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Westfield High School (Fairfax County, Virginia)
Encyclopedia
Westfield High School is a public high school in unincorporated
Fairfax County, Virginia
, United States, west of the Chantilly CDP
.
It is a part of Fairfax County Public Schools
(FCPS), serving students from the communities including Chantilly
and Centreville
as well as areas with Herndon
addresses in grades 9–12. Opened in 2000, it is the head of the Westfield High School Pyramid in Cluster VIII. At 3,260 students, it is one of the largest four-year high schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia
.
The school was listed as the 46th best high school in the United States by Newsweek
magazine in 2002 and 27th in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area
by The Washington Post
in 2006 due to a high percentage of students enrolled in Westfield's Advanced Placement (AP) classes. Westfield shares a business partnership with Northrop Grumman
's business IT
group that entails sharing of buildings, as well as financial donations and gifts of supplies. It also shares an education partnership with Centreville Presbyterian Church to improve student achievement.
Centreville and Chantilly
High Schools. Plans for Westfield High school might of originated back in 1995 when it was conceived as West County High School. Westfield's colors and mascot were chosen by the local community in the months before its grand opening in 2000. By 2005, Westfield had grown so large that it had become one of the largest four-year high schools in Virginia. An additional wing was planned to help deal with the overcrowding, and was completed in summer of 2006.
Regulation 1320.1 (also known as Guidelines for Restricting Interruptions to Instructional Time—Middle and High Schools) was implemented on April 21, 2004, as an FCPS directive. It was adopted by the county school board to ensure that instructional time in middle and high schools meet limits set by the Virginia Department of Education. The directive limited events such as assemblies and pep rallies
by categorizing them as after-school events, with the exception of homecoming
pep rallies.
Local radio station DC101
's Elliot in the Morning
show held a contest in fall 2004 for area high school students whose winners were to host alternative rock
band Taking Back Sunday
at their school. Westfield students won this contest, whose result was approved by former principal Mike Campbell with the concert date set for Tuesday, November 16. However, students soon learned that a clause in Regulation 1320.1 prohibiting assemblies by business-sponsored groups prevented plans for the concert from being carried out. On Monday, November 15, students began a Taking Back Tuesday movement advocating a schoolwide skip day on the day of the cancelled concert, but it dissolved after Campbell's schoolwide address that afternoon.
Following the incident, students and parents appealed to the school board to return pep rallies to the instructional period and to reconsider the regulation. In a review by the Parent Teacher Student Association, it was found that the school was only allowed one pep rally during the year, adding to the confusion of the situation. In February 2005, FCPS clarified its policy stating that the regulation on pep rallies was not meant to limit school spirit, but the concert remained cancelled.
Michael Kennedy, who suffered from schizophrenia
, shot and killed Master Police Officer Michael Garbarino and Detective Vicky Armel of the Fairfax County Police Department on May 8, 2006, in an attack on the Sully District Police Station, less than one-half mile from Westfield. On April 5, 2007, Kennedy's father was indicted by a federal
grand jury
on two counts of drug possession and six counts of weapons charges. The indictment mentioned charges that Kennedy's father illegally possessed marijuana
, which made it illegal for him to possess the weapons or ammunition used by Kennedy in the police station attack.
The 2007 Virginia Tech massacre by gunman Seung-Hui Cho, an alumnus of Westfield High School, killed thirty-two people, including two Westfield alumnae, Erin Peterson and Reema Samaha. There is no evidence that Cho singled either out during the attack or even knew them. Although Cho's motivation for the shooting is unknown, his suicide note mentioned vague references to his emotional turmoil. While a few students recall instances of Cho being teased and mocked at Westfield, most left him alone and were not aware of his anger. It is unknown if or how much his experience at Westfield contributed to his mental breakdown. Journalists from the international media arrived at Westfield the day Cho's identity was announced, prompting a ban on reporters at six athletic games due "the impact… on school children, academics and other important activities." Criticism of the school's learning environment also prompted students and alumni to rally against the media's biased reporting by emphasizing their many achievements. As a way to honor the two deceased alumnae, the Erin Peterson Fund and Reema J. Samaha Memorial Scholarship Fund were established with the school's support to award scholarships for graduating seniors who best exemplify their personalities.
The second incident occurred on November 20, when ten young adults and teenagers (six of them being Westfield High School alumni, and others attending Virginia Commonwealth University
) were arrested as part of the shutdown of a major heroin ring responsible for the deaths of multiple students from Westfield and other local high schools.
It is believed that the death of multiple students (including Alicia Lannes) and the heroin ring were linked.
Westfield's main structure was designed by Swirnow Structures LLC. The same design was later used for the construction of South County Secondary School
in the southern part of Fairfax County, but former Westfield principal Dale Rumberger denied claims of establishing a "mini-Westfield" despite becoming the principal at South County after leaving Westfield in 2004.
The school campus occupies 159 acre (0.64345074 km²) and is composed of the main building (the "school"), the sports complex including all fields, and the parking lots. The main building currently comprises two levels, with seven main hallways for the classrooms on each level. There are also 18 trailers located around the school. The hallways are listed alphabetically from A-G, and an additional hallway, "R" (for "renovation"), was added onto the school for use beginning in the 2006–07 school year. The heart of the school is the library and media center which currently holds over 21,000 books with room for an additional 4,000. There are over 40 computer stations for student use in the library.
There are four computer labs in Westfield, two on each level, making it among the most technologically advanced of any FCPS high school at the time it was built. There were 1,545 computers at Westfield as of June 2006.
Beyond the main building, there is the sprawling Westfield Sports Complex, including the football stadium, a baseball field
, a softball
field, six tennis courts, a track which encircles a field for track and field
, soccer, and lacrosse
, and multiple practice fields. Adjacent to the complex is the Cub Run RECenter, home to Westfield's swim and dive team, although it is not part of the school.
Westfield is often criticized as grossly crowded. The building design provided for a capacity of 2,500 students, a number that was reached in its third year of opening. When the school opened, the unincorporated communities of Centreville
and Chantilly
experienced a population and real estate boom that was not projected by the county. By the 2004–2005 academic year, the school was over its capacity by 25 percent, and 26 trailers filled the parking lot originally designated for faculty and staff along with additional ground space surrounding the school's main building.
In April 2003, FCPS proposed a bond referendum for the construction of a 24-room addition to Westfield's main building to alleviate the rapid growth of the student population. The bond referendum provided for the construction of the new addition at a cost of $8.7 million. The bond was approved in November of the same year, and construction for the massive new wing began in summer of 2005. Construction was completed in time for the 2006–2007 school year, increasing capacity to 3,100. It has two levels and a basement. It is called the R-hallway. Due to Westfield's overpopulation, however, 18 trailers still remain.
Some former feeder communities of Westfield were re-zoned to the attendance boundary of South Lakes High School
, located in the unincorporated community of Reston
.
. Two services are held each Sunday with an attendance of 1,400.
In 2003, the Work Awareness and Transition (WAT) class opened a branch of the Apple Federal Credit Union for students and faculty. The branch is operated by student tellers in WAT.
Hope Chinese School, a Chinese language school in the Washington area
, designated Westfield as the site of its Chantilly campus in fall 2006. Chinese language and cultural elective classes are held on Sunday afternoons in the new building addition.
The local area pro women's softball team Washington Glory
will call the Westfield Sports Complex home for its 2008 season. The Glory played the 2007 season at George Mason University
's softball complex which is undergoing a renovation during the 2008 season. The stadium will have increased seating for not only the Glory but also for the Virginia State Softball Championships which will also be hosted at the site along with baseball, lacrosse, soccer and track.
(English for speakers of other languages), Fine and Performing Arts, Foreign Language, Health and Physical Education, Mathematics, Professional and Technical Studies, Science, Social Studies, and Special Education
.
As one of 16 Fairfax County high schools that offer the Advanced Placement (AP) Program, Westfield will offer 22 of the 32 AP courses that are offered by the College Board as of the 2007–2008 school year. (The other 8 high schools are designated for the International Baccalaureate Program). In addition, the curriculum also offers Honors courses to prepare students for the rigorous workload associated with AP courses.
Fairfax County's academy system also allows Westfield students to take alternate classes at Chantilly
, Edison
, Fairfax
, Marshall
, and West Potomac
High Schools with transportation provided.
When the school opened, Westfield possessed the newest computer labs and electronic equipment in the county. Westfield's Aerospace Science
class is the only one of its kind in FCPS, and its Television Production
Lab is the most advanced of any FCPS school. Westfield also offers among the highest number of business-related, technology, and computer classes for any FCPS school, including its notable cooperative education
program offered by the Professional and Technical Studies department. The photography and computer graphics labs are among the most complete and advanced in FCPS and provide an extensive array of equipments available for student use. The music technology lab is designed for music theory
, and has special software for composing music.
The Foreign Language department offers six languages for students to study: American Sign Language
, French, German, Japanese, Latin, and Spanish. Human Anatomy and Physiology is a unique course offered for Westfield science students who are interested in pursuing a career in the medical field and would like a more in-depth coverage on human systems than AP Biology.
Westfield's English department provides a number of unique elective courses such as forensics and debate
, film study
, and a course on William Shakespeare
. The Fine and Performing Arts department produced a news program
—Westfield Live—which previously broadcast information and upcoming events at or involving Westfield over the school's televisions on a daily basis, but now only airs on Fridays.
.
. It belongs to the Concorde District
within Northern Region
.
Westfield has athletic teams in 19 different sports: baseball
, basketball
, cheerleading
, crew
, cross country
/track and field
, dance team
, field hockey
, football
, golf
, gymnastics
, ice hockey
(club), lacrosse
, soccer
, softball
, swim
and dive
, tennis
, volleyball
and wrestling
.
The school's athletic program is one of the most successful in the area, having earned numerous titles and championship berths in a wide range of varsity sports since 2000. In fact, Westfield won two state championships in its first year of existence, when both a boy and a girl from the Swim and Dive Team captured individual state swimming honors in Westfield's inaugural winter sports season.
Westfield's football program has been recognized as one of the top programs in the state and has earned two state titles, both seasons ending with perfect records. The boys' outdoor track and field team earned its first Virginia AAA state title in 2004. In 2004, the varsity baseball team reached the state championship final. The boys' soccer team won the district and regional titles in 2005, overall becoming state semifinalists.
On October 23, 2009, at halftime of the Chantilly vs. Westfield football game, Eddie Royal
became the first Westfield football alumnus to have his number (5) retired.
One of the most successful athletics programs at Westfield is the wrestling team, having won six consecutive district championships from 2004–2009, two consecutive Northern Region titles, and placing several times in the top ten at the State Tournament. Westfield's Track Team also won regionals indoor season of 2007 and outdoor season of 2007.
On October 11, 2002, a tremendous downpour postponed a Westfield varsity football game against rival Centreville for the Concorde District championship. Head coach Tom Verbanic, desperate to keep the game on time, had the field covered with tarps
and hired a helicopter
in an attempt to dry the field. Several thousand dollars later, the game was still postponed until November 17. The match resulted in a win for Westfield, earning the school's first district championship title. The use of the helicopter for drying grass was later criticized heavily.
, Westfield's theatre arts department has received numerous distinctions. Productions of Godspell
and Fiddler on the Roof
won Best Musical at the National Capital Area Cappies
awards, and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
won Best Play. Playwright Sheila Callaghan
's Star-Crossed Lovers, a one-act rendition of William Shakespeare
's Romeo and Juliet
, was conceived by director Scott Pafumi and premiered at Westfield in 2004.
In 2007/08, Westfield's production of The Wiz
received a record 17 Cappies
nominations. The department's production was the subject of an ABC News
20/20 special entitled "Drama High" which aired on December 15, 2008. After a successful season (the 2008/2009 "Season of Change"), the 2009/2010 "Season of Coming of Age", the Westfield High School Theatre Department will be presenting Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs
, West Side Story, and Merchant of Venice.
Westfield Theatre has also been invited to perform its own renditions of Romeo and Juliet and The Tempest
at the Folger Shakespeare Library
, an internationally renowned stage and research center devoted to the life and works of William Shakespeare.
Westfield Summer Stage is an annual training program for middle and high school student actors in Fairfax County. In 2010, the program held the production of 42nd Street
. Past programs featured well-known productions such as High School Musical
, Bye Bye Birdie, Beauty and the Beast
, Grease
, Peter Pan
, Snoopy
, Annie
,South Pacific
, Guys and Dolls and 42nd Street
.
The shows for the 2011-2012 school year are: Richard III (play)
in the fall, The Crucible
in the spring and the musical, Crazy For You
as the final show of the year in the spring. Tickets can be bought at www.westfieldtheatreboosters.com Crazy For You
will be the school's CAPPIES show.
The Band program is a nationally recognized program which comprises eight performance groups including the Wind Symphony, the Symphonic Band, the Concert Band, Jazz 1 Band, Jazz 2 Band,the Percussion Ensemble, the Colorguard and the Marching Bulldogs. Westfield's band has been named a Virginia Honor Band six times for both its marching band and concert band. The Westfield Percussion Ensemble has performed, by invitation, at a national festival. NSO director Leonard Slatkin
has also visited Westfield in 2007 as a guest conductor. Both jazz band and jazz guitar have received awards at the Chantilly
Invitational Jazz Festival, where several students were also named for the All-Star Band. Recently, the band has traveled to New York City to perform at Carnegie Hall, received top awards twice at Myrtle Beach, and also won top awards at a Disney competition in Orlando, Florida.
Marching Band, which takes place in the summer and fall only and is not an official class, was noted by local TV station WUSA 9
for its exemplary talent. There are also color and winter guard
s that perform with the marching band and in regional tournaments.
The Westfield High School Choral Program, headed by David Reimschussel, consists of students in four different choral ensembles, spanning grades 9 through 12. The choirs have performed for the Governor of Virginia, for an audience of hundreds of music educators at the Virginia Music Educators State Conference, and have performed at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and at Strathmore Hall through a partnership with The Washington Chorus.
The orchestra is headed by Gregory Rupert, co-principal viola of the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
. The program includes beginning, freshman, concert, chamber, and symphony orchestras. Every Westfield orchestra that has gone to Festival has received a final rating of "Superior"—the highest score possible. Orchestra members have also held principal positions in the VBODA
Senior Regional and All-State Orchestras.
Westfield hosted the 2007 Mid-Atlantic
Guitar Ensemble Festival. The festival featured guitar performances by various schools and learning clinics
with noted area musicians such as Andrew York.
Calliope not only accepts submissions for its literary and art magazine, but it also hosts Coffeehouses
in the fall and spring, where student bands, guitarists, and poets perform live. Each year, it also hosts a film festival for videos made by Westfield students. The magazine has been awarded the Gold Circle by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association
for its design.
The Guardian yearbook in particular has been named a Yearbook Pacemaker Award by the National Scholastic Press Association
(NSPA) and has been awarded the Silver Crown by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. Between 2002–04, the NSPA considered it one of the Best of Show winners in its annual national journalism conventions.
The Watchdog newspaper has received an All-Southern rating from the Southern Interscholastic Press Association
. It also has one of the largest circulations for a high school newspaper in the western Fairfax County area because the newspaper is mailed home to families of students free of charge.
All three publications are noted for their journalistic qualities and their capability in raising a large amount of funding from business advertisement to offset the cost of printing. Workshops on fundraising strategies have been presented by publication advisers at journalism conferences in Virginia.
, National Art Honor Society
, National English Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society
, French National Honor Society, German National Honor Society
, Japanese Honor Society, National Latin Honor Society, History Honor Society, Mathematics Honor Society
, Science Honor Society, Marketing Honor Society, Tri-M
, International Thespian Society
, and Quill and Scroll
.
Both Future Business Leaders of America
(FBLA-PBL) and DECA
have their own chapters for business and marketing students. The DECA chapter, along with chapters at other FCPS high schools, began a pilot G.O.A.L. (Gaining Occupational Awareness and Learning) Zone internship program in 2003 between FCPS schools and D.C. United
.
There are several academic teams competing in regional tournaments as part of the Virginia High School League
(VHSL). Westfield's It's Academic
team annually competes in tournaments hosted by the VHSL and NBC 4
as well as tournaments hosted by other area schools. The team won its first television match on NBC 4 in the show's 44th season after only its third appearance. The Science Club holds after-school experiments that all students can participate in, and the Science Olympiad
team annually competes in the Division C state tournament and has won several medals. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes
annually sponsors See You at the Pole
for students and faculty.
The Westfield Debate and Forensics teams have received numerous awards and distinctions. The Debate team has been ranked in the top five teams since 2004, and Forensics placed fourth overall in the 2004 VHSL state tournament. The Forensics team also won second place in the Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking individual event at the 2007 state tournament.
In 2007, Westfield and its business partner Northrop Grumman teamed with NASA
to participate in the school's first FIRST Robotics Competition
at Virginia Commonwealth University
for a regional event.
The largest racial group at Westfield is whites (60%), followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders (18%), Hispanics (10%), Blacks (7%), and others (5%).
As a commitment to the diversity of the Westfield community and to incorporate an FCPS mandate on ethics
instruction, the school annually hosts an Ethical Decision Making seminar for sophomores. Sponsored by the Herndon-Dulles Chamber of Commerce and hosted by Westfields Marriott
, the seminar has been well-received by the community, winning a Blue Ribbon Award for Outstanding Event. The seminar aims at educating students about the dilemma of making ethical decisions by inviting guest speakers from the local community speak to students on race, sexuality
, prejudice
, and other issues.
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
Fairfax County, Virginia
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...
, United States, west of the Chantilly CDP
Chantilly, Virginia
Chantilly is an unincorporated community located in western Fairfax County and southeastern Loudoun County of Northern Virginia. Recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census designated place , the community population was 23,039 as of the 2010 census -- down from 41,041 in 2000, due to the...
.
It is a 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...
(FCPS), serving students from the communities including Chantilly
Chantilly, Virginia
Chantilly is an unincorporated community located in western Fairfax County and southeastern Loudoun County of Northern Virginia. Recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census designated place , the community population was 23,039 as of the 2010 census -- down from 41,041 in 2000, due to the...
and Centreville
Centreville, Virginia
Centreville is an unincorporated community in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as a Census Designated Place , the community population was 71,135 as of the 2010 census and is approximately west of Washington, DC.-Colonial Period:Beginning in the 1760s,...
as well as areas with Herndon
Herndon, Virginia
Herndon is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area of the United States. The population was 21,655 at the 2000 census, which makes it the largest of three towns in the county.-History:...
addresses in grades 9–12. Opened in 2000, it is the head of the Westfield High School Pyramid in Cluster VIII. At 3,260 students, it is one of the largest four-year high schools in the Commonwealth 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...
.
The school was listed as the 46th best high school in the United States by Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
magazine in 2002 and 27th in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area
Washington Metropolitan Area
The Washington Metropolitan Area is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The area includes all of the federal district and parts of the U.S...
by The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
in 2006 due to a high percentage of students enrolled in Westfield's Advanced Placement (AP) classes. Westfield shares a business partnership with Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American global aerospace and defense technology company formed by the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company was the fourth-largest defense contractor in the world as of 2010, and the largest builder of naval vessels. Northrop Grumman employs over...
's business IT
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
group that entails sharing of buildings, as well as financial donations and gifts of supplies. It also shares an education partnership with Centreville Presbyterian Church to improve student achievement.
History
Westfield was first conceived to help deal with the extensive overcrowding at adjacent schools, primarilyCentreville and Chantilly
Chantilly High School
Chantilly High School is a high school located in the Chantilly CDP in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It is part of the Fairfax County Public Schools system.-Overview:...
High Schools. Plans for Westfield High school might of originated back in 1995 when it was conceived as West County High School. Westfield's colors and mascot were chosen by the local community in the months before its grand opening in 2000. By 2005, Westfield had grown so large that it had become one of the largest four-year high schools in Virginia. An additional wing was planned to help deal with the overcrowding, and was completed in summer of 2006.
Regulation 1320.1
| "Assembly topics should relate to the general goals of the instructional program and address areas of special significance. Assemblies that promote a particular enterprise or whose main purpose is entertainment should not be scheduled during the school day. Time for assemblies should be made available through schedule modifications that cause the least disruption to the instructional program." |
| "Although pep rallies may contribute to school spirit, they should not be allowed to interfere with the instructional program. Pep rallies should be scheduled before or after school, with the period after school being the preferred time." |
| —Fairfax County Public Schools Regulation 1320.1 |
Regulation 1320.1 (also known as Guidelines for Restricting Interruptions to Instructional Time—Middle and High Schools) was implemented on April 21, 2004, as an FCPS directive. It was adopted by the county school board to ensure that instructional time in middle and high schools meet limits set by the Virginia Department of Education. The directive limited events such as assemblies and pep rallies
Pep rally
Pep rallies are events that occur primarily in the United States and Canada. A pep rally is a gathering of people, typically students of middle school, high school and college age, before a sports event. The purpose of such a gathering is to encourage school spirit and to support members of the...
by categorizing them as after-school events, with the exception of homecoming
Homecoming
Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni of a school. It most commonly refers to a tradition in many universities, colleges and high schools in North America...
pep rallies.
Local radio station DC101
WWDC (FM)
WWDC is a commercial radio station in Washington, D.C., broadcasting to the Washington, DC-Baltimore, Maryland area. WWDC airs an alternative rock format on 101.1 FM branded as DC101.-History:WWDC-FM signed on in 1947 as a beautiful music station...
's Elliot in the Morning
Elliot in the Morning
Elliot in the Morning is a morning radio talk show hosted by DJ Elliot Segal. It airs weekdays from "5:48 until 10-something" on WWDC-FM in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and on WRXL in Richmond, Virginia...
show held a contest in fall 2004 for area high school students whose winners were to host alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Taking Back Sunday
Taking Back Sunday
Taking Back Sunday is a rock band from Long Island, NY, formed in 1999 by guitarist Eddie Reyes. Current members of the band are Adam Lazzara , John Nolan , Eddie Reyes , Shaun Cooper and Mark O'Connell ....
at their school. Westfield students won this contest, whose result was approved by former principal Mike Campbell with the concert date set for Tuesday, November 16. However, students soon learned that a clause in Regulation 1320.1 prohibiting assemblies by business-sponsored groups prevented plans for the concert from being carried out. On Monday, November 15, students began a Taking Back Tuesday movement advocating a schoolwide skip day on the day of the cancelled concert, but it dissolved after Campbell's schoolwide address that afternoon.
Following the incident, students and parents appealed to the school board to return pep rallies to the instructional period and to reconsider the regulation. In a review by the Parent Teacher Student Association, it was found that the school was only allowed one pep rally during the year, adding to the confusion of the situation. In February 2005, FCPS clarified its policy stating that the regulation on pep rallies was not meant to limit school spirit, but the concert remained cancelled.
Violence controversies
Westfield has come under scrutiny because two unrelated murders perpetrated by alumni occurred within one year.Michael Kennedy, who suffered from schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
, shot and killed Master Police Officer Michael Garbarino and Detective Vicky Armel of the Fairfax County Police Department on May 8, 2006, in an attack on the Sully District Police Station, less than one-half mile from Westfield. On April 5, 2007, Kennedy's father was indicted by a federal
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
on two counts of drug possession and six counts of weapons charges. The indictment mentioned charges that Kennedy's father illegally possessed marijuana
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
, which made it illegal for him to possess the weapons or ammunition used by Kennedy in the police station attack.
Drug incidents
In 2008, incidents involving Westfield alumni purchasing and distributing heroin made local headlines. The first was the death of 19-year-old Alicia Lannes, a graduate of Westfield in 2007, as a result of heroin overdose, which helped spark a federal investigation on heroin and other hard drugs and traffickers in the area.The second incident occurred on November 20, when ten young adults and teenagers (six of them being Westfield High School alumni, and others attending Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University is a public university located in Richmond, Virginia. It comprises two campuses in the Downtown Richmond area, the product of a merger between the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia in 1968...
) were arrested as part of the shutdown of a major heroin ring responsible for the deaths of multiple students from Westfield and other local high schools.
It is believed that the death of multiple students (including Alicia Lannes) and the heroin ring were linked.
Campus
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...
in the southern part of Fairfax County, but former Westfield principal Dale Rumberger denied claims of establishing a "mini-Westfield" despite becoming the principal at South County after leaving Westfield in 2004.
The school campus occupies 159 acre (0.64345074 km²) and is composed of the main building (the "school"), the sports complex including all fields, and the parking lots. The main building currently comprises two levels, with seven main hallways for the classrooms on each level. There are also 18 trailers located around the school. The hallways are listed alphabetically from A-G, and an additional hallway, "R" (for "renovation"), was added onto the school for use beginning in the 2006–07 school year. The heart of the school is the library and media center which currently holds over 21,000 books with room for an additional 4,000. There are over 40 computer stations for student use in the library.
There are four computer labs in Westfield, two on each level, making it among the most technologically advanced of any FCPS high school at the time it was built. There were 1,545 computers at Westfield as of June 2006.
Beyond the main building, there is the sprawling Westfield Sports Complex, including the football stadium, a baseball field
Baseball field
A baseball field, also called a ball field or a baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The terms "baseball field" and "ball field" are also often used as synonyms for ballpark.-Specifications:...
, a softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
field, six tennis courts, a track which encircles a field for track and field
Track 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...
, soccer, and lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
, and multiple practice fields. Adjacent to the complex is the Cub Run RECenter, home to Westfield's swim and dive team, although it is not part of the school.
Overcrowding
Centreville, Virginia
Centreville is an unincorporated community in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as a Census Designated Place , the community population was 71,135 as of the 2010 census and is approximately west of Washington, DC.-Colonial Period:Beginning in the 1760s,...
and Chantilly
Chantilly, Virginia
Chantilly is an unincorporated community located in western Fairfax County and southeastern Loudoun County of Northern Virginia. Recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census designated place , the community population was 23,039 as of the 2010 census -- down from 41,041 in 2000, due to the...
experienced a population and real estate boom that was not projected by the county. By the 2004–2005 academic year, the school was over its capacity by 25 percent, and 26 trailers filled the parking lot originally designated for faculty and staff along with additional ground space surrounding the school's main building.
In April 2003, FCPS proposed a bond referendum for the construction of a 24-room addition to Westfield's main building to alleviate the rapid growth of the student population. The bond referendum provided for the construction of the new addition at a cost of $8.7 million. The bond was approved in November of the same year, and construction for the massive new wing began in summer of 2005. Construction was completed in time for the 2006–2007 school year, increasing capacity to 3,100. It has two levels and a basement. It is called the R-hallway. Due to Westfield's overpopulation, however, 18 trailers still remain.
Some former feeder communities of Westfield were re-zoned to the attendance boundary of South Lakes High School
South Lakes High School
South Lakes High School is the primary high school for the community of Reston in Fairfax County, Virginia. The school, part of Fairfax County Public Schools, had 1,860 students in the 2009-2010 school year....
, located in the unincorporated community of Reston
Reston, Virginia
Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, within the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The population was 58,404, at the 2010 Census and 56,407 at the 2000 census...
.
Community use
Northern Virginia's New Life Christian Church holds services at Westfield after relocating its main campus from Stone Middle SchoolOrmond Stone Middle School
Ormond Stone Middle School is a public middle school in Centreville, a section of unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It is part of Fairfax County Public Schools....
. Two services are held each Sunday with an attendance of 1,400.
In 2003, the Work Awareness and Transition (WAT) class opened a branch of the Apple Federal Credit Union for students and faculty. The branch is operated by student tellers in WAT.
Hope Chinese School, a Chinese language school in the Washington area
Washington Metropolitan Association of Chinese Schools
WMACS, or the Washington Metropolitan Association of Chinese Schools, is an organization of Chinese Language Schools in the Greater Washington-Baltimore Metropolitan Area. WMACS facilitates communication amongst its member schools and is a member association of the National Council of Associations...
, designated Westfield as the site of its Chantilly campus in fall 2006. Chinese language and cultural elective classes are held on Sunday afternoons in the new building addition.
The local area pro women's softball team Washington Glory
Washington Glory
The Washington Glory was a women's softball team based in Fairfax, Virginia. They played during 2007 and 2008 as a member of National Pro Fastpitch....
will call the Westfield Sports Complex home for its 2008 season. The Glory played the 2007 season at George Mason University
George Mason University
George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...
's softball complex which is undergoing a renovation during the 2008 season. The stadium will have increased seating for not only the Glory but also for the Virginia State Softball Championships which will also be hosted at the site along with baseball, lacrosse, soccer and track.
Academics
Westfield's faculty is divided into 10 departments: English, ESOLEnglish language learning and teaching
English as a second language , English for speakers of other languages and English as a foreign language all refer to the use or study of English by speakers with different native languages. The precise usage, including the different use of the terms ESL and ESOL in different countries, is...
(English for speakers of other languages), Fine and Performing Arts, Foreign Language, Health and Physical Education, Mathematics, Professional and Technical Studies, Science, Social Studies, and Special Education
Special education
Special education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
.
As one of 16 Fairfax County high schools that offer the Advanced Placement (AP) Program, Westfield will offer 22 of the 32 AP courses that are offered by the College Board as of the 2007–2008 school year. (The other 8 high schools are designated for the International Baccalaureate Program). In addition, the curriculum also offers Honors courses to prepare students for the rigorous workload associated with AP courses.
Fairfax County's academy system also allows Westfield students to take alternate classes at Chantilly
Chantilly High School
Chantilly High School is a high school located in the Chantilly CDP in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It is part of the Fairfax County Public Schools system.-Overview:...
, Edison
Thomas A. Edison High School (Fairfax County, Virginia)
Thomas A. Edison High School is a high school in Rose Hill, Fairfax County, Virginia, administered by Fairfax County Public Schools.In the 1990s, the school's debate and forensics teams gained widespread recognition. The Policy Debate Team won the Harvard Tournament , the Glenbrooks , and two...
, Fairfax
Fairfax High School (Fairfax, Virginia)
Fairfax High School is a public high school in Fairfax, Virginia. The school is owned by the City of Fairfax, but is operated by Fairfax County Public Schools, as part of a contractual agreement....
, Marshall
George C. Marshall High School
George C. Marshall High School is a public school in Idylwood, unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, and part of Fairfax County Public Schools . Newsweek ranked Marshall 159th on its 2009 list of the top U.S. high schools.-Name:...
, and West Potomac
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:...
High Schools with transportation provided.
When the school opened, Westfield possessed the newest computer labs and electronic equipment in the county. Westfield's Aerospace Science
Aerospace
Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...
class is the only one of its kind in FCPS, and its Television Production
Television studio
A television studio is an installation in which a video productions take place, either for the recording of live television to video tape, or for the acquisition of raw footage for post-production. The design of a studio is similar to, and derived from, movie studios, with a few amendments for the...
Lab is the most advanced of any FCPS school. Westfield also offers among the highest number of business-related, technology, and computer classes for any FCPS school, including its notable cooperative education
Cooperative education
Cooperative education is a structured method of combining classroom-based education with practical work experience. A cooperative education experience, commonly known as a "co-op", provides academic credit for structured job experience...
program offered by the Professional and Technical Studies department. The photography and computer graphics labs are among the most complete and advanced in FCPS and provide an extensive array of equipments available for student use. The music technology lab is designed for music theory
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
, and has special software for composing music.
The Foreign Language department offers six languages for students to study: American Sign Language
American Sign Language
American Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico...
, French, German, Japanese, Latin, and Spanish. Human Anatomy and Physiology is a unique course offered for Westfield science students who are interested in pursuing a career in the medical field and would like a more in-depth coverage on human systems than AP Biology.
Westfield's English department provides a number of unique elective courses such as forensics and debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
, film study
Film theory
Film theory is an academic discipline that aims to explore the essence of the cinema and provides conceptual frameworks for understanding film's relationship to reality, the other arts, individual viewers, and society at large...
, and a course on William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
. The Fine and Performing Arts department produced a news program
News broadcasting
News broadcasting is the broadcasting of various news events and other information via television, radio or internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or television studio newsroom, or by a broadcast network...
—Westfield Live—which previously broadcast information and upcoming events at or involving Westfield over the school's televisions on a daily basis, but now only airs on Fridays.
Extracurricular activities
Westfield is known throughout the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area for the success of its sports and fine and performing arts programs, made more notable by the fact that the school is among the newest in Northern VirginiaNorthern Virginia
Northern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...
.
Athletics
Due to Westfield's large enrollment, the school is categorized AAA-class, as defined by the Virginia High School LeagueVirginia 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,...
. It belongs to the Concorde District
AAA Concorde District
The AAA Concorde District is a high school conference in the state of Virginia that includes public schools exclusively from Fairfax County. AAA is the largest enrollment class and also typically the most competitive level in Virginia high school sports....
within 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...
.
Westfield has athletic teams in 19 different sports: baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, cheerleading
Cheerleading
Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
, crew
Sport rowing
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
, 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...
/track and field
Track 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...
, dance team
Competitive dance
Competitive dance is a popular, widespread activity in which competitors perform dances in any of several permitted dance styles—such as acro, ballet, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, modern, and tap—before a common group of judges...
, field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
, football
American football
American 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...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
, ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
(club), lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
, soccer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
, softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
, swim
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
and dive
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
and 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...
.
The school's athletic program is one of the most successful in the area, having earned numerous titles and championship berths in a wide range of varsity sports since 2000. In fact, Westfield won two state championships in its first year of existence, when both a boy and a girl from the Swim and Dive Team captured individual state swimming honors in Westfield's inaugural winter sports season.
Westfield's football program has been recognized as one of the top programs in the state and has earned two state titles, both seasons ending with perfect records. The boys' outdoor track and field team earned its first Virginia AAA state title in 2004. In 2004, the varsity baseball team reached the state championship final. The boys' soccer team won the district and regional titles in 2005, overall becoming state semifinalists.
On October 23, 2009, at halftime of the Chantilly vs. Westfield football game, Eddie Royal
Eddie Royal
William Edward "Eddie" Royal is an American football wide receiver and return specialist for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League...
became the first Westfield football alumnus to have his number (5) retired.
One of the most successful athletics programs at Westfield is the wrestling team, having won six consecutive district championships from 2004–2009, two consecutive Northern Region titles, and placing several times in the top ten at the State Tournament. Westfield's Track Team also won regionals indoor season of 2007 and outdoor season of 2007.
On October 11, 2002, a tremendous downpour postponed a Westfield varsity football game against rival Centreville for the Concorde District championship. Head coach Tom Verbanic, desperate to keep the game on time, had the field covered with tarps
Tarpaulin
A tarpaulin, colloquially tarp, is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with urethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene. In some places such as Australia, and in military slang, a tarp may be known as a...
and hired a helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
in an attempt to dry the field. Several thousand dollars later, the game was still postponed until November 17. The match resulted in a win for Westfield, earning the school's first district championship title. The use of the helicopter for drying grass was later criticized heavily.
| Football State Championship Games | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Winning Team | Losing Team | Location (all in Virginia) | Class | ||
| 2003 | Westfield | 35 | Landstown Landstown High School Landstown High School and Technology Academy is a public secondary school located in Virginia Beach, Virginia which first opened in 2001.The school features a Technology Academy, one of several magnet programs in Virginia Beach... |
14 | University of Richmond Stadium University of Richmond Stadium City Stadium in Richmond, Virginia is used by the Richmond Kickers for soccer and was used by the University of Richmond for American football from 1929-2009. It is owned by the City of Richmond and is located south of the Carytown district off the Downtown Expressway. The stadium was built in 1929... , Richmond Richmond, Virginia Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area... |
AAA Div. 6 |
| 2007 | Westfield | 42 | Woodbridge | 14 | Scott Stadium Scott Stadium Scott Stadium , located in Charlottesville, Virginia, is the home of the Virginia Cavaliers football team. It sits on the University of Virginia's Grounds, east of Hereford College and first-year dorms on Alderman Road but west of Brown College and the Lawn... , Charlottesville Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for... |
AAA Div. 6 |
| Baseball State Championship Games | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Winning Team | Losing Team | Location (all in Virginia) | Class | ||
| 2004 | Western Branch Western Branch High School Western Branch High School is a suburban high school in Chesapeake, Virginia, USA. Established in 1968, it currently has the largest school population in Chesapeake with over 2200 students. The two feeder schools of WBHS are Joliff Middle School and Western Branch Middle School... |
3 | Westfield | 2 | War Memorial Stadium War Memorial Stadium (Hampton) War Memorial Stadium is a stadium in Hampton, Virginia. It is primarily used for baseball and has been the home of the various incarnations of the Peninsula Pilots, including the current Coastal Plain League incarnation. It is also the home for the Apprentice School Builders college baseball team... , Hampton Hampton, Virginia Hampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts... |
AAA |
| Boys' Lacrosse State Championship Games | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Winning Team | Losing Team | Location (all in Virginia) | Class | ||
| 2007 | Robinson Robinson Secondary School James W. Robinson, Jr. Secondary School, known as Robinson Secondary School, opened in 1971, is a public school in the Commonwealth of Virginia.... |
11 | Westfield | 3 | Westfield High School, Chantilly Chantilly, Virginia Chantilly is an unincorporated community located in western Fairfax County and southeastern Loudoun County of Northern Virginia. Recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census designated place , the community population was 23,039 as of the 2010 census -- down from 41,041 in 2000, due to the... |
AAA |
| Golf State Tournaments | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Boys' Team | Girls' Open | Location (all in Virginia) | Class | ||||||
| 2003 | 2nd | — | AAA | |||||||
| 2004 | 4th | 53rd | Chesdin Landing Golf Course, Chesterfield (boys) Two Rivers Country Club, Williamsburg Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city... (girls) |
AAA | ||||||
| 2005 | 2nd | — | AAA | |||||||
| 2006 | — | 17th, 26th, 39th | Forest Greens Golf Course, Dumfries Dumfries, Virginia Dumfries is a town in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 4,937 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Dumfries is located at .... (girls) |
AAA | ||||||
| 2007 | 3rd | 5th, 13th, 24th, 29th | Dominion Valley Country Club, Haymarket Haymarket, Virginia Haymarket is a town in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 879 at the 2000 census, but the 2009 is 1,252. Haymarket is home to the Haymarket Senators of the Valley Baseball League... (boys) Fairfax National Golf Club, Centreville Centreville, Virginia Centreville is an unincorporated community in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as a Census Designated Place , the community population was 71,135 as of the 2010 census and is approximately west of Washington, DC.-Colonial Period:Beginning in the 1760s,... (girls) |
AAA | ||||||
| 2008 | 3rd | Independence Golf Course, Midlothian Midlothian, Virginia Midlothian is an unincorporated community in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. Founded over 300 years ago as a coal mining village, it is now a suburban community located in the Southside of Richmond well beyond the city limits of Richmond in the Richmond–Petersburg region.It was named... (boys) |
AAA | |||||||
| 2009 | Champions | Waterfront Country Club, Moneta Moneta, Virginia Moneta is an unincorporated community in Bedford County, Virginia, United States, along Route 122 between Bedford and Rocky Mount; Route 122 follows a bypass around the community.... (boys) |
AAA | - | Virginia High School League does not rank teams overall in the girls' open. Each school fields individual players. | |||||
| Track & Field State Tournaments | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Boys | Girls | Locations (all in Virginia) | Class | ||
| Indoor | Outdoor | Indoor | Outdoor | |||
| 2001 | Unranked | — | 27th | 24th | George Mason George Mason University George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County... Fieldhouse, Fairfax Fairfax, Virginia The City of Fairfax is an independent city forming an enclave within the confines of Fairfax County, in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Although politically independent of the surrounding county, the City is nevertheless the county seat.... (indoor) Sports Backers Stadium Sports Backers Stadium Sports Backers Stadium is a 3,250-seat stadium in Richmond, Virginia. The facility was opened in 1999.Sports Backers Stadium is used throughout the year by various parties including the soccer and college athletics teams from Virginia Commonwealth University, and Virginia Union... , Richmond Richmond, Virginia Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area... (outdoor) |
AAA |
| 2002 | 30th | n/a | 23rd | n/a | George Mason Fieldhouse, Fairfax (indoor) Sports Backers Stadium, Richmond (outdoor) |
AAA |
| 2003 | 9th | 5th | 14th | 29th | George Mason Fieldhouse, Fairfax (indoor) Sports Backers Stadium, Richmond (outdoor) |
AAA |
| 2004 | 2nd | 1st | 25th | 24th | George Mason Fieldhouse, Fairfax (indoor) Todd Stadium John B. Todd Stadium John B. Todd Stadium is a football stadium located on Warwick Blvd. between Minton and Hidenwood Drives in Newport News, Virginia. It is named after John B. Todd, who was a standout football player at Newport News High School and at the College of William and Mary. Todd Stadium is owned and... , Newport News Newport News, Virginia Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News... (outdoor) |
AAA |
| 2005 | 40th | 41st | 23rd | 3rd | George Mason Fieldhouse, Fairfax (indoor) Todd Stadium, Newport News (outdoor) |
AAA |
| 2006 | 13th | 54th | 6th | 8th | George Mason Fieldhouse, Fairfax (indoor) Todd Stadium, Newport News (outdoor) |
AAA |
| 2007 | 18th | 22nd | 13th | 7th | George Mason Fieldhouse, Fairfax (indoor) Todd Stadium, Newport News (outdoor) |
AAA |
| Virginia State Champions (Individuals) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Year | Event | Sport/Competition |
| Laura Ullrich | 2001 | Girl's 100 m Butterfly | Girl's Swim |
| Richard Eddy | 2001 | Boy's 100M Breaststroke | Boy's Swim |
| Rick Eddy | 2002 | Boy's 100M Breaststroke | Boy's Swim |
| David Miller | 2003 | Longest Field Goal Made | Football |
| Yeng Lan Beller | 2003 | Girl's 100 m Backstroke | Girl's Swim |
| Yeng Lan Beller | 2003 | Girl's 100 m Butterfly | Girl's Swim |
| Yeng Lan Beller | 2003 | AAA State Meet Record 100 m Butterfly | Girl's Swim |
| Kathryn Pettine | 2003 | Girl's Pole Vault | Girl's Indoor Track and Field |
| Yeng Lan Beller | 2004 | Girl's 100 m Butterfly | Girl's Swim |
| Louis Corum | 2004 | Boy's Shotput | Boy's Outdoor Track and Field |
| Louis Corum | 2004 | Boy's Discus | Boy's Outdoor Track and Field |
| Philippe Tondereau | 2004 | Boy's 300 m Hurdles | Boy's Outdoor Track and Field |
| David Groff | 2004 | Boy's 1000 m Run | Boy's Indoor Track and Field |
| Scott Seymour | 2004 | Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking | Forensics |
| Scott Seymour | 2004 | Student Congress | Debate |
| Louis Corum | 2004 | Boy's High Jump | Boy's Track and Field |
| MaryLynne Schaefer | 2005 | Girl's Most Three-Point Shots Career | Girl's Basketball |
| Betsy Alter | 2005 | Girl's Outdoor Track and Field | Girl's Pole Vault |
| Brian Randall | 2006 | Outstanding Acting Award | Theatre |
| Branson Reese | 2006 | Outstanding Acting Award | Theatre |
| Lauren Burt | 2006 | Student Congress | Debate |
| Paul Grinups | 2007 | 145 lbs Weight Class | Wrestling |
| Andrew Freidah | 2007 | Student Congress | Debate |
| Yillian Zhang | 2007 | Girl's Singles Champion | Girl's Tennis |
| Jake Carey | 2008 | 145 lbs Weight Class | Wrestling |
| Tasia Potasinski | 2008 | 1600 meter run | Outdoor Track and Field |
| Tasia Potasinski | 2008 | 800 meter run | Outdoor Track and Field |
| Andrew Freidah | 2008 | Student Congress | Debate |
| Austin Fallon | 2009 | 189 lbs Weight Class | Wrestling |
| Austin Fallon | 2010 | 189 lbs Weight Class | Wrestling |
| Shane Grannum | 2010 | Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking | Forensics |
| Shane Grannum | 2010 | Student Congress | Debate |
| Kurtis Ratcliff | 2011 | Boy's 100M Butterfly | Boy's Swim |
| CJ Fiala | 2011 | Boy's 100M Freestyle | Boy's Swim |
| Shane Grannum | 2011 | Extemporaneous Speaking | Forensics |
Theatre
Since the showing of its first production, an original creation of The Glass MenagerieThe Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie is a four-character memory play by Tennessee Williams. Williams worked on various drafts of the play prior to writing a version of it as a screenplay for MGM, to whom Williams was contracted...
, Westfield's theatre arts department has received numerous distinctions. Productions of Godspell
Godspell
Godspell is a musical by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak. It opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and has played in various touring companies and revivals many times since, including a 2011 revival now playing on Broadway...
and Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
won Best Musical at the National Capital Area Cappies
Critics and Awards Program for High School Students
The Cappies ' is an international program for recognizing, celebrating, and providing learning experiences for high school theater and journalism students and teenage playwrights....
awards, and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is an absurdist, existentialist tragicomedy by Tom Stoppard, first staged at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1966. The play expands upon the exploits of two minor characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet, the courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern...
won Best Play. Playwright Sheila Callaghan
Sheila Callaghan
Sheila Callaghan is a New York City-based playwright and screenwriter who emerged from the RAT movement of the 1990s. Her work is considered to be part of the downtown theater scene, and is known for its unusual use of language and narrative structure...
's Star-Crossed Lovers, a one-act rendition of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
, was conceived by director Scott Pafumi and premiered at Westfield in 2004.
In 2007/08, Westfield's production of The Wiz
The Wiz
The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of African American culture. It opened on October 21, 1974 at the Morris A...
received a record 17 Cappies
Critics and Awards Program for High School Students
The Cappies ' is an international program for recognizing, celebrating, and providing learning experiences for high school theater and journalism students and teenage playwrights....
nominations. The department's production was the subject of an ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
20/20 special entitled "Drama High" which aired on December 15, 2008.
Brighton Beach Memoirs
Brighton Beach Memoirs is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon, the first chapter in what is known as his Eugene trilogy. It precedes Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound.-Characters:*Eugene Morris Jerome, almost 15...
, West Side Story, and Merchant of Venice.
Westfield Theatre has also been invited to perform its own renditions of Romeo and Juliet and The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
at the Folger Shakespeare Library
Folger Shakespeare Library
The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materials from the early modern period...
, an internationally renowned stage and research center devoted to the life and works of William Shakespeare.
Westfield Summer Stage is an annual training program for middle and high school student actors in Fairfax County. In 2010, the program held the production of 42nd Street
42nd Street (musical)
42nd Street is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin, and music by Harry Warren. The 1980 Broadway production, directed by an ailing Gower Champion and orchestrated by Philip J. Lang, won the Tony Award for Best Musical and became a long-running hit...
. Past programs featured well-known productions such as High School Musical
High School Musical
High School Musical is a 2006 American television film, first in the High School Musical film franchise. Upon its release on January 20, 2006, it became the most successful film that Disney Channel Original Movie ever produced, with a television sequel High School Musical 2 released in 2007 and...
, Bye Bye Birdie, Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast (musical)
Beauty and the Beast is a musical with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice and a book by Linda Woolverton, based on the 1991 Disney film of the same name. Seven new songs were written for the stage musical...
, Grease
Grease (musical)
Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
, Peter Pan
Peter Pan (1954 musical)
Peter Pan is a musical adaptation of J. M. Barrie's 1904 play Peter Pan and Barrie's own novelization of it, Peter and Wendy. The music is mostly by Mark "Moose" Charlap, with additional music by Jule Styne, and most of the lyrics were written by Carolyn Leigh, with additional lyrics by Betty...
, Snoopy
Snoopy!!! The Musical
Snoopy: The Musical is a musical comedy by Larry Grossman and Hal Hackady, with a book by Warren Lockhart, Arthur Whitelaw, and Michael Grace. The characters are from the Charles M. Schulz comic strip Peanuts. This sequel to the musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown focuses more on the life of...
, Annie
Annie (musical)
Annie is a Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years with a blonde Annie as the poster...
,South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
, Guys and Dolls and 42nd Street
42nd Street (musical)
42nd Street is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin, and music by Harry Warren. The 1980 Broadway production, directed by an ailing Gower Champion and orchestrated by Philip J. Lang, won the Tony Award for Best Musical and became a long-running hit...
.
The shows for the 2011-2012 school year are: Richard III (play)
Richard III (play)
Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
in the fall, The Crucible
The Crucible
The Crucible is a 1952 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, when the US government blacklisted accused communists...
in the spring and the musical, Crazy For You
Crazy for You
Crazy for You is a musical with a book by Ken Ludwig, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and music by George Gershwin. Billed as "The New Gershwin Musical Comedy", it is largely based on the songwriting team’s 1930 musical, Girl Crazy, but interpolates songs from several other productions as well...
as the final show of the year in the spring. Tickets can be bought at www.westfieldtheatreboosters.com Crazy For You
Crazy for You
Crazy for You is a musical with a book by Ken Ludwig, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and music by George Gershwin. Billed as "The New Gershwin Musical Comedy", it is largely based on the songwriting team’s 1930 musical, Girl Crazy, but interpolates songs from several other productions as well...
will be the school's CAPPIES show.
Music
Westfield High School's music program includes Band, Chorus, Guitar, and Orchestra.The Band program is a nationally recognized program which comprises eight performance groups including the Wind Symphony, the Symphonic Band, the Concert Band, Jazz 1 Band, Jazz 2 Band,the Percussion Ensemble, the Colorguard and the Marching Bulldogs. Westfield's band has been named a Virginia Honor Band six times for both its marching band and concert band. The Westfield Percussion Ensemble has performed, by invitation, at a national festival. NSO director Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Edward Slatkin is an American conductor and composer.-Early life and education:Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His father Felix Slatkin was the violinist, conductor and founder of the Hollywood String Quartet,...
has also visited Westfield in 2007 as a guest conductor. Both jazz band and jazz guitar have received awards at the Chantilly
Chantilly High School
Chantilly High School is a high school located in the Chantilly CDP in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It is part of the Fairfax County Public Schools system.-Overview:...
Invitational Jazz Festival, where several students were also named for the All-Star Band. Recently, the band has traveled to New York City to perform at Carnegie Hall, received top awards twice at Myrtle Beach, and also won top awards at a Disney competition in Orlando, Florida.
Marching Band, which takes place in the summer and fall only and is not an official class, was noted by local TV station WUSA 9
WUSA (TV)
WUSA is a television station broadcasting on channel 9 in Washington, D.C.. Owned by the Gannett Company, WUSA is an affiliate of the CBS television network, and the longest-tenured affiliate of that network...
for its exemplary talent. There are also color and winter guard
Winter guard
Winter guard is an indoor color guard activity, derived from marching band or drum & bugle corps. Unlike traditional color guard, winter guard is performed indoors, usually in a gymnasium or an indoor arena...
s that perform with the marching band and in regional tournaments.
The Westfield High School Choral Program, headed by David Reimschussel, consists of students in four different choral ensembles, spanning grades 9 through 12. The choirs have performed for the Governor of Virginia, for an audience of hundreds of music educators at the Virginia Music Educators State Conference, and have performed at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and at Strathmore Hall through a partnership with The Washington Chorus.
The orchestra is headed by Gregory Rupert, co-principal viola of the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
The Fairfax Symphony Orchestra has emerged over the years as one of the finest metropolitan orchestras in the U.S. Hailed as "the pride of Fairfax County," the orchestra has showcased the greatest works in the orchestral repertoire during its annual concert seasons and through many...
. The program includes beginning, freshman, concert, chamber, and symphony orchestras. Every Westfield orchestra that has gone to Festival has received a final rating of "Superior"—the highest score possible. Orchestra members have also held principal positions in the VBODA
Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association
The Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association is an organization of high school, middle school, and elementary school band and orchestra directors within the Commonwealth of Virginia, whose mission is to help promote opportunities of music education to K-12 students...
Senior Regional and All-State Orchestras.
Westfield hosted the 2007 Mid-Atlantic
Mid-Atlantic States
The Mid-Atlantic states, also called middle Atlantic states or simply the mid Atlantic, form a region of the United States generally located between New England and the South...
Guitar Ensemble Festival. The festival featured guitar performances by various schools and learning clinics
Clinic (music)
A musical clinic is an informal meeting with a guest musician, where a small-to-medium sized audience questions the musician's styles and techniques and also how to improve their own skill. The musician might perform an entire piece, or demonstrate certain techniques for the audience to observe.The...
with noted area musicians such as Andrew York.
Student publications
Westfield's English department is home to three publications.Calliope not only accepts submissions for its literary and art magazine, but it also hosts Coffeehouses
Coffeehouse (event)
A Coffeehouse is a social event, often held to raise funds for and/or generate awareness of a social cause or other event.The name "Coffeehouse" is derived from the limited menu which is typically available at the social event: coffee is usually the featured beverage, together with other...
in the fall and spring, where student bands, guitarists, and poets perform live. Each year, it also hosts a film festival for videos made by Westfield students. The magazine has been awarded the Gold Circle by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association
Columbia Scholastic Press Association
The Columbia Scholastic Press Association is an international student press association, founded in 1925, whose goal is to unite student journalists and faculty advisers at schools and colleges through educational conferences, idea exchanges, textbooks, critiques and award programs...
for its design.
The Guardian yearbook in particular has been named a Yearbook Pacemaker Award by the National Scholastic Press Association
National Scholastic Press Association
The National Scholastic Press Association is a nonprofit organization founded in 1921 for high school and secondary school publications in the United States. The association is membership-based and annually hosts high school journalism conventions across the country...
(NSPA) and has been awarded the Silver Crown by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. Between 2002–04, the NSPA considered it one of the Best of Show winners in its annual national journalism conventions.
The Watchdog newspaper has received an All-Southern rating from the Southern Interscholastic Press Association
Southern Interscholastic Press Association
The Southern Interscholastic Press Association is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to promote journalistic professionalism by public schools in the Southeast of the United States of America. The association was originally founded in 1926 at Washington and Lee University and moved to the...
. It also has one of the largest circulations for a high school newspaper in the western Fairfax County area because the newspaper is mailed home to families of students free of charge.
All three publications are noted for their journalistic qualities and their capability in raising a large amount of funding from business advertisement to offset the cost of printing. Workshops on fundraising strategies have been presented by publication advisers at journalism conferences in Virginia.
Clubs and organizations
Honor societies at Westfield include: National Honor SocietyNational Honor Society
The National Honor Society is a recognition program for high school students in grades 10-12 in the United States and in several other countries...
, National Art Honor Society
National Art Honor Society
The National Art Honor Society was established in 1978 in the United States by the National Art Education Association for high school students grades 10-12, for "the purpose of inspiring and recognizing those students who have shown an outstanding ability in art" from the National Art Honor Society...
, National English Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society
Spanish National Honor Society
Spanish National Honor Society is an academic honor society focused on Spanish language excellence in secondary education and promotes a continuity of interest in Spanish studies. The group, which was established in 1953 in the United States is sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of...
, French National Honor Society, German National Honor Society
German National Honor Society
The German National Honor Society or Delta Phi Alpha , seeks to recognize excellence in the study of German and to provide an incentive for higher scholarship...
, Japanese Honor Society, National Latin Honor Society, History Honor Society, Mathematics Honor Society
Mu Alpha Theta
Mu Alpha Theta is a United States mathematics honor society for high schools and two-year colleges. It has over 89,000 student members in more than 1,800 schools worldwide. Its main goals are to inspire keen interest in mathematics, develop strong scholarship in the subject, and promote the...
, Science Honor Society, Marketing Honor Society, Tri-M
Tri-M
Tri-M Music Honor Society, formerly known as Modern Music Masters, is a high school and middle school music honor society. Each school has its own chapter, which is run by the students but supervised by an advisor or sponsor, usually a school teacher...
, International Thespian Society
International Thespian Society
The International Thespian Society is an honorary organization for high-school and middle-school theatre students located at more than 3,600 affiliated secondary schools across the United States, Canada, and abroad. The International Thespian Society was founded in Fairmont, West Virginia...
, and Quill and Scroll
Quill and Scroll
Quill and Scroll is an international high school journalism honor society that recognizes and encourages both individual and group achievements in scholastic journalism. According to the Quill and Scroll website, over 14,104 high schools in all 50 U.S. states and 44 countries have established local...
.
Both Future Business Leaders of America
FBLA-PBL
The Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda, or FBLA-PBL, is an American career and technical student organization that has its headquarters in Reston, Virginia...
(FBLA-PBL) and DECA
DECA (organization)
DECA, also known as Collegiate DECA on the college level) is an international association of students and teachers of marketing, management and entrepreneurship in business, finance, hospitality, and marketing sales and service . DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing,...
have their own chapters for business and marketing students. The DECA chapter, along with chapters at other FCPS high schools, began a pilot G.O.A.L. (Gaining Occupational Awareness and Learning) Zone internship program in 2003 between FCPS schools and D.C. United
D.C. United
D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having competed in the league since its inception, in 1996.Over the...
.
There are several academic teams competing in regional tournaments as part 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,...
(VHSL). Westfield'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 annually competes in tournaments hosted by the VHSL and NBC 4
WRC-TV
WRC-TV, channel 4, is an owned and operated television station of the NBC television network, located in the American capital city of Washington, D.C...
as well as tournaments hosted by other area schools. The team won its first television match on NBC 4 in the show's 44th season after only its third appearance. The Science Club holds after-school experiments that all students can participate in, and the 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 annually competes in the Division C state tournament and has won several medals. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes
Fellowship of Christian Athletes
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes is a non-profit interdenominational Christian organization founded in 1954 and that has been based in Kansas City, Missouri since 1956. It falls within the tradition of Muscular Christianity. Although established by evangelical Protestants, the concept has...
annually sponsors See You at the Pole
See You at the Pole
See You at the Pole is an annual gathering of Christian students of all ages at a flagpole in front of their local school for prayer, scripture-reading and hymn-singing, during the early morning before school starts. The American SYATP events occur on every fourth Wednesday of September. This...
for students and faculty.
The Westfield Debate and Forensics teams have received numerous awards and distinctions. The Debate team has been ranked in the top five teams since 2004, and Forensics placed fourth overall in the 2004 VHSL state tournament. The Forensics team also won second place in the Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking individual event at the 2007 state tournament.
In 2007, Westfield and its business partner Northrop Grumman teamed with NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
to participate in the school's first 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...
at Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University is a public university located in Richmond, Virginia. It comprises two campuses in the Downtown Richmond area, the product of a merger between the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia in 1968...
for a regional event.
Students
As a commitment to the diversity of the Westfield community and to incorporate an FCPS mandate on ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
instruction, the school annually hosts an Ethical Decision Making seminar for sophomores. Sponsored by the Herndon-Dulles Chamber of Commerce and hosted by Westfields Marriott
Marriott International
Marriott International, Inc. is a worldwide operator and franchisor of a broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities. Founded by J. Willard Marriott, the company is now led by son J.W. Marriott, Jr...
, the seminar has been well-received by the community, winning a Blue Ribbon Award for Outstanding Event. The seminar aims at educating students about the dilemma of making ethical decisions by inviting guest speakers from the local community speak to students on race, sexuality
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
, prejudice
Prejudice
Prejudice is making a judgment or assumption about someone or something before having enough knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy, or "judging a book by its cover"...
, and other issues.
Notable alumni
- Jummy Olabanji '02 — News Reporter for WJLA, the ABC affiliate in Washington, DC
- Eric Patrick '03 - Cast member of MTV's 24th season of the Real World: New Orleans.
- Seung-Hui ChoSeung-Hui ChoSeung-Hui Cho was a senior-level undergraduate student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University who killed 32 people and wounded 17 others on April 16, 2007, in the shooting rampage which came to be known as the "Virginia Tech massacre." Cho later committed suicide after law...
'03 — Gunman responsible for the Virginia Tech massacreVirginia Tech massacreThe Virginia Tech massacre was a school shooting that took place on April 16, 2007, on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. In two separate attacks, approximately two hours apart, the perpetrator, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 people...
. - Eddie RoyalEddie RoyalWilliam Edward "Eddie" Royal is an American football wide receiver and return specialist for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League...
'04 - Wide Receiver for the Denver BroncosDenver BroncosThe Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League... - Sean GlennonSean GlennonSean Glennon is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent in the National Football League....
'04 — Past Quarterback for the Virginia Tech Hokies - Brent Bowden '05 — PunterPunter (football position)A punter in American or Canadian football is a special teams player who receives the snapped ball directly from the line of scrimmage and then punts the football to the opposing team so as to limit any field position advantage. This generally happens on a fourth down in American football and a...
for the Tampa Bay BuccaneersTampa Bay BuccaneersThe Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...
. - Brandon SnyderBrandon SnyderBrandon R. Snyder is a first baseman who is currently on the Baltimore Orioles 40-man roster....
'05 — First baseman selected in the first round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft2005 Major League Baseball DraftThe 2005 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 7 and 8. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams...
by the Baltimore OriolesBaltimore OriolesThe Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
. Currently plays in Major League BaseballMajor League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
with the Baltimore OriolesBaltimore OriolesThe Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
. - Michael Kennedy '05 — Shot and killed two police officers and wounded another outside the Sully district Fairfax County police station in ChantillyChantilly, VirginiaChantilly is an unincorporated community located in western Fairfax County and southeastern Loudoun County of Northern Virginia. Recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census designated place , the community population was 23,039 as of the 2010 census -- down from 41,041 in 2000, due to the...
. Kennedy suffered from mental illness. - Evan RoysterEvan RoysterEvan Mathias Royster is an American football running back for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. He played college football for Penn State. Royster was a three year starter and is the all-time leading rusher for the Nittany Lions...
'06 — Running backRunning backA running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
for the Washington RedskinsWashington RedskinsThe Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,... - Chris Ingram '07 - Bassist of The Baby Grand
- Mike Glennon '08- NC state quarterback; won WHS football championship in 2007.
- Brett Sposa '08- Member of Fighting GravityFighting Gravity (performance artists)Fighting Gravity is a performance art troupe from Blacksburg, Virginia, who utilize black light and phosphorescence effects to entertain crowds.The group was among the finalists on the fifth season of America's Got Talent...
who placed 3rd in America's Got TalentAmerica's Got TalentAmerica's Got Talent is an American reality television series on the NBC television network, and part of the global British Got Talent franchise. It is a talent show that features singers, dancers, magicians, comedians, and other performers of all ages competing for the advertised top prize of... - Cameron Leahy '07 - Lead singer of The Downtown FictionThe Downtown FictionThe Downtown Fiction is an American pop punk band from Fairfax, Virginia signed to Photo Finish Records, a division of Atlantic Records. After two EP's, the band's first studio album, "Let's Be Animals" was released on April 25, 2011.-Early Years:...
. - Eric Jones '07 - Bassist of The Downtown FictionThe Downtown FictionThe Downtown Fiction is an American pop punk band from Fairfax, Virginia signed to Photo Finish Records, a division of Atlantic Records. After two EP's, the band's first studio album, "Let's Be Animals" was released on April 25, 2011.-Early Years:...
.