South Lakes High School

South Lakes High School
Address
South Lakes High School
South Lakes High School
South Lakes High School
11400 South Lakes Drive
Reston, Virginia 20191
Information
School type Public, high school
Motto Veritas in Scientia (Truth in Knowledge)
Founded 1979
School district Fairfax County Public Schools
Principal Kimberly Brophy Retzer
Staff approximately 200[1]
Grades 9–12
Enrollment 2,434 (2014–15)[2]
Language English
Campus Suburban Sprawl
Color(s) Royal Blue █ and Kelly Green █
Mascot Seahawk
Rivals Herndon High School
Feeder schools Hughes Middle School, Rachel Carson Middle School
Athletic conferences Liberty District
Northern Region
Website http://www.fcps.edu/SouthLakesHS/

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 school division, has 2,378 students.

The principal is Kimberly Brophy Retzer. The school also has 16 other administrators, including assistant administrators for each grade.[3] The school's mascot is Seymour the Seahawk. The school colors are Royal Blue and Kelly Green. The school newspaper is named the Sentinel.[4]

History

South Lakes underwent a $55 million renovation from winter 2006 through August 2008. The renovation was completed in time for the 2008–2009 school year.[5] Another renovation is currently ongoing, projected to be complete by Winter, 2017.

Demographics and test scores

In the 2013–2014 school year, South Lakes High School's student body was 46.68% White, 21.24% Hispanic, 13.00% Black, 12.53% Asian and 6.56% Other.[6]

South Lakes High School is a fully accredited high school based on the Standards of Learning tests in Virginia. The average SAT score in the 2013–2014 school year for South Lakes was 1676.

School design

Pre-renovation

When the school first opened in 1978, South Lakes High School had an "open classroom" design. The school was laid out into four quadrants, one quadrant area for each grade level. Each quadrant, or "sub-school", was labeled by color: green for freshman, blue for sophomores, yellow for juniors, and orange for seniors. When the school was first opened each sub-school was designed to be a classroom within itself. The open space was not divided into individual classrooms or interrupted with walls. The open design was quickly determined to be an ineffective and distracting way for people to learn, especially with different teachers and students learning different materials around them. Individual classrooms were created with temporary dividers which remained until a renovation which took place between 2006 and 2008.

Post-renovation

The extensive renovation changed several of the building's characteristic features. The four sub-school design was kept, but altered. Like the original design, there are four separate locker commons (one for each grade level), but the ease of access from one to another has been improved. Each classroom is divided by walls, rather than temporary dividers, and have their own door and windows (if located along the perimeter wall of the building). Classrooms have LCD projectors and the math classrooms are equipped with SmartBoards. The four cafeterias were combined into one larger cafeteria located in the center of the building. The media center was also moved and enlarged.[5] Starting in the 2016–2017 school year, another wing will be added to the school.

Curriculum

The school's curriculum offers special education courses, remedial coursework, standard courses, and college-level advanced courses. There was once an Advanced Placement Course: AP U.S. Government and Politics, which will be omitted from the South Lakes Curriculum, effective from the school year 2018-2019. Advanced coursework is offered in the form of the International Baccalaureate program. South Lakes also has an Army JROTC program, which has a Gold Star. South Lakes offers three types of diplomas – Standard, Advanced, and IB.

South Lakes was a pioneer in the FCPS Political Science Program. A 1.5 credit class reserved for seniors, Political Science involves a one-semester introduction to the discipline followed by a semester-long internship with a local government agency or organization. This program is defunct and is no longer offered to seniors.

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

South Lakes offers twenty sports at the varsity, JV, and freshman levels. The mascot is a seahawk and the sports teams play in the Liberty District as part of the Class 6 Northern Region (Region D) of the Virginia High School League.

Clubs

South Lakes has more than seventy clubs, including National Honor Society, World Language Honor Society, Math Honor Society, Model United Nations, Latin Club, and Tri-M Music Honor Society, and clubs for interests in government, academic competitions, performing arts, business, science, computer science, journalism, student leadership and special interests in addition to honor societies for the languages offered.[7]

The current senior class council consists of Natalie Abbey, Mia Bailey, Loree Seitz, Coco DeJong, Jamie Richards.

Music

South Lakes' music department consists of band, orchestra, guitar and chorus programs.

The marching band is the Spirit of Reston, “The Best Band in the Land”. The band program consists of Marching Band, Jazz Band, Percussion Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and Wind Ensemble, all of which are conducted by Grayson Fore. The Indoor Guard, directed by Antares Leask, has received multiple awards, including bronze in the regional A2 AIA competition in 2017.

The orchestra program contains three groups: Concert (Freshman) Orchestra, Symphonic Orchestra, and Chamber Orchestra, which are all led by Bryan Baldwin. Along with the band and chorus, the orchestra travels once a year.

The South Lakes chorus program contains five groups: Women's Chorale ( Treble Choir which consists of female 9th to 12th graders), Men's Camerata, Bella Voce, Select Women, Chamber Singers, which are led by Rita Gigliotti, DoReMigas (Ladies A Capella Ensemble), SMAC (South Lakes Men's A Capella), and Noteworthy (Mixed A Capella Ensemble), which are student led programs.[7]

Theatre

The South Lakes Theatre Arts Department under the direction of Maria L. Harris has been honored with many awards including wins and nominations in the National Capital Area Cappies (Critics and Awards) Program.

Every year they put up the Halloween Fright Night Festival of Plays in October, a fall show in November, student written and directed one-act plays in the winter, and a musical in the spring. South Lakes' Theatre Arts Department also participates in the International Thespian Society.

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ FCPS – School Profiles – South Lakes HS – Staffing. Schoolprofiles.fcps.edu. Retrieved on 2015-10-12.
  2. ↑ "South Lakes High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
  3. ↑ Administration. fcps.edu
  4. ↑ Student Newspaper. fcps.edu
  5. 1 2 South Lakes High School Renovation. hessconstruction.com
  6. ↑ FCPS – School Profiles – South Lakes HS – Demographics. Schoolprofiles.fcps.edu. Retrieved on 2015-10-12.
  7. 1 2 Clubs. fcps.edu
  8. ↑ "Virginia native becomes an in-demand producer at 22". Reuters. 2017-05-15. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
  9. ↑ Duke Wins Services Of Hill;South Lakes Forward To Announce Today. Highbeam.com. Retrieved on 2015-10-12.
  10. ↑ "South Lakes High School". Public School Review. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
  • "South Lakes High School website". Archived from the original on 2007-10-18.
  • South Lakes High School website
  • South Lakes High School Athletic Boosters website
  • South Lakes High School on GreatSchools.net
  • South Lakes Theatre Arts website

Coordinates: 38°55′55″N 77°20′20″W / 38.932°N 77.339°W / 38.932; -77.339

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