About HVHS

MASCOT: Warriors

COLORS: Maroon & White

MOTTO: Learning with Integrity, Excellence, and Community in Mind

HISTORY:

"Warrior Hill", the site of Happy Valley High School, overlooks an area rich in beauty and historic tradition.  Nearby are the Sycamore Shoals and the site of the original Fort Watauga, where new settlers conducted the Watauga and Transylvania Purchases with Native Americans of the Cherokee in 1775.  Nearby also is Powder Branch where the family of Mary McKeehan Patton made gun powder used by the Overmountain Men in their great victory over the British at The Battle of King's Mountain in North Carolina. Several McKeehan family members still live along Powder Branch. 

In 1923 the original Happy Valley School was built on six acres of land purchased from Nate Nave for $2,500.  This building was Carter County's first four-year high school and also housed grades one through eight.  The first graduating class of 1925 had twelve members.  For a brief period, the school was known as First High School.  However, the people of the community wanted to change the name to Happy Valley, a name given to the area by the Taylor family, whose sons Robert and Alfred had served as governors of Tennessee.  The name was officially changed in 1926.  The original site is now occupied by Happy Valley Elementary School along Milligan Highway.

As the community grew, there was a real need for a larger facility.  Land overlooking the original site was purchased from Dr. A.E. Miller in 1962, and the new school opened in 1963.  The new location, once known as the "Indian Fields," was deemed appropriate because of its close location to the original school. The school's mascot was "Warriors" and Native American artifacts were unearthed during the construction of the new high school.  Students and teachers later designated the area "Warrior Hill," its nickname to this day.

 Continued progress led to the completion of Happy Valley Middle School in 1972 and the vocational wing of Happy Valley High School in 1978.  Today, this modern school complex houses over 1,200 students.

 Other significant improvements:  New addition to house an upgraded library media center, band room, six more classrooms, four more restrooms, and an expanded cafeteria (1988); trees and shrubbery donated by the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (1989); new field house (1992); field house addition, ball field improvement, and purchase of new property (1993); bleachers on visitors' side of football field (2008); baseball & softball facilities upgrade (2011); four new computer labs (2014, 2016); softball press box (2015); new bleachers on home side of football field (2016).

In 2025, Carter County Schools announced an initiative to replace the bermuda grass field on Warrior Hill with a new turf one. The implementation of this project was a result of the impact of Hurricane Helene. The field was completed on August 21, 2025 and the first high school game played on it on August 28, 2025. 

We are proud of Happy Valley High School and its history.  Ever conscious that the past helps shape the future, we pay tribute to all those of our past - -settlers, soldiers, community leaders, parents and teachers--whose efforts contributed to the comprehensive school we enjoy today.  Our history and heritage are truly rich.