 A rivalry has developed between Centennial and Whetstone due to the splitting of Whetstone's district and the fact that many students in both buildings attended lower grades together.As the building opened in the year of the United States Bicentennial, the building was so named as a patriotic gesture, as was Independence High School, which opened at the same time.At the time of the school's construction, trends in K-12 schooling were moving towards more non-traditional classroom setups.