Auburn Middle and High School is one of six secondary schools in the Montgomery County Public School system. Auburn is located on Route 8 in the southwest portion of Montgomery County, approximately 35 miles southwest of Roanoke, Virginia via Interstate 81. Auburn is located in an area rapidly moving from a rural farming community to a suburban residential community. The school is closely associated with Radford University and Virginia Tech through visiting professors, student teachers, and student aides, as well as with local manufacturing corporations such as Volvo-White, Kollmorgen, Hercules, Corning Glass, and Federal Mogul.
Education in Riner began with governesses who lived in homes. Later, the school was located in a one-room log cabin, then in a multi-roomed weather-boarded school. These buildings were dependent on potbellied stoves for heat; water was carried to the room and dispersed by a community dipper.
In the early years, many students boarded in local homes while others came by covered wagon or on horseback. Bus transportation did not begin until 1920.
The school was upgraded from a junior high school to a state accredited senior high school during the 1916-17 session. This first graduating class was comprised of four members.
In 1922, an addition was made to the school building, making a total of six rooms, six teachers, and 158 students. In 1924, the school became an agricultural high school, creating the need for more room. At this time new rooms were added, a well was dug, and water fountains were installed. There were still no rest rooms, but there were two paths and Auburn Middle and High School is one of six secondary schools in the Montgomery County Public School system. Auburn is located on Route 8 in the southwest portion of Montgomery County, approximately 35 miles southwest of Roanoke, Virginia via Interstate 81. Auburn is located in an area rapidly moving from a rural farming community to a suburban residential community. The school is closely associated with Radford University and Virginia Tech through visiting professors, student teachers, and student aides, as well as with local manufacturing corporations such as Volvo-White, Kollmorgen, Hercules, Corning Glass, and Federal Mogul.
Auburn High and Middle School is uniquely combined with a shared administration and counseling department. The high school has 265 students in grades 9-12, and the middle school has 237 students in grades 6-8. The high school offers a wide variety of courses including Advanced Placement, honors, college preparatory, vocational, and work training programs. Approximately 60% of each graduating class pursues post-secondary education. The faculty of 45 includes 22 with Advanced Degrees, a Presidential Scholar, a Tandy Scholar, a Virginia Science Teacher of the Year, a teacher selected for Classical Study in Greece, and ten teachers with extensive Advanced Placement Training.
The Village of Riner has about 200 residents and is situated on a high central plateau at the southwestern tip of the Valley of Virginia between the Alleghany and the Blue Ridge Mountains. The area is unique in that the Alleghany Mountains divide the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico watersheds. The elevation of the area ranges from 1750 to 3250 feet above sea level.
In 1776 the county was carved from Fincastle and named in honor of General Richard Montgomery, a hero of the French and Indian War who was killed in the American Revolution. Since this formation, thirty-two counties, wholly or in part, have been carved from the original, leaving an area of 395 square miles.
The Riner community had its beginning about 1808 when a sawmill was put into operation at the forks of three roads. This intersection of wood paths gave the village its first name, Old Forks. The paths were cleared to form roads centered at the same point; hence, the name was changed to Five Forks, or Five Points. The name Auburn did not appear until the year 1850 when it was the center of the Auburn Magisterial District. Today the name is still used by the school.
In 1871-75, a post office was established. In 1882, the community petitioned for a postmaster and discovered another Auburn in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It was at this time that the current name, Riner, was given to the community in honor of Mr. David Riner, a highly successful and respected farmer who served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1887 to 1888.
Today the Riner community is relatively homogenous with a limited number of ethnic and racial groups. These resourceful rural people draw largely on surrounding cities and towns for employment, higher education, shopping, health care, library and recreation facilities.
