History :

Victoria High School came into being in 1940. It was not a brand new building but the existing red brick two story that was known as St. Fidelis High School. Up until that time ownership of the high school was held by the Diocese of Concordia and operated by St. Fidelis Parish. (For clarification, the Diocese headquarters relocated to Salina, Kansas some years later.) The parish operated the school on a tuition basis. In the years prior to l940, a high school education was not considered of great importance. This factor and the cost of tuition resulted in enrollment in St. Fidelis High School to be very low.

By 1939, the need became apparent that education beyond 8th grade was important. To make education affordable to every elementary school graduate, a decision was made to petition the State of Kansas to establish a school district. A committee was formed of three members-one being from Victoria, one from the rural area north of the city, and one from the rural area south of the city. The three committee members were Dr. Bert Anderson from Victoria, Leo Rajewski from the south and Felix Kindernecht from the north. They canvassed their respective areas obtaining enough signatures to petition the state to establish the school district. The petition was successful. In 1940, the name was changed from St. Fidelis to Victoria Rural High School. In later years, the word Rural was dropped from the school name.