About Us

Lauderdale County High School is a public school located in the small town of Rogersville, Alabama. We serve students in 7th through 12th grades on a campus we share with Lauderdale County Elementary School. Our total enrollment for grades 7-12 is about 500. We compete in the Alabama High School Athletic Association in Class 3A. 

Our Vision and Purpose Statement

Lifelong Learners
Contributing Citizens
Honorable Conduct
Supportive Community    

Statement of Beliefs

At Lauderdale County High School, our goals include:

• To make student learning the primary focus of all decisions impacting the work of the school.
• To acquaint students with democratic ideas and to develop within students the ability to choose with discrimination a code of behavior based on democratic and ethical principles.
• To establish an educational foundation upon which individual students learn to cooperate, to appreciate American heritage, and to exercise leadership capabilities.
• To provide well-organized and varied learning situations that will serve to develop students’ physical, social, emotional, and intellectual needs.
• To offer opportunities for students to develop through self-understanding, self-exploration, and focusing their abilities, interests, and desires toward a more fulfilling life.
• To provide a safe and physically comfortable environment that promotes learning where students are actively engaged in the learning process.
• To share the responsibility for advancing student learning with teachers, administrators, parents, and the community.
• To commit to continuous improvement in order to enable students to become confident, self-directed, lifelong learners.

Principal: Mr. Josh Jennings   josh.jennings@lcschools.org

Assistant Principal: Dr. Amanda Mathis   amanda.mathis@lcschools.org

Assistant Principal: Mr. Whitney Owens   whitney.owens@lcschools.org

Our Beginning

In the summer of 1907, the Alabama State Legislature passed an act providing for a high school in each county, provided the people of the county construct a building, furnish the equipment and provide five acres of land to the state within a year. At this time, thirty-one schools were established across the state, and the town of Rogersville was chosen as the site for Lauderdale County. By virtue of being first, our school has proudly worn the county's name.

Lauderdale County High School was located at Rogersville in 1912 during the administration of General Emmit O'Neal. For several years prior to this time, a high school had existed at Rogersville but was not accredited.

The Rogersville community has shown interest in public education dating back to the early 1800's. The oldest school of which there is a record was started by Mrs. Joshua James, Jr., daughter-in-law of one of the first Baptist preachers in the community. The daughter of Mr. James taught in this school from 1845 to 1866. The school was located on Lambs Ferry Road. It was a one-room log building. The school term was three months, and the teacher's salary was $23.00 a month.
From this humble beginning, the school system grew.

Previous Buildings On Our Campus

At first, the high school was housed in a two-story building (see first photo, above). This building was destroyed by fire in 1926 and was replaced by a modern one-story brick building (see middle photo, above) at a cost of $30,000, of which $17,000 was donated by the community. An elementary building (see last photo, above) was destroyed by fire in 1959 and was replaced by a modern structure. The currently standing high school building was built in 1958. The present campus has approximately fifty-two acres. It consists of two elementary buildings, a junior high building, a high school building, a science department building, an office and library complex, a cafeteria, band room, gym, and other athletic facilities. Completed in 2001, the prominent office and library complex contains the school's main office, a library media center for grades 7-12, and two English classrooms.  The next addition was built in 2010 to accommodate our upper elementary students and includes a resource classroom, counselor's office, conference room, and a teacher's workroom. The newest building, opened in 2015, is home to our high school science department. It includes four classrooms, two large laboratories, and a teacher's workroom.

Classes and Leadership at LCHS

The first graduating class in 1913 consisted of three members. In 1931 there were thirty-four members; by 1949 there were sixty-three graduates. Enrollment peaked in the 1970's with senior classes numbering near or over 100 students.

The principals of Lauderdale County High School since its establishment have been as follows: W.L. Davis (1912-15), Earl Hodson (1915-18), L.C. Tate (1918-19), E.R. Stroker (1919-22), L.L. Leftwitch (1922-25), M.C. Sandlin (1925-35), J.R. Roberson (1935), C.P. Nelson (1935-36), J.L. Couch (1936-41), J.L. Clay (1941-56), W.C. Hannah (1956-66), E.F. Cagle (1966-77), Gerald Perry (1977-78), James Cooper Johnson (1978-93), Kenneth Ray Hester (1993-2001), Dr. Donna Henry (2001-02), Jay Stejskal (2002-11), Eric Cornelius (2011-2020), and Casey Tate (2020-2022).  Today, Lauderdale County High School is led by Principal Josh Jennings (2022-present) and Assistant Principals Dr. Amanda Mathis and Whitney Owens.

Notable Accomplishments of LCHS Students

Lauderdale County High School has had one student in its history score a perfect 36 on the ACT: Kerri Ezell from the Class of 1996. Kerri graduated from Mississippi State University with a 4.0 GPA and was named a Goldwater Scholar.

Our Drama Club received the following awards at the State Thespian Festival at Pelham High School in Birmingham on February 25, 2007: 1st place for Group Pantomime - Andrew Maxwell, Courtney Tully, and Andrew Crawford; 1st place for Lightning Design - Courtney Workman; and 3rd place for Playwriting: Kasmine Roach. On December 5, 2008, sophomore Reed Dudley won first place in the State Trumbauer Theater competition held at Troy University in the Female Contemporary Comedic category with the Gone with the Wind monologue she originally performed in the Drama Club's production of Hurray for Hollywood in 2006 when she was just a 7th grader.

The athletic program at LCHS has been exceptional. The school has earned 17 state championships for team sports...one in football (1974), one in track (1979), two in girls tennis (2023, 2024), and thirteen in girls basketball (1987, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016).  Pato Lean, a foreign exchange student enrolled at LCHS, won the individual state championship for boys tennis (1A-3A) in 2003. In 2016, senior Devonta Fuqua set a state record for Class 3A shot put, throwing 48 feet, 4.75 inches.  In 2023 and 2024, Jillian Tanner and Molly Burchell won the doubles state championship for girls tennis.

Last update: July 2024

Written by Frieda Belew; Edited by Pam Tanner; Updated by Kimberly Jones and Krista Patterson