The former name of Washington-Liberty High School, Washington-Lee High School was taken from the
Washington and Lee University, but the "and" was omitted and replaced with a hyphen to distinguish its name from the university's. Construction on Washington-Lee began in 1924, with the school opening in 1925 and graduating its first class in 1927. The architectural firm Upman & Adams designed the building in a simplified version of the Colonial Revival style. The school fronted on 13th St. N, which separated the school from its athletic field, eventually dedicated as Arlington County's War Memorial Stadium. In 1932, 41 classrooms, new offices, and another gym were added to the original building. A new wing and a large library with Palladian windows and two reading rooms were built in 1942 with
WPA funds. The rifle range was also constructed in the shop area. In 1951, noted architect Rhees Burkett designed an addition that fronted on N. Quincy Street in the International Style. Along with the new Stratford Junior High School, it helped usher in a wave of contemporary commercial and school architecture that defined much of Arlington until the 1980s. In 1960, some sophomores and juniors were sent to form the core of the then new
Yorktown High School, to relieve overcrowding resulting from the
baby boomer generation reaching high school age. In 1975, the school board made the controversial decision to demolish the original sections of the school and construct a new facility with an open space instructional environment. The new school opened in 1977, and a new auditorium was constructed a few years later. In 1984, with the introduction of a new "closed campus" policy for underclassmen, a cafeteria was constructed in the school's commons. Beginning in 2006, the school underwent a complete reconstruction; none of the older buildings remain. The theater and nearby classrooms were demolished to allow for the construction of the new classroom building, which opened in January 2008. An axial orientation to War Memorial Stadium and the primary parking areas is the defining characteristic of the new school. A ten-lane regulation NCAA short course swimming pool (with optional 25 meter lanes), gym and other indoor athletic facilities, and an 800-seat auditorium opened to the public in July 2009. The demolition of the 1951 building and the construction of auxiliary athletic fields and additional landscaping was completed in December 2009. The renovation cost Arlington County nearly $100 million and making it one of the most expensive high school construction projects in the United States. In the wake of the August 2017
Unite the Right rally protesting the removal of a statue of
Robert E. Lee, the Arlington County School Board voted unanimously in June 2018 to rename Washington-Lee High School to remove Lee's name, sparking a community discussion on whether this was wanted. This included debates on the process in which the school board took to change the name of the school. In the months prior to the name change, an appointed committee considered several options before narrowing them to "Washington-Loving High School", in honor of the
Loving v. Virginia court case, and "Washington-Liberty High School". On January 10, 2019, the school board voted unanimously for the latter name. The name change took effect with the 2019–2020 school year. In 2018 the Arlington School Board voted to integrate the former Arlington Education Center building into the Washington-Liberty campus. The building was completely renovated at the cost of $38 million and opened for the 2022–2023 school year. The building was renamed the Washington-Liberty Annex building and functions as a regular part of the school, containing classrooms, administrative and counseling offices, student lounging areas and a weight room. ==Campus==