Hayfield Secondary School
Encyclopedia
Hayfield Secondary School is the oldest secondary school
in the Fairfax County Public Schools
system of Virginia
. It opened its doors in 1968 and graduated its first seniors in 1971.
Mount Vernon
estate. Because of a small natural spring
underneath the school, the land literally served as a hay
field
. The land itself changed hands numerous times, until 1956 when developers constructed the nearby Hayfield Farm subdivision, the first of many housing developments in the region. Hayfield Secondary opened its doors to middle school (7th and 8th grade) students as well as 9-10th grades during the 1968-1969 school year, while still under construction. Floyd W. Worley was the first Principal and permitted the first four classes to choose both the school's colors and nickname via individual voting during physical education classes using a ballot which included the Head Football Coach Jim Walthall's alma mater The University of Tennessee's moniker, "Volunteers," and colors, orange and white. While the UT's colors collected the young Hayfield community's consensus choice, the alliterative "Hawks" became Hayfield's "head rhyming" mascot. The school is erroneously mentioned in Remember the Titans
as being "all white." While at the time of the desegregation of the City of Alexandria's T.C. Williams High School, a large majority of Hayfield's students were white, it was racially integrated from the day of its first opening in 1968, drawing the majority of its students of color from the children of military men and women at nearby Fort Belvoir, home to the U.S. Army's Corp of Engineers. The desegregation encouraging word "Diversity" even headed a section of the '73 yearbook, the fifth volume of the "Harvester."
As the region which it serves grew, overcrowding became a major issue at Hayfield, and by the late 1990s it routinely exceeded its intended capacity with 4000+ students. A renovation of the school began in 2002 and was completed in 2005. Further helping to relieve the pressure on Hayfield was the opening of South County Secondary School
, also in 2005. However, due to overcrowding at South County in its second year of operation and under-utilized capacity at Hayfield, Hayfield accommodated more students again from a boundary change with South County approved for the 2007-2008 school year.
The school is expected to continually grow substantially until the 2010-2011 school year as all grades from the rezoning settle in.
Hayfield's It's Academic
Team held the Patriot District title in the 2000-2001, 2005–2006 and 2006-2007 school years. In 2001, the team also won in the first round on the It's Academic television show, the first time it had won in 10 years. Members of this team include Christopher Koves, Douglas Lee, and Jason Loss. In 2002, the Hayfield It's Academic team placed 2nd in the District and 2nd in the Northern Region, advancing to the State Championship. In 2006, the Hayfield team placed third in the Northern Region behind Langley High School and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. In 2007, the team placed second in the Northern Region. At the state championship Hayfield tied for 5th place.
Hayfield has a notable Robotics Team that has been in the Top 8 in the FIRST Robotics Competition
(FRC) and been invited three times in the past three years to the FRC National Competition, including the most recent competition in 2007.
Hayfield's Varsity Science Olympiad
team took first place in several categories at the McLean High School
Competition 2007. Hayfield's Varsity Science Olympiad
team took first place in several categories, including Forensics and Write It Do It at the West Potomac High School
Competition 2007.
Hayfield sent its first team to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair
in 2007. The following year, in 2008, another team project was sent along with an individual project.
Hayfield also has a consistently successful music program. During the 2010-2011 school year at the District X Festival, the Orchestra program brought home five Superior ratings under the direction of Carrie New. The Band also brought home many as well.
Hayfield's former principal, Dr. Bill Oehrlein, was named an outstanding principal of the year in 2007 by the Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals, sponsored by MetLife
.
of the AAA Northern Region
of the Virginia High School League
. The school's mascot is the hawk
and the school colors are orange and white (and unofficially blue).
The boys' wrestling
team, coached by Roy Hill, won districts 9 years in a row. As well as, 6 Northern region titles in 8 years(1999-2006). Coach Hill has coached 5 individual state champions.
The Hayfield varsity football team won the National District title against rival Thomas A. Edison High School in 2009.
The varsity volleyball team won districts to continue the Hawks' dominance in their new district.
Hayfield's varsity cross country team placed second in districts in 2009. In spring of 2010, the varsity softball team won the National District title after beating Yorktown High School.
Actor Matthew Ashford
, best known for portraying the role of Jack Deveraux
on the NBC
soap opera
Days of our Lives
.
Writer Mike D'Orso, of the first graduating class of '71, has authored or co-authored numerous non-fiction works, including "Like Judgement Day: The Rise and Redemption of Rosewood, Florida" which was instrumental in the development of the Singleton directed, Jon Voigt and Ving Rames starring film, "Rosewood." His most recent work is "Oceana" with Ted Danson.
Geoff Leach (Class of 1992) Lead Singer, Elephant Boy - Warner Brothers Records,notable hip-hop/rock and roll crossover pioneer. Noted Radio and print personality.
Larry Asante, NFL Player
-University of Nebraska
-Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tony Mayberry
- Wake Forest University
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Hayfield's Rebecca S. Wilburn Auditorium is one of the largest auditoriums in Northern Virginia, and includes an orchestra pit elevator lift built into the front of the stage that allows that portion of the stage to act as either an orchestra pit or stage extension.
Technical support for the Wilburn Auditorium is supported by a student organization, the Hayfield Audio and Lighting Technicians ("HALT"). Because of the size of the Wilburn Auditorium and the non-school clientele that it serves, this group is unique within the county.
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
in the Fairfax County Public Schools
Fairfax County Public Schools
The Fairfax County Public Schools system is a branch of the Fairfax County government which administers public schools in Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax...
system of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. It opened its doors in 1968 and graduated its first seniors in 1971.
History
The land that Hayfield Secondary sits on was at one time part of George Washington'sGeorge Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon (plantation)
Mount Vernon, located near Alexandria, Virginia, was the plantation home of the first President of the United States, George Washington. The mansion is built of wood in neoclassical Georgian architectural style, and the estate is located on the banks of the Potomac River.Mount Vernon was designated...
estate. Because of a small natural spring
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
underneath the school, the land literally served as a hay
Hay
Hay is grass, legumes or other herbaceous plants that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal fodder, particularly for grazing livestock such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Hay is also fed to pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs...
field
Field (agriculture)
In agriculture, the word field refers generally to an area of land enclosed or otherwise and used for agricultural purposes such as:* Cultivating crops* Usage as a paddock or, generally, an enclosure of livestock...
. The land itself changed hands numerous times, until 1956 when developers constructed the nearby Hayfield Farm subdivision, the first of many housing developments in the region. Hayfield Secondary opened its doors to middle school (7th and 8th grade) students as well as 9-10th grades during the 1968-1969 school year, while still under construction. Floyd W. Worley was the first Principal and permitted the first four classes to choose both the school's colors and nickname via individual voting during physical education classes using a ballot which included the Head Football Coach Jim Walthall's alma mater The University of Tennessee's moniker, "Volunteers," and colors, orange and white. While the UT's colors collected the young Hayfield community's consensus choice, the alliterative "Hawks" became Hayfield's "head rhyming" mascot. The school is erroneously mentioned in Remember the Titans
Remember the Titans
Remember the Titans is a 2000 American sports film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Boaz Yakin. Inspired by real events, the plot was conceived from a screenplay written by Gregory Allen Howard. The film starts as a new coach of the Titans, a football team previously coached by the...
as being "all white." While at the time of the desegregation of the City of Alexandria's T.C. Williams High School, a large majority of Hayfield's students were white, it was racially integrated from the day of its first opening in 1968, drawing the majority of its students of color from the children of military men and women at nearby Fort Belvoir, home to the U.S. Army's Corp of Engineers. The desegregation encouraging word "Diversity" even headed a section of the '73 yearbook, the fifth volume of the "Harvester."
As the region which it serves grew, overcrowding became a major issue at Hayfield, and by the late 1990s it routinely exceeded its intended capacity with 4000+ students. A renovation of the school began in 2002 and was completed in 2005. Further helping to relieve the pressure on Hayfield was the opening of South County Secondary School
South County Secondary School
South County Secondary School is a secondary school in Lorton, unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, part of the Fairfax County Public Schools system, opened in September 2005...
, also in 2005. However, due to overcrowding at South County in its second year of operation and under-utilized capacity at Hayfield, Hayfield accommodated more students again from a boundary change with South County approved for the 2007-2008 school year.
The school is expected to continually grow substantially until the 2010-2011 school year as all grades from the rezoning settle in.
Academics
Hayfield is a secondary school, meaning it serves grades 7 through 12, but the high school and middle school students are generally kept segregated. The middle school has an honors (formally GT) program and the high school offers both honors and Advanced Placement courses. As of Spring 2007, the number of exams on which a score of 3 or higher was achieved (on a scale of 1-5) rose to 57% from 46% the previous year, the best results found on record for Hayfield.Hayfield's It's Academic
It's Academic
It's Academic is a televised academic quiz competition for high school students, currently airing on two NBC affiliates in Washington, D.C. and Central Virginia and one CBS affiliate Baltimore, Maryland . The show has been on the air since October 7, 1961, making it the longest...
Team held the Patriot District title in the 2000-2001, 2005–2006 and 2006-2007 school years. In 2001, the team also won in the first round on the It's Academic television show, the first time it had won in 10 years. Members of this team include Christopher Koves, Douglas Lee, and Jason Loss. In 2002, the Hayfield It's Academic team placed 2nd in the District and 2nd in the Northern Region, advancing to the State Championship. In 2006, the Hayfield team placed third in the Northern Region behind Langley High School and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. In 2007, the team placed second in the Northern Region. At the state championship Hayfield tied for 5th place.
Hayfield has a notable Robotics Team that has been in the Top 8 in the FIRST Robotics Competition
FIRST Robotics Competition
The FIRST Robotics Competition is an international high school robotics competition organized by FIRST. Each year, teams of high school students compete to build robots weighing up to , not including battery and bumpers, that can complete a task, which changes every year...
(FRC) and been invited three times in the past three years to the FRC National Competition, including the most recent competition in 2007.
Hayfield's Varsity Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad is an American elementary, middle, or high school team competition which tests knowledge of various science topics and engineering ability. Over 6,200 teams from 49 U.S. states compete each year. Most teams compete in three levels of competition: regionals, states, and nationals...
team took first place in several categories at the McLean High School
McLean High School
McLean High School is a public secondary school located in McLean, Virginia. It is located on 1633 Davidson Road and is part of Fairfax County Public Schools....
Competition 2007. Hayfield's Varsity Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad is an American elementary, middle, or high school team competition which tests knowledge of various science topics and engineering ability. Over 6,200 teams from 49 U.S. states compete each year. Most teams compete in three levels of competition: regionals, states, and nationals...
team took first place in several categories, including Forensics and Write It Do It at the West Potomac High School
West Potomac High School
West Potomac High School is a public high school in Fairfax County, Virginia. It is located on 6500 Quander Road and is part of Fairfax County Public Schools.-History:...
Competition 2007.
Hayfield sent its first team to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair
Intel International Science and Engineering Fair
The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair is the largest pre-college scientific research event in the world, and is owned and administered by the Society for Science & the Public a 501 non-profit organization based in Washington, DC...
in 2007. The following year, in 2008, another team project was sent along with an individual project.
Hayfield also has a consistently successful music program. During the 2010-2011 school year at the District X Festival, the Orchestra program brought home five Superior ratings under the direction of Carrie New. The Band also brought home many as well.
Hayfield's former principal, Dr. Bill Oehrlein, was named an outstanding principal of the year in 2007 by the Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals, sponsored by MetLife
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, or MetLife, for short, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs, with 90 million customers in over 60 countries...
.
Athletics
Hayfield's high school teams compete in the AAA National DistrictAAA National District
The AAA National District is a high school conference in the state of Virginia that includes schools from eastern Fairfax County and all of the public high schools in Arlington County....
of the AAA Northern Region
AAA Northern Region
The AAA Northern Region is one of the four AAA regions in the Virginia High School League. It is made up of four districts: the AAA Concorde District, the AAA Liberty District, the AAA National District, and the AAA Patriot District...
of the Virginia High School League
Virginia High School League
The Virginia High School League is the arbiter of interscholastic competition among public high schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Unlike similar organizations in many other states, private or religious schools are prohibited from joining. Non-public schools belong to other organizations,...
. The school's mascot is the hawk
Hawk
The term hawk can be used in several ways:* In strict usage in Australia and Africa, to mean any of the species in the subfamily Accipitrinae, which comprises the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis and Megatriorchis. The large and widespread Accipiter genus includes goshawks,...
and the school colors are orange and white (and unofficially blue).
The boys' wrestling
Scholastic wrestling
Scholastic wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the high school and middle school levels in the United States. This wrestling style is essentially Collegiate wrestling with some slight modifications. It is currently...
team, coached by Roy Hill, won districts 9 years in a row. As well as, 6 Northern region titles in 8 years(1999-2006). Coach Hill has coached 5 individual state champions.
The Hayfield varsity football team won the National District title against rival Thomas A. Edison High School in 2009.
The varsity volleyball team won districts to continue the Hawks' dominance in their new district.
Hayfield's varsity cross country team placed second in districts in 2009. In spring of 2010, the varsity softball team won the National District title after beating Yorktown High School.
Notable Alumni
Conler Mandt, 2009. National Champion competitive public speaker, Oral Interpretation of Literature at 2009 NCFL. He is currently working on an independent motion picture and publishing a book of poetry.Actor Matthew Ashford
Matthew Ashford
Matthew Nile Ashford is an American actor best known for the long running role of Jack Deveraux on the NBC soap opera Days of our Lives.-Personal life:...
, best known for portraying the role of Jack Deveraux
Jack Deveraux
Jack Harcourt Deveraux, Sr. is a fictional character on the soap opera Days of our Lives. He is the most prominent member of the Johnson family and is most famously played by Matthew Ashford. After a four-year absence, the character has recently returned to "Salem" to reconnect with his estranged...
on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...
.
Writer Mike D'Orso, of the first graduating class of '71, has authored or co-authored numerous non-fiction works, including "Like Judgement Day: The Rise and Redemption of Rosewood, Florida" which was instrumental in the development of the Singleton directed, Jon Voigt and Ving Rames starring film, "Rosewood." His most recent work is "Oceana" with Ted Danson.
Geoff Leach (Class of 1992) Lead Singer, Elephant Boy - Warner Brothers Records,notable hip-hop/rock and roll crossover pioneer. Noted Radio and print personality.
Larry Asante, NFL Player
-University of Nebraska
-Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tony Mayberry
- Wake Forest University
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Facility
Hayfield's Dorris Torris Field House is the largest high school gymnasium in Northern Virginia.Hayfield's Rebecca S. Wilburn Auditorium is one of the largest auditoriums in Northern Virginia, and includes an orchestra pit elevator lift built into the front of the stage that allows that portion of the stage to act as either an orchestra pit or stage extension.
Technical support for the Wilburn Auditorium is supported by a student organization, the Hayfield Audio and Lighting Technicians ("HALT"). Because of the size of the Wilburn Auditorium and the non-school clientele that it serves, this group is unique within the county.