Richard J. Reynolds High School

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RJR High School

Address

301 N. Hawthorne Road

City

Winston-Salem, NC 27104

Phone Number

(336)727-2012

Principal

Art Paschal, Ed.D

Community

Urban

Type

Public Secondary

Grades

9 to 12

District

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools

Enrollment

1,687 (05-06)

Nickname

Reynolds

Mascot

Demons

Colors

Black and Gold

Newspaper

Pine Whispers

Distinctions

High standards, diverse community. Historically recognized location.

Website

Home

Email

Link

Richard J. Reynolds High School (often simply R.J. Reynolds High School or Reynolds High School) is a high school in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Named for Richard Joshua Reynolds, the founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the school opened in 1923. The school colors are black and gold, and the school's mascot is a Demon. The R.J. Reynolds Memorial Auditorium is on the campus and is often used for school functions.

Made possible through the philanthropy of Katherine Smith Reynolds-Johnston, the widow of R.J. Reynolds, construction on the School began in 1919, under the direction of Reynolda Estate architect Charles Barton Keen. The School and Auditorium sit on a piece of land that was known as "Silver Hill" during Reynolds-Johnston's time. Mrs. Reynolds-Johnston also granted the land on which the School and Auditorium were built.

Original plans for the School included two grand school buildings sitting on either side of an Auditorium. The first classroom building was finished in 1923, but construction on the second building was delayed and eventually abandoned after the Stock Market Crash of 1929. In the mid-1990's, the high school building was thoroughly renovated and restored to its original appearance with some modern updating (e.g., a computer lab to replace the former language lab, and central air-conditioning).

The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School System is now planning to build a fine arts/performing arts center on the School grounds, between the Auditorium and Hawthorne Road.

Reynolds is also known by the nickname "Society Hill" and is often thought of as home to the children of Winston-Salem's economic elitè -- to some extent this is true, as the school is situated in the midst in an upper-middle class neighborhood and many of the students come from upper-middle class homes. This fact, however, is tempered by the substantial presence of middle- and lower-class students.

R.J. Reynolds is a long-time chief rival of the nearby and much newer Mount Tabor High School. This rivalry is fed by the fact that many students developed friendships across school lines. The schools are close enough that neighborhood friends often wind up split between the two schools.

More recently, a rivalry has formed between Reynolds and the new Reagan High School due to several students and teachers having left Reynolds to attend or teach at Reagan. Also, there have been accounts of Reagan students vandalizing Reynolds, further fueling the newly formed rivalry.

One of the school's unique features is a tunnel system that connects the main building to the auditorium and gymnasium and is rumored to stretch to nearby Wiley Middle School. The system was originally built to offer some safety in the event of a nuclear strike, but today is mainly used for storage and is intended as a shelter in the event of natural disasters. It is monitored with CCTV cameras.

Notable graduates include musician Ben Folds, United States Senator Richard Burr, sports personality Stuart Scott and Atlanta Braves outfielder Tommy Gregg. Reynolds has also produced D-I basketball players, including Jarhon Giddings of Richmond, Ilian Evtimov of NC State University and Reyshawn Terry and Mike Copeland of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In the mid 1980's, the Reynolds Key Club, one of the many clubs at the school, and local promoters and sponsors coordinated to put on a series of benefit concerts at Reynolds Auditorium. Among those acts were Let's Active and the dB's on February 12th 1985, and REM who played the venue on December 8th, 1995.