The students succeeded in moving their graduation from the church where it was planned to the school's auditorium, although seating was still segregated by race.

In 1909, the school was established at Leigh Streets at first and named in honor of Union General Samuel Chapman Armstrong, founder of Hampton University.

The Kennedy High School complex and Fairfield Court Elementary School were built in the 1960s on land in a small portion of Henrico County adjacent to Interstate 64 which was cut off from the rest of the county when the Interstate highway was built.

The school's public address announcer and former faculty member, Rodney Robinson, was named the 2019 National Teacher of the Year.

[5][6] The community served five public housing facilities in proximity to one another; one, Fairfield Court, is on the other side of the street from the high school.

Circa 2015, of the entire student body, the number with plans to attend a four-year college or university was fewer than thirty.