 The institution that would become West High School opened in 1890 as the McCartney School, in what then was the neighboring town of Fort Howard.With the annexation of Fort Howard into Green Bay in 1895, the two school districts merged, though the McCartney School (known as Old West High) would continue to operate until 1910, when West High School formally opened.The McCartney School later took on west-side 8th graders, becoming a precursor junior high school.