attendance area sat just west of the Kansas City, Kansas city district. Wikipedia, following O. L. Plucker’s district histories, attributes 1950s–60s growth both to the postwar baby boom and to white flight from Kansas City, Kansas.¹

A 1962 Kansas law requiring unified K–12 districts created Washington High School District USD 201. Rapid growth without a strong commercial tax base produced a capital crisis. In 1966 voters narrowly approved absorption by Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools; USD 500 annexed USD 201 in 1967. Overcrowding at Washington was later relieved by the opening of F. L. Schlagle High School about three miles away at 59th and Parallel — dated 1972 on this Wikipedia page and September 1973 on Schlagle’s own page. The year is unsettled here.¹

Athletics

Team state titles on the record cited by Wikipedia: 5A–1A boys bowling, 2010 and 2011. Individual KSHSAA records attributed to Washington athletes include Mark Hosking (5A–4A boys tennis, 1974); Rosa Kelly (5A girls 440-yard dash, 56.8, 1977, event later discontinued); 1978 relay and hurdles marks; 1982 6A cross-country titles (Brad Ogden, Mary Shaffer); Wendell Gaskin’s 1991 6A boys 400 (46.76) and 200 (21.29); Le’Tristan Pledger’s 2009–10 5A hurdles and long-jump records; and Cedric Phillips’s 2011 5A–1A bowling title.¹

Wikipedia’s alumni list is tagged as possibly unverifiable; this page does not reproduce it.

Sources

See also

• wyandotte-high-school
• f-l-schlagle-high-school
• j-c-harmon-high-school
• kansas-city-kansas
• Wiki

Footnotes

1. Wikipedia — “Washington High School (Kansas).” — asserts: 7340 Leavenworth Road, Kansas City, KS 66109; opened Jan 4 1932 as Washington Rural High School / Rural HS District #2; named for George Washington; USD 201 created 1962; 1966 annexation vote, USD 500 annexation 1967; growth via baby boom and white flight (citing Plucker 2009); Schlagle opened to relieve overcrowding (this page: 1972); 1,188 students 2024–25; 5A Meadowlark League Wildcats; bowling titles 2010–11; individual records as listed. Official site: washington.kckschools.org ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹