West Potomac High School
Encyclopedia
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
.
High Schools in 1985. The Fairfax County School Board, citing costs and declining enrollment as causes, decided to close Fort Hunt and combine the schools on Groveton's site under a new name.
The school's facilities have been expanded significantly since the merger, with two wings added to the main building over the intervening years. The old Groveton High School on Popkins Lane houses the Bryant Alternative High School; the site of Fort Hunt High school became Carl Sandburg Middle School
. The new Groveton High School was built on the site of the former Bryant Intermediate School in 1975.
In its inaugural year, the school adopted the motto "The Tradition Begins Now". After several years, it was modified to "Excellence is a Tradition". A rivalry with neighboring Mount Vernon High School exists because of their close proximity. Historically Groveton and Ft. Hunt were rivals, and Groveton and TC Williams football games for a very long time were only scheduled on Saturday afternoons rather than Friday nights.
program and cross country
have been very successful. The Men's Crew Team has been moderately successful. In the 2004-05 season, the boys track team won the regional title. In the 2008-09 season, the boys track team remained the AAA Patriot District
champions for the 8th year in a row, while the girls track team moved up to the second place standing, behind Lake Braddock Secondary School
.
West Potomac won Virginia AAA
football championships in 1989 and 1990. The Wolverines also won state championships in girls cross country in 1989 and 1990. The West Potomac It's Academic
team won first place in the Patriot District and fourth in the region in January 2008.
Coach Antonio Gilkey took over for the 10-11 boys shot put
and discus team, taking it to new heights but resigned at the end of the school year.
West Potomac's choral department has also blossomed since Ernest Johnson joined the faculty. He has created the two elite choral programs, Bella Voce and Colonial Singers (known as the Chamber Singers as of fall 2011), and has generated a buzz with his talented reach to renew interest in choral programs across the student body. He has crafted a wonderful mixed chorus program filled with junior and senior boys and girls, and has created two brand new freshmen and sophmore choral groups for the 2011-2012 school year. The choral groups are featured many times throughout the year including fall and winter concerts, special events and volunteer performances in the community. Each year, the West Potomac Choral Program participates in competitive events throughout the region with the rank of superior performance often awarded. The spring musical revue is the major choral event where everything goes from classical to glee in a feel good song and dance show featuring popular music.
Mr. O'grady, who is a noted Shakespeare buff, has directed the fall play before, and is directing "Richard The Third" This year.
Fairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...
. It is located on 6500 Quander Road and is part of 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...
.
History
West Potomac High School was formed by combining the student bodies and staff of Groveton and Fort HuntFort Hunt High School
Fort Hunt High School was a public secondary school in Alexandria, Virginia located at 8428 Fort Hunt Road and was part of Fairfax County Public Schools. It opened its doors in 1963...
High Schools in 1985. The Fairfax County School Board, citing costs and declining enrollment as causes, decided to close Fort Hunt and combine the schools on Groveton's site under a new name.
The school's facilities have been expanded significantly since the merger, with two wings added to the main building over the intervening years. The old Groveton High School on Popkins Lane houses the Bryant Alternative High School; the site of Fort Hunt High school became Carl Sandburg Middle School
Carl Sandburg Middle School
Carl Sandburg Middle School is located south of Alexandria, Virginia, USA and is part of the Fairfax County Public Schools school district. The school serves 7th and 8th graders.-History:...
. The new Groveton High School was built on the site of the former Bryant Intermediate School in 1975.
In its inaugural year, the school adopted the motto "The Tradition Begins Now". After several years, it was modified to "Excellence is a Tradition". A rivalry with neighboring Mount Vernon High School exists because of their close proximity. Historically Groveton and Ft. Hunt were rivals, and Groveton and TC Williams football games for a very long time were only scheduled on Saturday afternoons rather than Friday nights.
Demographics
In 2009-2010, West Potomac's student body was 41.42% White; 23.87% Black; 21.73% Hispanic; 8.17% Asian; 4.81% Other.Sports
In recent years, the school's track and fieldTrack and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
program and cross country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
have been very successful. The Men's Crew Team has been moderately successful. In the 2004-05 season, the boys track team won the regional title. In the 2008-09 season, the boys track team remained the AAA Patriot District
AAA Patriot District
The AAA Patriot District is a high school conference in the state of Virginia that includes schools from eastern Fairfax County and Alexandria City. AAA is the largest enrollment class and also typically the most competitive level in Virginia high school sports...
champions for the 8th year in a row, while the girls track team moved up to the second place standing, behind Lake Braddock Secondary School
Lake Braddock Secondary School
Lake Braddock Secondary School is a combined junior-high and high school in Burke, Virginia, United States, administered by Fairfax County Public Schools . It is one of four secondary schools in Fairfax County; the other three are Hayfield, Robinson, and South County.Opened in 1973, Lake Braddock...
.
West Potomac won Virginia AAA
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,...
football championships in 1989 and 1990. The Wolverines also won state championships in girls cross country in 1989 and 1990. The West Potomac 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 won first place in the Patriot District and fourth in the region in January 2008.
Academic Honors
The West Potomac Science Olympiad team placed 9th at the 2010 Virginia State Tournament with individual event-teams winning 3rd Place in Mission Possible and a 5th Place in Disease Detectives. And since the school's founding in 1985, West Potomac has fielded 3 state championship debate teams. In 2009 a student was 2nd in the AIAA/NCS Aerospace(Science Fair) awards and a West Potomac sophomore won a top award at the 2010 Fairfax County Regional Science and Engineering Fair. At the 2009-2010 VHSL State Debate Tournament a duo-team were named Semi-Finalists in the Virginia State Debate Tournament/Classic(AAA) Division.Coach Antonio Gilkey took over for the 10-11 boys shot put
Shot put
The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....
and discus team, taking it to new heights but resigned at the end of the school year.
Music
In recent years West Potomac has been a recipient of the Virginia Honor Band award from the Virginia Band and Orchestra Director's Association for superior ratings in concert band and marching band. Also the West Potomac Symphonic Winds, directed by Steve Rice, attended the Bands of America event in Indianapolis in March 2010, accompanied by the West Potomac Percussion Ensemble directed by Adam Foreman.West Potomac's choral department has also blossomed since Ernest Johnson joined the faculty. He has created the two elite choral programs, Bella Voce and Colonial Singers (known as the Chamber Singers as of fall 2011), and has generated a buzz with his talented reach to renew interest in choral programs across the student body. He has crafted a wonderful mixed chorus program filled with junior and senior boys and girls, and has created two brand new freshmen and sophmore choral groups for the 2011-2012 school year. The choral groups are featured many times throughout the year including fall and winter concerts, special events and volunteer performances in the community. Each year, the West Potomac Choral Program participates in competitive events throughout the region with the rank of superior performance often awarded. The spring musical revue is the major choral event where everything goes from classical to glee in a feel good song and dance show featuring popular music.
Theater Arts and Drama
In recent years West Potomac's Theater Arts program has blossomed and flourished. The current Theater Teacher and Director, Phillip Clark, entered in 2011, and is directing 2 shows for the 2011-2012 school year.Mr. O'grady, who is a noted Shakespeare buff, has directed the fall play before, and is directing "Richard The Third" This year.
Notable alumni
- Diedrich BaderDiedrich BaderKarl Diedrich Bader , better known as Diedrich Bader, is an American actor, voice artist and comedian. Many know him for his roles as Oswald Lee Harvey on The Drew Carey Show, Lawrence from the film Office Space, the Tae Kwon Do instructor Rex from Napoleon Dynamite, Tank "Shredder" Evans in Surf's...
— actor, The Drew Carey ShowThe Drew Carey ShowThe Drew Carey Show is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from 1995 to 2004. The show was set in Cleveland, Ohio, and revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionalized version of the actor....
, Office SpaceOffice SpaceOffice Space is a 1999 American comedy film satirizing work life in a typical 1990s software company. Written and directed by Mike Judge, it focuses on a handful of individuals fed up with their jobs portrayed by Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston, Gary Cole, David Herman, Ajay Naidu, and Diedrich...
. (attended Groveton High School, graduated from T. C. Williams High SchoolT. C. Williams High SchoolT. C. Williams High School is a public high school in Alexandria, Virginia, named after former superintendent Thomas Chambliss Williams of Alexandria City Public Schools who served from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s...
) - Donna DixonDonna DixonDonna Dixon is an American actress.Donna Dixon was born in Alexandria, Virginia; her father, Earl Dixon, owned a club on U.S. 1, called "Hillbilly Heaven." She is a 1975 graduate of Groveton High School and attended The George Washington University...
— Actress, Miss Virginia USAMiss Virginia USAThe Miss Virginia USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Virginia in the Miss USA pageant.Virginia has been only moderately successful in terms of number of semi-finalists, they have had two Miss USAs. They are one of only three states to have had two Miss...
, 1976, and wife of Dan AykroydDan AykroydDaniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...
. (Groveton High School graduate) - Tiombe HurdTiombe HurdTiombe Hurd is an American triple jumper. After winning the 2004 US Olympic Trials, she represented her native country at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, where she didn't reach the final. Her personal best jump is 14.45 metres, achieved in July 2004 in Sacramento...
, 1991 — 2004 OlympianOlympic GamesThe Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
who holds the American record in the triple jumpTriple jumpThe triple jump is a track and field sport, similar to the long jump, but involving a “hop, bound and jump” routine, whereby the competitor runs down the track and performs a hop, a bound and then a jump into the sand pit.The triple jump has its origins in the Ancient Olympics and has been a... - Micah JohnsonMicah JohnsonMicah Johnson is an American football linebacker who is currently a free agent. Previously he played for the Miami Dolphins before being released on September 15, 2010. He was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2010...
— American footballAmerican footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player, University of KentuckyKentucky Wildcats footballThe Kentucky Wildcats football team is a college football program that competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the East Division of the Southeastern Conference.-History:Paul "Bear" Bryant Era...
. (Transferred to Fort Campbell High School in Fort Campbell, KY in 2004, graduated in 2006.) - Michelle MadisonMichelle MadisonMichelle Madison , also known as her stage name, Madison Michele, is a TV host, model and actress. She was best known as the host of multiple shows on the TV Guide Network....
, 1989 — Model, television personality, TV Guide Network. - Willie PileWillie PileWillie Marquis Pile is a Canadian football linebacker for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL Draft...
, 1998 — Professional American footballAmerican footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player (Kansas City ChiefsKansas City ChiefsThe Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
, Dallas CowboysDallas CowboysThe Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
) - Ashley WagnerAshley WagnerAshley Wagner is an American figure skater. She is the 2008 and 2010 U.S. bronze medalist and 2007 and 2009 World Junior bronze medalist.-Personal life:...
— Figure skater - Scott SurovellScott SurovellScott Anthony Surovell is a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, representing the 44th district, which encompasses the U.S. 1 Corridor in the Mt...
- Member of Virginia House of DelegatesVirginia House of DelegatesThe Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbered years. The House is presided over by the Speaker of the House, who is elected from among the... - Scott ShenkerScott ShenkerScott Shenker is a Professor of Computer Science at UC Berkeley. He is also the head of the Networking Group and the Vice President of the International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley, California. He received his Sc.B. in Physics from Brown University in 1978, and his PhD in Physics from...
, 1974 - Professor of Computer Science at UC Berkeley, Vice President of the International Computer Science InstituteInternational Computer Science InstituteThe International Computer Science Institute is an independent, non-profit research organization located in Berkeley, California, USA. Since its founding in 1988, ICSI has maintained an affiliation with the University of California, Berkeley, where several of its members hold faculty appointments...
in Berkeley, California. (Groveton High School graduate) - Stephen ShenkerStephen ShenkerStephen Hart Shenker is an American theoretical physicist who works on string theory. He is a professor at Stanford University and former director of the Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics. His brother Scott Shenker is a computer scientist...
, 1970 - American theoretical physicist. (Groveton High School graduate) - Jube Shiver, Jr. 1971 - Journalist / Entrepreneur (Groveton High School graduate)