History of Sampson High School

THE SITE OF THE OLD SAMPSON HIGH SCHOOL is one with much history. Information obtained about the school supports the fact that in 1914-1915 there were forty-six Negro sSHSAA in the News!!

chools in Sampson County and of that number forty-three of these were one-teacher, two were two-teacher, and one was a four-teacher school. The four-teacher school was called the Clinton Graded School and is the one that was eventually named Sampson County Training School. Clinton Graded School grew into a six-teacher school in 1919 and served Negro students from surrounding counties and towns. It housed the only library in a Black School, which contained a total of fourteen books. 

OUT OF THE HUMBLE BEGINNINGS of the Clinton Graded School, Sampson Training School was born when it was erected on McKoy and Williams streets in 1924. It was, for a while, the only high school in Sampson County. The school was accredited in 1926 and that year it graduated its first class. The school flourished under five different principals and endured name changes from Sampson Training School (1924) to Sampson High School (1951) to its last and final name, Sampson Junior High School (1966). After the on-set of integration, the school formerly closed its doors for good, under community protest, in 1976. However, it didn’t close its doors until it had cradled, nurtured, educated, and graduated hundreds of students into the community who were able to benefit from their education and extend a hand to others so that the school’s legacy could continue. 

THE CREATION OF SHSAA, Inc. is a perfect example of the School’s value to its community because part of our mission is to aid in funding the education of the children of the Clinton and Sampson County communities, which we have done since our inception; and it is because of the outstanding legacy of our former school that we wish to do whatever we can to preserve the school’s buildings and the school’s legacy. Preserving the school’s buildings and legacy began several years ago when the SHSAA, Inc. purchased several buildings on the old Sampson High School site. Sometime afterward is when the organization began renovation of one of the classroom buildings, which was transformed into what is now the Sampson Alumni Housing Complex. This project was overseen by the Phase One Housing Complex Committee. In 2004, the organization attained the old school cafeteria and the vocational rehabilitation building making the Association the owner of all of the buildings at the school site, except for the gymnasium. Now, our organization intends to continue the preservation and legacy of the school site by transforming the buildings on the campus into a Community Resource Center (CRC).

IT IS OUR ORGANIZATION’S DREAM to rehabilitate and renovate our old school into a Community Resource Center. Once we have renovated the school the community value of this project will be incalculable. This particular project is being overseen by the SHSAA, Inc. Phase Two Housing Complex Committee and this Committee is working fervently to help this dream become a reality. The Committee has acquired a consultant to develop the project’s Master Plan; attained $7,500.00 in the last two years from the Sampson County Commissioners to aid with this project; and has also visited business incubators to gather information on what is entailed when embarking upon a project of this magnitude. Our vision is that the CRC will house a library that will chronicle the history of the School and other important facets of our county’s history, a banquet hall, and other amenities that will benefit the community at large.

SAMPSON HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY is long and rich and embodies a story of love, nurturing, perseverance, and determination that will be told and re-told for many years to come. We beckon all SHSAA, Inc. members and friends to join in our efforts to help make our dream of a Community Resource Center on the old Sampson High School campus into a reality. The best is yet to come

THE RAM

The ram is the mascot for Sampson High School. The Hebrew word for "ram" is 'ah-yil,' which means strong. Male Sheep were used to break through barricades, thus the term "battering ram." Therefore, a ram is the perfect mascot for our school and organization because we are strong and are continuously breaking through boundaries and barricades so that we can provide a better future for our youth and for the communities in which we live.