R J Reynolds High School

Welcome to www.RJRalumni.org

THE website for RJ Reynolds High School Alumni and Friends!

You are at the right place to learn about what great things are happening at RJR, as well as get information on Class Reunions (we have been informed of), and to find out about the various initiatives of your Alumni organization AND of the RJR Staff and student body.  Also, we offer links to recorded Zoomed Q&A conversations with staff and folks directly related to Reynolds High School.

RJ Reynolds High School today serves a diverse population of about 1,800 students from throughout the entire city and county. The students from our residential zone make up 70% of our student body. The remaining 30% attend through a magnet application and lottery process. Representing more than 35 countries, our student body is comprised of 33% White, 34% Black, 25% Hispanic, 5% Multi-Racial and 3% Asian students. Additionally, approximately 50% of our students qualify for the free and reduced lunch program and we are designated as a 'Title 1' school.

RJR became an arts magnet school in 2007. During the 2023-2024 school year, 70% of Reynolds students actively participated in courses, organizations and activities related to the Arts.

The words today are the same as in 1949 when they were first written:

CONGRATULATIONS to the RJ Reynolds High School Class of 2024 (pictured above)

If you would like to receive periodic emailed newsletters from the RJR Alumni President (Harry Corpening), merely send an email to  RJRdirectory@aol.com (with the subject line of "add me to the list").  Also, please inform your classmates about this website....so that a lot more of the 41,431 Reynolds High School alumni (as of June, 2024) will know what great things are taking place "amid the pines."

The RJR Alumni organization has three on-going initiatives:  1) to raise the needed funds to award two $1,000 scholarships every year to deserving seniors    2) to raise funds to increase the size of the 'RJ Reynolds High School Alumni and Friends Endowment' 3) to raise funds to increase the size of the 'Richard J Reynolds Memorial Auditorium Endowment.'

Click here to learn how to support those initiatives.

To learn about the Class Reunions (we have been informed of), click here.

Click here to view all of the 24 Q&A videos we have created.

Below are recently posted articles:

The video of an August 28th recorded Zoom conversation between RJR Alumni President Harry Corpening and RJR's Food and Nutrition teacher Phillip Boyd, Jr. (who was last year's Teacher of the Year). Phillip told about what all is taught in his two classes (from the relationship of diet to health, to dining etiquette, to kitchen and meal management and food preparation, to how to cook nutritious meals, to how to cook for and run a restaurant). He also informed the alumni to send him an email (to pvboyd@wsfcs.k12.nc.us) if they have kitchen paraphernalia they need to dispose of.

RJ Reynolds High School has been open for over 100 years! That means there have been 100 yearbooks published over the past century. The school keeps 3 complete sets of all of these yearbooks. To do that, they would like to receive copies of some of the yearbooks they are missing. Click on the image above to see which yearbooks they are looking for.

The video of an August 8th recorded Zoom conversation between RJR Alumni President Harry Corpening and RJR Director of Bands Daniel Campbell. Daniel told about the 50-60 member Marching Band, the two-week Band Camp all band members had to participate in this summer, the co-ordinating that had to be done with the Dancing Boots, and the parades and band competitions the band will be performing at this school year.

The frontpage article from the August 3rd edition of the Winston-Salem Journal that tells about 2 students that ran a mile each hour for 24 hours in order to raise funds for a local nonprofit that provides beds to kids from struggling families who otherwise might be sleeping on the floor.

The RJR Class of 1968 Memorial Scholarship (which this year is worth $36,000) was awarded to Luke Sanders (pictured above). Click on this link to learn more about this impressive RJR senior, as well as to see (and learn a little about) all of the past Class of 1968 Memorial Scholarship recipients.

The RJ Reynolds High School Alumni and Friends organization has (every year since 2009) been awarding two $1,000 scholarships and has been giving a gift of 1,000 to the staff member named Teacher of the Year. All of these recipients are extremely talented. To learn about a fabulous example of a Teacher of the Year awardee: click here to learn a little about Karen Stokes Morris (pictured above), who in 2016 was named the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Magnet Teacher of the Year.