Constructed in 1960, Konnoak Junior High School was later renamed Philo Middle School in honor of Leonard E. Philo. After receiving an NSF Grant, Philo Middle School was a NASA focus school, one of the first iterations of a STEM focus in WS/FCS.

In 2011, the WS/FCS proposed to merge Philo Middle and Hill Middle School. 

The following exerpt is from an article on the history of Hill Middle written by Kim Underwood (2012):

When Hill opened its doors in 1960, it was called Waughtown Junior High. The name was soon changed to Josephine Hill Junior High to honor Josephine Hill, a long-time principal at Forest Park Elementary School who had retired. When the school system reorganized in 1971, Hill became a high school with grades 9 and 10.

It became a middle school in 1984.In the early 2000s, Hill started focusing on the arts. Based on an application written by Dennis Queen, the principal from July 1999 to June 2003, the school received a U.S. Magnet Schools Visual and Performing Arts Grant and created three “houses” within the school - House of Knowledge (literacy theme), University House (college theme), and the House of Jazz (visual and performing arts). 

In August of 2012,  Philo Magnet and Hill Magnet Middle Schools were merged into Philo-Hill Magnet Academy. Since the 2018-2019 academic year, we began the transition of our magnet focus to research and innovative design to re-brand our magnet program to better connect our students with the societal, business, education innovations in Forsyth County, NC, and the world around us.

In 2016 the residents of Forsyth County approved the 2016 Bond which included a new building and renovations to Philo-Hill. After many years of anticipation, the building project began in the summer 2023. While construction took place on the Haverhill campus, Philo-Hill temporarily occupied Main Street Academy. The new building is scheduled to be completed in December 2024.