The AAA Western Valley District is a high school conference in the state of Virginia that includes schools in Central & Southwest Virginia. AAA is the largest enrollment class of the Virginia High School League

Virginia High School League

The Virginia High School League is the arbiter of interscholastic competition among public high schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Unlike similar organizations in many other states, private or religious schools are prohibited from joining. Non-public schools belong to other organizations,...

 and also typically the most competitive level in Virginia high school sports.

The Western Valley District schools compete in the AAA Northwest Region with the schools from the AAA Cardinal District

AAA Cardinal District

The AAA Cardinal District is a high school conference in the state of Virginia that includes schools exclusively from Prince William County. AAA is the largest enrollment class of the Virginia High School League and also typically the most competitive level in Virginia high school sports.The...

, the AAA Cedar Run District

AAA Cedar Run District

The AAA Cedar Run District is a high school conference in the state of Virginia that includes schools stretching from Manassas to Ashburn. AAA is the largest enrollment class of the Virginia High School League and also typically the most competitive level in Virginia high school sports.The Cedar...

, and the AAA Commonwealth District

AAA Commonwealth District

The AAA Commonwealth District is a high school conference in the state of Virginia that includes schools stretching from Stafford to Charlottesville...

.

Facts about the district

The Western Valley District was established in 2001 to consolidate the now defunct AAA Roanoke Valley District and the AAA Western District. Both districts' memberships were down to five and four members respectively, because many schools that were in these districts either lost membership or had slower than average population growth, and dropped into Group AA. In 2001 alone, two of the five members of the Roanoke Valley district had to drop, prompting the two districts' consolidation. Below is a list of the Roanoke Valley and Western Districts in the 2000-2001 school year, and what happened to each of the schools for the 2001-2002 year:

AAA Roanoke Valley District

• Cave Spring (Western Valley)
• William Fleming (dropped to AA)
• Franklin County (Western Valley)
• Patrick Henry (Western Valley)
• Pulaski County (dropped to AA)

AAA Western District

• Albemarle (moved to Commonwealth)
• E.C. Glass (Western Valley)
• Halifax County (Western Valley)
• George Washington (Western Valley)

The charter members of the Western Valley District were Cave Spring, E.C. Glass, Franklin County, Halifax County, Patrick Henry, George Washington. Cave Spring split in half to form Hidden Valley High School (Roanoke, Virginia)

Hidden Valley High School (Roanoke, Virginia)

Hidden Valley High School is a public high school in Roanoke County, Virginia. It is one of the five high schools in the Roanoke County Public Schools system. Hidden Valley High School is one of the two high schools, along with Cave Spring High School, that serve southwest Roanoke...

 in 2002, which dropped it to AA for the 2003-2005 cycles, dropping the district to five members. In 2007, William Fleming of Roanoke City returned to the district because of increased enrollment, reuniting it with cross-town rival Patrick Henry.

Travel concerns are a major issue for schools in this district, as they are several hours from other AAA schools. In football, where more points are earned for defeating AAA opponents (as opposed to AA or A opponents), this has been lessened by having several schools play the other district schools twice during the season, with the second match "counting" in the district standings.

The smallest member of the Western Valley is GW-Danville with about 1,700 students, and the largest member is Franklin County with an enrollment of about 2,300 students.
The Western Valley District is slated to be revamped or closed with the latest VHSL redistricting. Due to heavy travel from the lack of AAA schools in the west of the state, a new hybrid district will be created. This district will have AAA Franklin County, AAA Patrick Henry-Roanoke, AAA William Fleming and AA schools, Magna Vista and Bassett. GW-Danville and Halifax Co., the remaining schools would fall to AA and join the Piedmont District.

Member schools

• Franklin County High School
  Franklin County High School (Rocky Mount, Virginia)
  Franklin County High School is located in Rocky Mount, Virginia. Approximately 2300 students attend Franklin County High School, which was founded in 1950...
  
   of Rocky Mount, Virginia
  Rocky Mount, Virginia
  Rocky Mount is the county seat of Franklin County, Virginia, United States. The town is part of the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area, and had a population of 4,066 at the 2000 census. It is located in the Roanoke Region of Virginia-History:...
  
   Eagles
• George Washington High School
  George Washington High School (Danville, Virginia)
  George Washington High School is a secondary school of Danville, Virginia. It is a member of the AAA Western Valley District. The school has approximately 2,000 students and 200 staff...
  
   of Danville, Virginia
  Danville, Virginia
  Danville is an independent city in Virginia, United States, bounded by Pittsylvania County, Virginia and Caswell County, North Carolina. It was the last capital of the Confederate States of America. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Danville with Pittsylvania county for...
  
   Eagles
• Halifax County High School
  Halifax County High School
  Halifax County High School is a public high school located in South Boston, Virginia. As of the 2008-09 school year, the enrollment was 1,827. The student/teacher ratio was 15.7, and on an FTE basis there were 116.3 classroom teachers....
  
   of South Boston, Virginia
  South Boston, Virginia
  South Boston is a town in Halifax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 8,142 at the 2010 census.- History :On December 8, 1796, the General Assembly authorized eight commissioners to establish at Boyd's Ferry on the south side of the Dan River the town of South Boston, named for...
  
   Comets
• Patrick Henry High School
  Patrick Henry High School (Roanoke, Virginia)
  Patrick Henry High School is a public high school located in the Grandin Court neighborhood of Roanoke, Virginia. It is one of the two general enrollment high schools for the Roanoke City Public Schools.-History:...
  
   of Roanoke, Virginia
  Roanoke, Virginia
  Roanoke is an independent city in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Virginia and is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The population within the city limits was 97,032 as of 2010...
  
   Patriots
• William Fleming High School
  William Fleming High School
  William Fleming High School is a public high school in the Miller Court/Arrowood neighborhood of Roanoke, Virginia, U.S.A.. It is one of the two general enrollment high schools for the Roanoke City Public Schools.-History:...
  
   of Roanoke, Virginia
  Roanoke, Virginia
  Roanoke is an independent city in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Virginia and is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The population within the city limits was 97,032 as of 2010...
  
  Colonels

Former members of the AAA Western Valley District and its Predecessors

• Albemarle
• Amherst County (dropped to AA)
• Andrew Lewis(Salem) (1920's - 1977)
• Cave Spring (Roanoke (1970–2002) (spilt to form Hidden Valley High - dropped to AA in 2003)
• E.C. Glass (dropped to AA in 2009)
• Heritage (Lynchburg)(1970's - 1993)(dropped to AA)
• Jefferson Sr.(Roanoke)(1920's - 1974)
• Northside (Roanoke)(1970–1988)(dropped to AA in 1988)
• Pulaski County (1974–2001)(dropped to AA)
• Robert E. Lee (Staunton) (1970's)
• Salem (1977–1988)