Appleton West High School (or AWHS, formerly known as Appleton Senior High School or Appleton High School) is a comprehensive public secondary school located in Appleton, Wisconsin that serves students in the ninth through twelfth grades. The school was founded in 1915 under the name Appleton Senior High School, but the current facility was constructed in 1938, and the name was changed to West High in 1967 following the construction of Appleton East High School. The current principal is Mark McQuade, Ed.D, who was awarded the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation Principal Leadership Award in 2022. One of the three public four-year high schools in the Appleton Area School District (AASD), West High also offers two charter academies: Appleton Technical Academy (A-TECH) and the Renaissance School of the Arts (RSA). These institutions are fully accredited by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Appleton West is also a member of the Fox Valley Association athletic conference. Appleton West received the Wisconsin RtI Center School of Distinction Award for three years in a row from 2014 to 2016; as of the 2019–20 school year, they remain recognized for behavior and merit. According to the Fox Valley Association, 40 students of West High have been given a "Student-Athlete Spotlight" for excellent performance since the 2014–15 school year. As of the 2019–20 school year, West High had an enrollment of 1,336 students and 69.51 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis) for a student-teacher ratio of 19.22. There were 420 students (31.44% of students) eligible for free lunch and 86 (6.44% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch. History In 1881, Ryan High School was constructed following the decision to unify Appleton into one school district (). On January 26, 1904, Ryan High School was destroyed in a fire and rebuilt as Union High School in the same year, at the cost of $92,000 (~$2,690,700 today). In 1938, students were relocated to the newly built Appleton High School so that Union High School could become the Carrie E. Morgan Elementary School. In 1967, construction on Appleton East High School was completed, and Appleton High School would become West High as a result. In the same year, following the death of Carrie E. Morgan, the elementary school in her name would be converted into the Morgan Administration Building and, as of today, remains as such. On March 13, 1970, an arson fire caused by a Molotov cocktail would