The school's sports teams are known as the Patriots and they are notable for having been state champions in football in 1981 and runners up in 1976 and 1977.[6] The football program also compiled a 28 game losing streak that ended with a 30-21 win over Shawnee High School in 2010.[7] In 2014, the school's basketball program was runner up for the Oklahoma 6A basketball title, losing to Tulsa Union High School in the final.[8] In 2016, Putnam City West's boys' basketball team beat Norman North High School for the 6A state title.[9] Most recently, the school's girls basketball program won the 6A state championship for the 2023-2024 season [10]
History
Putnam City West High School was opened in 1968 to relieve overcrowding at neighboring Putnam City High School during a period of suburbanization in western Oklahoma City.
During this period from the 1960s through the late 1980s the Putnam City Public Schools District experienced a great increase in student enrollment numbers from ongoing suburban development, fueled in part by white flight due to desegregation and busing court orders that affected Oklahoma City Public Schools. By the 1990s, the school and district as a whole had begun to experience white flight as well and began experiencing many of the same issues with poverty as inner city schools in the area.[11]