Piotr Wysocki High School in Warka

In September 1940, a young physicist named Stanisław Marciniak initiated the secret underground teaching of high school level curriculum. He was able to gather the following teachers: Maria Brzezińska, Karol Chróścielewski, Jan Górski, Władysław Janus, Bolesław Jechorek, Maria Kuciak, Stanisław Marciniak, Wanda Podymniak, and Marian Podymniak. After the War, some of the students from the underground courses went on to continue their education in the Community High School (Gimnazjum Samorządowe). In the late 1940s, the school was renamed the Co-Educational Community High School (Samorządowa Koedukacyjna Szkoła Ogólnokształcąca), and later nationalized and named High School in Warka (Liceum Ogólnokształcące w Warce).

First classes took place in the so-called Rog House at Niemojewska Street. Once the Warka-Winiary Manor had been renovated thanks to modest subsidies from the Council of Ministers Presidium, the Ministry of Culture and Art, and Warka authorities, classes were moved there. The building, however, did not have any electrical wiring, central heating, or sanitary system. The school rooms were heated with tile stoves. The Parent Teacher Organization began to raise funds and in 1950, the school building’s roof and ceiling were repaired, as were ground-floor school rooms and the principal’s office. Moreover, the building was electrified and the stoves were modified. The Manor housed the school only until 1953, but the dormitory remained there for the next ten years.

In 1954, the High School and the 1^st Elementary School were combined to form an 11-grade school. It was based in the so-called ‘lower building’ at Warszawska Street, which opened its doors in 1930. In the school year of 1963/1964, the schools were again separated with the High School resuming classes in the ‘lower building.’ In the 1960s, a new service building with a gym was opened, and the school was renovated and expanded. In 1993, the school’s address changed to 45 Warszawska Street, which housed the Culture, Sports, and Recreation Center (Ośrodek Kultury, Sportu i Wypoczynku, now the Sports and Recreation Center, Centrum Sportu i Rekreacji), where it remained until today.

The first student reunion took place in 1971, during which the school was named for Piotr Wysocki and received a banner. The second reunion took place in 1994, and another one followed in 2006. The list of principals includes: Stanisław Marciniak (1945–1951), Czesław Zawadzki (1951–1953, 1957), Leon Dębniak (1953–1955), Wiktor Krawczyk (1955–1957), Jadwiga Barańska (1957–1965), Lucjan Kosela (1965–1978), Tadeusz Mazur (1978–1981), Alicja Podlecka (1981–1985), Jerzy Nogalski (1985–1992), Alicja Sochanska (1992–2007), Wieś ława Zielonka (2007–2019), and the current principal Ewa Karkowska has been in office since 2019.