Prior to 1938, there was no high school in Princess Anne County that would accept black students.

Black children who wanted an education past 7th grade had to travel outside the county, to Booker T. Washington in Norfolk, and pay tuition of $50 per semester.

[1] In 1925, the black community mobilized to build a high school for their children.

In 1936 Federal grants completed the funding, and in 1937 the cornerstone for the new school was laid.

In 1938, Princess Anne County Training School opened in a new building on Witchduck Road in Virginia Beach utilizing an industrial education curriculum.