Valley High School (VHS) is a public high school located in West Des Moines, Iowa. VHS is a three-year comprehensive high school with approximately 2,000 students. The school hosts grades 10–12. It is run by the West Des Moines Community Schools. Freshmen attend a separate school, Valley Southwoods.
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Demographics
As of the 2021–22 school year, there were 572 students (27.9% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 97 (4.7% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
History
In October 1895, the first established high school in Valley Junction at 415 Seventh Street was opened. Valley Junction's first graduation was held on May 31, 1901, with just nine graduates. By 1916, the student body population had grown and a local bond was passed for a new high school. Construction on $50,000 structure at Eighth and Hillside was completed in 1917.
In 1938, when Valley Junction changed its name, the school district changed, becoming the West Des Moines Independent School District. At this time, one high school, a junior high school and three elementary schools served the needs of the community. In the same year a grant from the Public Works Administration allowed for a new concrete stadium to be built just north of the high school on Eighth Street.
In 1962, 38 acres (150,000 m2) of farmland near 35th and Ashworth Road were purchased by the School Board for $116,000 as a site for a new high school. Construction of Valley High School was completed in four phases from 1963 to 1970. Valley became a four-year high school during the 1971–72 school year. Costing nearly $5.5 million, Valley High School stretched almost one-quarter of a mile from end to end. Also in 1971, Valley opened the Metropolitan Conference's newest and largest gymnasium. Additional classrooms, science labs, and other student spaces have been added over the years.
The first year that the new school was open, it was used for classrooms for some sixth grade students and for the ninth grade year of the class of 1970. The next year, it became a three-year high school. The graduating class of 1975 was the first class to attend four years in the new building.
In 1995, the school district had 546 students as an average enrollment in grades 9–12, making Valley the largest high school in the state.
In the fall of 1997, the construction of the Freshman High School Building, Valley Southwoods, was completed, and Valley High School became a tenth through 12th grade building. Throughout the early 2010s, construction continued on Valley, including the Staplin Performing Arts Center, the school's auditorium.
Academics
Valley offers almost 190 academic courses, including 23 Advanced Placement (AP) courses.
Valley also has recently started an Honors Program, which is meant to be comparable to the IB (International Baccalaureate) Program.
Athletics
Football
The Valley High School football team won the Iowa State 4A Championships in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008, and 2011.
Boys' cross country
The Valley High School boys' cross country team won the 1A State title in 1955.
The Valley High School boys' cross country team won the 2A State title in 1962.
Boys' basketball
The Valley High School boys' basketball team won the 4A state title in 1993, 2016, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Girls' basketball
The Valley High School girls' basketball team won the 5A state title in 2017 and 2019.
Wrestling
The Valley High School wrestling team won the 3A dual tournament state title in 2016.
Boys' swimming
The Valley High School boys' swim team won the 4A State title in 1984, 2010 and 2024
Girls' swimming
The Valley High School girls' swimming and diving team won the state title in 1974, 1975, in addition to winning it four years in a row (2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008).
Girls' soccer
The Valley High School girls' soccer team won the 4A State title in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010.
Music & arts
The Valley Music Department was honored with the first GRAMMY Signature School award in 1999.
The 240-member Valley Marchmasters were selected to perform in the 2004 Tournament of Roses Parade. In March 2007, the band traveled to Dublin, Ireland to march in the Saint Patrick's Day Parade.
Valley's orchestra has completed concert tours in Austria and Italy. In June 2007, the orchestra traveled to New York City, New York to play at Carnegie Hall as part of NYBOF'07.
The choral show, jazz, and core ensembles have performed in several national and international venues such as Carnegie Hall and Disney World, and received top honors at competitions throughout the country.
The school also has a high school radio station, KWDM, which broadcasts from 6am to 6pm, Monday through Friday. It is one of two high school radio programs in Iowa, and the only high school program in the state to have a fully digital production and on-air studio.
Activities
Valley High School won the 2006 National High School Mock Trial Championship, held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and more recently won the state competition in 2011. Valley has a large selection of clubs for students to participate in.
The Valley High School debate team has won the Lincoln-Douglas division of the Tournament of Champions (debate), the debate national championship, more times than any other high school in the United States. In the 2015–16 debate season, they were in the top five programs in the country by number of Tournament of Champions bids and hosted a tournament with an octafinals bid to the Tournament of Champions in Lincoln-Douglas, the highest level, one of only eight high schools in the country to do so.
Notable alumni
Cindy Axne (born 1965), U.S. Representative
Jake Campos (born 1994), XFL player
Jared Clauss (born 1981), retired professional football player, who played for the Tennessee Titans after being drafted in the seventh round from the University of Iowa
Dominique Dafney (born 1997), professional football player for the Green Bay Packers
Katelyn Epperly (born 1990), American Idol Season 9
Rodney Faraon (born 1970), former CIA officer and film/television producer
Brian Fletcher, lawyer
Justin Hartwig (born 1978), Super Bowl XLIII Champion center for the Pittsburgh Steelers
Peter Hedges (born 1962), film director and screenwriter
Ashley Hinson (born 1983) US Congresswoman- Iowa 1st District
Dana Jacobson (born 1971), sportscaster and co-host of CBS Saturday Morning
Dan Jennings (born 1987), retired pitcher for the Chicago White Sox
Shawn Johnson (born 1992), retired artistic gymnast, Olympic gold and silver medalist, Dancing with the Stars Season Eight winner and Dancing with the Stars Season Fifteen runner-up
Peter Jok (born 1994), professional basketball player
Karlos Kirby (born 1968), Olympic bobsledder