Briar Woods High School

Briar Woods High School is a public secondary school located in Ashburn, an unincorporated area in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States, and is part of Loudoun County Public Schools. The school serves students who live in Broadlands, Brambleton, Martins Chase and surrounding Virginian neighborhoods.

Briar Woods High School
Address
Briar Woods High School
Briar Woods High School
Briar Woods High School
22525 Belmont Ridge Road

Ashburn
,
Virginia
20148

United States
Coordinates38.9924712°N 77.5330066°W / 38.9924712; -77.5330066
Information
School typePublic high school
Founded2005
School districtLoudoun County Public Schools
PrincipalSheila Alzate
Grades9–12
Enrollment1,864[1] (2018–2019)
LanguageEnglish
CampusSuburban
Color(s)Navy Blue & Orange          
Athletics conferencePotomac District
VHSL Class 5 - Region C
MascotFalcon
NicknameBriar
Rivals
  • Stone Bridge High School
  • Broad Run High School
  • Rock Ridge High School
Communities served
Feeder schools
  • Eagle Ridge Middle School
  • Brambleton Middle school
  • Mill Run Elementary
  • Hillside Elementary
  • Moorefield Station Elementary
  • Sycolin Creek Elementary
Websitelcps.org/bwhs

History

Briar Woods High School opened on August 29, 2005 with its student body coming from Stone Bridge High School, Loudoun County High School, and Eagle Ridge Middle School.[2] The first Principal was Edward Starzenski, who served as principal of Loudoun County High School from 1989 to 2004. The school was officially dedicated on October 14, 2005 at a ceremony presided over by school district superintendent Edgar B. Hatrick III.[3] In 2006, Briar Woods celebrated its first Homecoming, despite the lack of a returning class.

During the summer before the 2011-2012 school year, ten trailers were installed due to an increased enrollment for the year. The following school year, a new order of lockers were put in the school in order to accommodate the rising number of students attending the school. In the 2014-2015 school year, Students living in Loudoun Valley Estates and most of Brambleton were shifted to Rock Ridge High School to relieve overcrowding. This dropped Briar's enrollment by about 500 students.

Demographics

In 2006-2007 Briar Woods High School's student population was 67% White; 16% Asian; 10% Black; and 7% Hispanic. As of 2018, the student population was 53.6% White, 26.4% Asian, 8.5% Hispanic, 5.8% of two or more races, and 5.7% Black.

Curriculum
See Main Discussion: Loudoun County Public Schools – Curriculum

Test scores

Briar Woods is a fully accredited high school by the Virginia Department of Education.

School Rankings

In 2011, Briar Woods was recognized by Newsweek as one of America's best high schools. It was ranked 1st in Loudoun County, 4th in the state of Virginia and 112th in the country. In 2016, it was ranked the 10th best school in Virginia and is currently unranked in the National Ranking.

Athletics

Briar Woods is a member of Conference 14 and competes in Division 5A North.[4]

State championships

Golf

The golf team won the Dulles District tournament in the fall of 2006 before eventually losing to Western Albemarle at the Region II Championship. In 2007, the same team won the AA Dulles District and the Region II tournament, earning them the school's first state bid. At states, they finished seventh.

The team repeated their AA Dulles District regular season by finishing first for the second year in a row. They came in second at the Dulles District tournament, losing to Loudoun County High School. The team placed third in the Region II tournament, shooting 294.

Tennis

In the 2006-2007 season, the boys' tennis team upset Loudoun County High School in the Dulles District Championship to advance to regionals. Their incredible season ended with a 5-2 loss in the Region II Championship to State Champions Western Albemarle. Returning all of their starters in the 2007-2008 season, the boys' tennis team were undefeated in district play and won the Dulles District Championship. In Regionals, Briar Woods defeated Monticello before again losing to State Champions Western Albemarle 5-2 in the Region II Championship.

Cross Country

The Girls' team has been ranked top 10 in the state each of the last 5 years and has qualified for the Regional Championship every season since 2006. The Boys' team placed at states in the 18-19 year, with all state finisher Juan Moscoso.

Football

In 2007, the varsity football team finished 7-3. This was the first time the Falcons advanced to the Region II playoffs. They were eliminated in the first round by Millbrook.

In 2008, the varsity football team finished the regular season 8-2, losing only to the undefeated Broad Run Spartans and the one-loss Potomac Falls Panthers. They advanced to the Region II playoffs for the second year in a row, only to fall to the defending state champions Monticello Mustangs in the first round with a score of 30-13.

In 2010, Briar Woods finished with a 13-2 record, beating rival Broad Run Spartans twice - once during the regular season (20-13) and again in the regional playoffs (24-21). The Falcons won their first Dulles District and Region II titles and went on to defeat the undefeated Harrisonburg Blue Streaks to win their first Virginia AA Division 4 State Championship.

In 2011, Briar Woods once again clinched the division crown with a 35-7 win over Loudoun County High School. They advanced to the state semi-finals with a win over Powhatan High School in the regional championship. They advanced to the state finals for the second straight year with a 31-0 win over Grafton in the semi-finals. In the State finals game against Christiansburg at Liberty University, they won 28-26 to capture their second Virginia AA Division 4 State Championship.

In 2012, the Falcons finished their regular season with a perfect 10-0 slate, highlighted by a thrilling 20-15 come-from-behind win at arch-rival Broad Run. Briar Woods won their first playoff game over Powhatan and hosted Liberty (Bealeton) in the second round of regional playoffs. After beating Liberty, the Falcons shut out Loudoun County High School for the second time in the season to win their third straight region title.

The Falcons, led by Coach Charlie Pierce and a very talented group of seniors, continued their run through the 5-game playoff schedule, rolling Courtland 45-15 at home and culminating with a dominant victory over Lynchburg-Heritage, 52-0, in the state title game at Liberty University. The "three-peat" is a first for any Loudoun County High School.

After a three-year absence from the state championship game, head coach Charlie Pierce announced that he wouldn’t be returning as head coach of Briar Woods. Mike Groves one of his former assistants took over as head coach.

In 2017, Briar Woods struggled after losing 19 Seniors in the 2016 season. Briar Woods defeated Freedom and Brambleton Rival Rock Ridge on the road. The Falcons finished 2-8 on the 2017 season. 2017 Head Coach Mike Groves, stepping in for Charlie Pierce decided to devote more time to his family in 2018 and return to his professional career as CEO of his company.

In 2018, Briar Woods is beginning a new start this season. Briar Woods has hired Daniel Bruton from Forest Park to take over once a successful Briar program. Bruton went 20-22 at his three years at Forest Park and recently went 3-7 during his tenure there. During the 2018-19 season the game (Briar Woods vs Rock Ridge) was moved up from week 11 to week 4 during the homecoming game at Briar. Daniel Bruton faced off against Robert Lalli and the Rock Ridge Phoenix and won the Battle of Brambleton. This year the game will be at Rock Ridge’s house and the Falcons will face off against Rock Ridge’s new coach George Masten and the rest of the phoenix football team.

Cheerleading

In 2009, the Varsity Cheerleading team won districts, regionals, and states. This was the first time for the team to ever advance past districts. This was the school's first ever state championship. In 2010, the Cheerleading team went on to win districts, regionals, and their second consecutive state Championship.

In 2011, the girls once again won the District competition.[5] On November 5, 2011, the Falcons won their third straight regional title.[6] On 11/12/11, the Falcons cheered their way to a state three-peat.

In 2012, the cheerleaders won their fourth straight state title.

In 2018, the varsity cheer team won their 5th state title.

Soccer

In 2011, the Varsity Boys' Soccer team won for the 10th time in school history in a 3-1 game over Freedom High School (Loudoun County, Virginia).

In 2012, the Falcons beat Tuscarora High School in PK's to win the regular season district title, however they lost to the Huskies in the District and Regional tournament finals. Nonetheless, they made it to the State tournament, where they lost their first game.

In 2013, the boys continued to dominate the Dulles District achieving 17 wins. The Falcons lost to Tuscarora High School in the District final, and avenged themselves in the Regional final where they upset Tuscarora 2-1 at home. They lost in the semi finals of the state tournament, the farthest run the boys' soccer team had ever made up until that point.

In 2017, the men's Briar Woods High School soccer team won the Conference Championship (Briar Woods 2 - Stone Bridge 1), Regional Championship (Briar Woods 1 - Tuscarora 0), and State Championship (Briar Woods 1 - Mills Godwin 0). The best Briar Woods Soccer team ever.

In 2018, the men's soccer team went undefeated through district play during the regular season for the first time in district history, while also only conceding three goals. They managed to win the conference title (Briar Woods 7 - John Champe 2) and Regional Title (Briar Woods won 4 - 3 on PK's after a 1 - 1 draw in regulation against Wakefield) but lost in the State Semi Finals 4 - 1 to Albermarle. Briar Woods was ranked as the number 2 team in Virginia by the Washington Post, where they remained for 8 weeks.

Crew

The crew program at Briar Woods is relatively new. Started in the 2010-2011 school year, Briar Woods was the first school in Loudoun County to establish a crew program. The BWHS Crew has 2 seasons: fall and spring. They practice on the Beaverdam Reservoir located along Belmont Ridge Rd. During the summer, the crew team does have two rowing camps, with each camp being a week long. In 2015 and 2016, their Women's Novice 4+ placed 3rd at the VASRA State Championship Regatta. In 2016, their Boys' Junior 8+ qualified semifinals at the 2016 Stotesbury Cup Regatta in Philadelphia.

Notable alumni

References

Citations
  1. "LCPS Cluster Enrollment 2018" (PDF). Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  2. "2012-13 Ashburn & Dulles North Area Planning Zones" (PDF). www.lcps.org. Loudoun County Public School. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 16, 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  3. "Briar Woods Dedicates Itself to the Future, Opportunities". Loudoun County Public Schools. 2005-10-26. Archived from the original on 2006-10-03. Retrieved 2007-01-24.
  4. "Final Adopted Conference Alignment Plan for 2015‐16 and 2016‐17" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-11-08. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
  5. "Competitive Cheer - Briar Woods Makes it Three Straight District Titles". vivaloudoun.com.
  6. "BWHSports".

Sources
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