| Westfield High School (fairfax County) |
Article Index for Westfield High |
Website Links For Westfield |
Information AboutWestfield High School (fairfax County) |
Westfield High School is the 24th public High School in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), serving students from Chantilly , Herndon , and Centreville in grades 9-12. Opened in 2000, it is the head of the Westfield High School Pyramid in Cluster VIII. At 3,151 students, it is the largest 4-year high school in the Commonwealth Of Virginia . Westfield also has the second highest grade average in the county, after (AP) classes. Westfield shares a business partnership with Northrop Grumman IT/TASC that entails sharing of buildings, as well as financial donations and gifts of supplies. BUILDINGS Westfield High School is located on some 165 acres, it is composed of the main building (the "school"), the sports complex including all fields, and the parking lots. The main building currently is comprised of two levels, with seven main hallways for the classrooms on each level. There are also 34 trailers located around the school. The Hallways are listed alphabetically from A-N. Originally, the hallways were designed for specific departments, but over time the different departments have spread out into different hallways, thus confusing many new students and visitors. The Hallways and their respective rooms include:
Starting in late summer of 2005, a massive new wing is being constructed. When completed, it will have two levels, and a basement; and will house most of the award winning aerospace program. It is unknown what other classes will move to the wing. Due to the Westfield overpopulation, at least 14 trailers will still be at Westfield even after the new addition. 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. The library also has over 40 computers. There are four computer labs in Westfield High School, two on each level, making Westfield among the most technologically advanced of any FCPS high school at the time it was built. (By school year 2006-2007, all departments will have their own mobile laptop lab.) Beyond the main building, there is the sprawling Westfield Sports Complex, including the football stadium, a Baseball Field , a Softball field, Tennis Courts , a track which encircles a field for Track And Field , Soccer , and Lacrosse , and multiple practice fields. Next door neighbor, the Cub Run Rec Center is the home of the Westfield Swim Team. ACADEMICS Westfield's faculty is divided into 9 departments: English, Fine and Performing Arts, Foreign Language, Mathematics, Health and Physical Education, 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 2006-2007 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 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 and a course on William Shakespeare . EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES Athletics Westfield has athletic teams in 19 different sports: Baseball , Basketball , Cheerleading , Crew (club), Cross Country / Track And Field , Dance Team , Field Hockey , Football , Golf , Gymnastics , Ice Hockey (club), Lacrosse , Soccer , Softball , Swim and Dive , Tennis , and Volleyball . 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 for the AAA Concorde District and AAA Northern Region since 2000. Westfield won its first Virginia AAA Football Championship in 2003, the first school to do so within its fourth year since opening. The boys' indoor track and field team earned its first Virginia AAA State Championship in 2004. One of the most successful athletics programs at Westfield is the wrestling team, having won three consecutive Concorde District Championships from 2004-2006 and placing as one of the top teams in the Northern Region. Fine and Performing Arts Westfield High is known throughout the Washington D.C. Metro Area for its sports, and fine and performing arts, made more notable for the fact that Westfield is so new. Theatre Westfield also boasts a theater department that has won many National Capital Area Cappies Awards with '' Godspell '' (2002) and '' Fiddler On The Roof '' (2005) for Best Musical and '' Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead '' (2004) for Best Play. The Westfield Theater has also been invited to perform its own renditions of Shakespeare's '' Romeo And Juliet '' in 2005 and '' The Tempest '' in 2006 at the Folger Shakespeare Library , the largest and most renowned Shakespeare research facility and stage in the world. Music Westfield High School has also been known for its powerhouse music program, including Band, Chorus, Guitar, and Orchestra. The band program is currently headed by Charles Chaffin as acting Band Director after the passing of Laura McBride. The band program has thirteen different ensembles, including: Cadet Band, Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Symphony, and Percussion Ensemble, along with Brass Choir, Clarinet Choir, Flute Choir, and Jazz 2 Black , Jazz 2 Gold, Jazz Combo, Jazz 1 and (in the fall) marching band. In 2003, 2004 and 2005, Westfield's band was named a Jazz Festival. Most recently, Westfield traveled to Chicago for the Heritage Music Festival, where each band that Westfield brought came in first place in their category. Additionally, the top three scores awarded to wind bands belonged to Westfield Jazz I, Wind Symphony, and Symphonic Band.
The Chorus program under director Jessica Lardin is noted for their full scale productions of Carmina Burana , and Handel's Messiah in conjunction with the WHS Chamber Orchestra. The Westfield Guitar is an award winning program, its Combo got straight ratings of Superior ("1"s) at the 2006 Chantilly High School Jazz Festival. The orchestra is headed by Mr. Gregory Rupert, who attended Juliard for his graduate and masters degree in viola preformanace, and is the principal Viola of the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra . The program includes a Beginning, Freshman, Concert, Chamber, and Full Symphony Orchestras (which includes band members). Since Westfield began, every orchestra that has ever gone to Festival has received straight ones (a "superior" rating), the highest score possible. Literary Publications Westfield's English department is home to three award-winning publications:
Clubs and Organizations Honor societies at Westfield include: National Honor Society , National Art Honor Society, English Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society , French National Honor Society , German National Honor Society (''Delta Epsilon Phi''), Japanese Honor Society, National Latin Honor Society, History Honor Society, Mathematics Honor Society ('' Mu Alpha Theta ''), Science Honor Society, Tri-M (Modern Music Masters), International Thespian Society , and the Quill & Scroll Society. Both Future Business Leaders Of America (FBLA-PBL) and Distributive Education Clubs Of America (DECA) have their own chapters for business and marketing students. FBLA-PBL members compete in regional, state, and national competitions in business-related categories. The DECA chapter, along with chapters at South County Secondary and Woodson High School , have begun a pilot G.O.A.L. (Gaining Occupational Awareness and Learning) Zone internship program between FCPS schools and D.C. United . {Link without Title} 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 ( WRC-TV ) 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. Fielding one of the largest student participation in the county, the Junior Varsity and Varsity Mathematics League teams regularly compete in the Virginia Mathematics League (VAML) and Fairfax County Mathematics League (FCML). The Science Club regularly holds after-school experiments that all students can participate in, and Science Olympiad team annually competes in the Division C state tournament and has won several medals. The Westfield Debate Team has previously won first place in the Washington-Arlington Catholic Forensic League Congress Metrofinals and earned distinctions in district and regional competitions. The Fellowship Of Christian Athletes annually sponsors See You At The Pole for students and faculty to gather in the morning for a public prayer. Northern Virginia's New Life Christian Church holds one of its Sunday ministries at Westfield. OTHER ]] School Songs Westfield currently has two school songs: the Fight Song Hail Westfield and the school Alma Mater '''Black and Gold''', written by Choral Director Jessica Lardin. :Hail Westfield Hail, the very best of Westfield, The mighty Bulldogs have arrived. We have the will and the might for leading the pack, You'll feel the bite of the Gold and Black. Hail the very best of Westfield, We never hide our Bulldog Pride. Every Dog has its day, and We're here to stay You've got the Bull (Go!) Dogs (Go!) On (Go!) Your (Go!) Side! Criticisms
:The reasons behind the student petitions include: :"We the people signed below, composed of ''students, and teachers'' that attend Westfield High School, find many faults, which include, but are not limited to: Fairfax County, and (the) Virginia State Policy, and Regulations violations, associated with the capricious new tardy procedure and regulations. We would like to see it immediately dismantled, and discarded as we find that it is arbitrary, baseless, and is in and of itself detrimental to both the students and the educational process." (Cited directly from petition) and that the :"1. New tardy procedure violates the agreed upon procedure, by changing punishments for tardies from three unexcused tardies to one unexcused tardy, being punished with a detention. :2. The above change takes place without parental notification and consent, for minors, or official student notification and consent for members of the majority. :3. For students tardy to class, the new lockdown procedure causes more of an interruption than if the student were simply admitted to class and counted tardy. A student caught in the lockdown must report to the cafeteria, and then back to class, interrupting the teacher well after class has started, and placing the student even further behind." (from anonymous student leader) Notable Alumni (''Note that because Westfield was established in 2000, there are few notable alumni due to lack of time, and is in fact not necessarily a reflection on Westfield itself'')
Trivia
EXTERNAL LINKS Official Websites:
Profiles on Westfield: |
|
|