The Story of Bentonville West High School
Bentonville West High School held its grand opening on July 29, 2016, but its story begins well before that. Bentonville was a one-high-school town for about 140 years, beginning with the first recorded school built in 1872. A new Bentonville High School building was completed in 1928 at the site where Old High Middle School currently resides. As the population grew, BHS moved to its next site on Tiger Boulevard in the building that eventually became Lincoln Junior High School. In 2000, BHS moved to its current location on J Street in Bentonville. The school population continued to grow rapidly until maintaining one high school was no longer feasible. In 2013, the taxpayers in the Bentonville School District voted to allocate around $80 million for a second high school.
Bentonville’s school board selected 80+ acres of Centerton farm land on Gamble Road for the new school. The BWHS groundbreaking was held in 2014, when Superintendent Mike Poore and school board members turned over the dirt to reveal blue and gold sand beneath. There was much to be done to prepare for the fall 2016 opening. In 2015, the board named the school and chose Navy Blue and Vegas Gold to be the school’s official colors. The Wolverine mascot and logo were developed with the help of MoJo Marketing Group. Jonathon Guthrie was named the school’s first principal in the spring of 2015. He oversaw the staffing process, furniture bids, and other details as the 430,000 square foot facility neared completion.
The building was completed on time by FlintCo Construction Company, and BWHS welcomed 9th, 10th, and 11th graders in the fall of 2016. About 1,250 students attended the school in its first year. The administrative team that year consisted of Jonathon Guthrie, Jeremy Yates, Josh Thompson, Randall Hunt, LeAnn Barnwell, DJ Jones, and Anthony Cantrell. About 140 teachers and staff chose to be a part of the new school as well, putting in long hours to prepare for day one of school.
At the grand opening, the crowd packed the Performing Arts Center. Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, Centerton Mayor Bill Edwards, Superintendent Dr. Debbie Jones, and former Superintendent Mike Poore were guest speakers. Following the speeches, the BWHS band, under the direction of Albert Ortiz, performed the fight song for the first time. After the fight song, Kayla Abernathy’s choir sang the alma mater, a beautiful song whose lyrics she had written for the school. The crowd then joined in the countdown and the ribbon was cut, signifying the official opening of the new Bentonville West High School.
When school began in August 2016, the students were excited to be in their new building. The new campus was beautiful, and included a culinary lab, Performing Arts Center, computer labs, athletic facilities, Special Education classrooms, a coffee shop, and a library with a view overlooking Centerton and Bentonville. While the building was nice, the staff focused on growing the school’s culture. Students were encouraged to be “involved and engaged” in their new school, a mantra echoed in the halls to this day. The staff held a pep assembly on the first day of school, and each student was given a school shirt following the assembly to mark the occasion.
Since the opening of school that first day, BWHS’s population has grown dramatically. By the fall of 2023, the number of students had doubled to nearly 2,500 students. In the fall of 2019, the community cheered on the Wolverines as they took the field in their new stadium. The school opened two new wings in January 2024 to help provide space for those students.
Throughout the changes and growth at BWHS, some things have remained constant: the commitment to academic achievement, and the mantra for students to remain “involved and engaged” in their school.