On August 31, 1923 the citizens of the Greenacres, Liberty Lake, Lone Fir, Opportunity, Quinnamosa, Saltese and Vera school districts voted to form Central Valley Union High School District # 206. Prior to that time, a number of communities had their own high schools, among them Greenacres, Vera, Opportunity and Carnhope High School of east Spokane.
Beginning with the 1924 school year, and after the consolidation, Vera High School took the name Central Valley High. The school operated at that site (SW corner of Sprague and Progress) until the opening of the new high school building in Greenacres (Where Greenacres Junior High now stands).
The new Central Valley High School was dedicated February 27, 1928 with an enrollment of approximately 150 students. It was briefly known as Appleway High, but neither students or faculty cared for the name and within a few months it was changed back to Central Valley.
C.V. operated at the Greenacres site until the Fall of 1956 when the current high school opened in Veradale.
The original mascot of the school was the “Polar Bear”, until a hunter made a gift of a black bear cub to the school. The “Polar” was then dropped.
In state basketball tournament records, the one appearance of Vera High in 1924 is accredited to Central Valley’s record of competition. The coach of that team, R.E. Kuhlman, became the first coach at the renamed school the following season.
C.V. has had a history of basketball success from the beginning, over the years bringing home many league championships and state tournament trophies, including the 1968 state championship. It is only one of three schools in the state to have won every trophy from 1st through 8th place in state tournament competition. The other two being Everett and Lewis & Clark.