The school originally opened in 1926 as Morrison High School in the small community of Morrison. It became Warwick High School in 1948. Originally located in Warwick County, it became part of the Newport News Public Schools system in 1958 when the citizenry of the former Warwick County voted to be politically consolidated with the neighboring independent city of Newport News, adopting the name of the latter for the newly enlarged independent city, which became the largest in Virginia geographically at the time. The facilities at Warwick High School were expanded to their present size in 1968. Following the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, racial desegregation lawsuits eventually resulted in a federal court-ordered busing program in Newport News which began in 1971. Busing changed the nature of Warwick's population and community. However, in the years after the federal court supervision ended, a magnet school approach was adopted to successfully attract students and families to voluntarily select the school. Due to overcrowding, Warwick High School expanded into the building which was formerly the Warwick Early Childhood Center. This building is now known as the Senior Center, although students from all grades may have classes there.
Extracurricular activities
During the 2007-2008 school year, Warwick High School started an archery team. This team has won the state competition and gone to nationals in Louisville, Kentucky multiple times. At nationals, the team has been nominated for the spirit award. Warwick High School's Scholastic Bowl team placed fourth in the state and second in the Eastern Region during the 2012-13 season, winning both the regular season and post-season tournament in the Peninsula District. The team won regular-season district competition in three of the last five years and has won the post-season District Tournament every year since 2008-09. The Raider Scholastic Bowl team is currently undefeated in Conference Ten, its new VHSL competitive group. Warwick High School has also enjoyed great success in debate and forensics. Students from the debate team have qualified for the state championship tournament every year from 2003-04 to the present. Students from the forensics team have qualified for the state championship tournament every year from 2002-03 to the present. The school formerly had a bowling team which won the VHSTBL championship in 2006 and 2009. In 2009, they finished 2nd in the district.
