The school teaches pupils between the ages of 11 to 18 and the headteacher is Gill Stewart. In September 2012, the school offered places in a newly established sixth form. It is sited on Gunnersbury Lane just north of Acton Town Underground station.
History
Grammar school
The school was originally known as Acton County Grammar School, which opened in 1906 for 200 boys. It was the first purpose-built county grammar school in Middlesex. In 1958, it began admitting girls, becoming fully co-educational in 1966. In 1965, the school's administration moved from Middlesex County Council to the London Borough of Ealing. When proposals for going comprehensive appeared in 1966, parents took the LEA to court and lost.
Comprehensive
The school became a comprehensive in 1967, when Ealing borough adopted the three tier system, and was known as Acton County Comprehensive and later, after 1972, became Reynolds High School, named after local politician Gerry Reynolds. The 18-year-old "graduation" year of 1976 produced 4 university students out of an intake of 180 in 1969. School colours were brown and cream, with a badge showing a ring of oak leaves around a portcullis with the school name superimposed. The school roll in 1979 amounted to 1040 pupils and until its final years, consisted of eight forms per year. In the 1970s, the neighbouring Ealing Mead County school off Popes Lane, opened in 1962, was found to have serious structural problems in its building. After only eight years of use, Ealing Mead had to be closed and demolished. As a result, the pupils of the school were distributed around the other local schools and Reynolds High School absorbed a significant proportion of them. Reynolds High School closed in July 1984 primarily due to falling school roll but re-opened in September the same year as Acton High School following a merger with the Faraday High School, formerly based at Bromyard Avenue. The old brick buildings, dating from 1939, were demolished in 2005, and a new school building built on the same site.
Reynolds Sports Centre is a sport and leisure centre building adjoined with Acton High School's main building. The sports and leisure centre is managed by the council's Active Ealing team. The facility is available for students and for public use after school hours. It includes a sports hall, fitness gym, dance studio and two multi use outdoor games areas. Each facility is available for hire.
