Athens Drive Magnet High School, formerly known as Athens Drive High School, is a secondary Wake County public high school in southwestern Raleigh, North Carolina that serves grades 9–12. As of 2020–2021, the school has 2,075 enrolled students and approximately 121 hired educators. It is also part of the Wake County Public School System. History Athens Drive High School (ADHS) was opened on September 5, 1978. ADHS was then dedicated on April 11, 1979. The first graduating class was in 1979. Athens Drive High School was the first high school in Wake County built for school and community use. It was the first high school built after the merger of Wake County Schools and Raleigh City Schools. It was designed by architect F. Carter Williams. The price tag of the ADHS building was $7.1 million. At the time, ADHS was the largest and most expensive high school built in North Carolina. The City of Raleigh paid $425,000 to construct Williams Stadium. Athens Drive is considered a small 4A school by NC standards. Originally, before the Jaguars were decided as the mascot for the school, the Owl was going to be the school's mascot. In 1989, controversy surrounded the appointment of Paul J. Puryear, who was white, to replace Johnny Farmer, who was then one of two black high school principals in Wake County. In 1991, after R. Walter Sherlin was chosen to replace Puryear as another white principal, board member Dr. Holland walked out of the room in protest. The school underwent a major refurbishment during the 2001–02 school year. A new wing was added to the school, originally called the Freshman Academy Wing, built specifically for freshman classes, but the name was later removed and the wing is now used for math and science classes for all grades. The main entrance was also moved. While the refurbishments occurred, all ADHS students were assigned to Middle Creek High School for the 2001–02 school year, which had not opened yet for its own students. The refurbished ADHS reopened in the fall of 2002. In 2014 James "Jim" Hedrick, previously of Green Hope High School, became principal of Athens Drive. The school community paid tribute to him after he died on August 2, 2016. Hedrick and his wife Camille, then the principal of Panther Creek High School, had moved to North Carolina due to proximity to family members and since his wife