South Lakes High School

Infobox Education in the United States
name= South Lakes High School


imagesize= 100px
motto=
streetaddress= 11400 South Lakes Drive
city= Reston
state= Virginia
zipcode= 20191
url= http://www.fcps.edu/SouthLakesHS
district= Fairfax County Public Schools
principal= Bruce Butler
assistant_principals=
staff= approximately 200
fundingtype= Public
schooltype= high school
grades= 9–12
language= English
communities=
feeders= Hughes Middle School, Rachel Carson Middle School
campus= Suburban
mascot= Seahawks
colors= Royal blue and Kelly green ██
founded= 1979
enrollment= 1,430
enrollment_as_of= 2006
free_label_1= Rival schools
free_1= Herndon High School
free_label_2= Athletic conferences
free_2= Liberty District
Northern Region
bgcolor_section= #BBDDBB
bgcolor_label= #BBDDBB
bgcolor_value= #EEEEEE
bgcolor_address= #EEEEEE
bgcolor_url= #EEEEEE

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, has about 1,500 students (2,000 after redistricting and current renovations are completed), in grades 9 through 12. The school was opened in 1979.

The school's curriculum offers special education courses, remedial coursework, standard courses, and college-level advanced courses. Advanced coursework is offered in the form of the International Baccalaureate program. The Advanced Placement program was phased out at the end of the 2002-2003 school year, with the cancellation of AP American Government. South Lakes also has an Army JROTC program.

The principal is Bruce Butler. The school also has 16 other administrators, including assistant administrators for each grade. Its main feeder middle school is Langston Hughes Middle School, which is located just next door. Due to redistricting, a small number of students from Rachel Carson Middle School are set to attend South Lakes from the 2008-2009 school year onwards. Additionally, a small number of students who attended Thoreau Middle School, who previously resided in the James Madison High School district, are now set to attend South Lakes.

The school's mascot is the Seahawk. The colors are royal blue, kelly green, and white. South Lakes' cross-town rival is Herndon High School. The school newspaper is named the "Sentinel."

South Lakes is currently in the process of a $48.2 million renovation plan, which is estimated to take three to five years to complete. The renovation will be complete in time for the 2008-2009 school year.

Demographics

South Lakes High School's student body is about 46% White; 21% Black; 16% Hispanic; 11% Asian; and 5% Other.

Test scores

South Lakes High School is a fully accredited high school based on the Standards of Learning tests in Virginia. The average SAT score in 2006 for South Lakes was 1550 (520 in Critical Reading, 528 in Math, and 502 in Writing) [, [http://www.fcps.edu/suptapps/newsreleases/newsrelease.cfm?newsid=449 Fairfax County Public Schools SAT score news release] ] .

chool design

Reflecting an educational philosophy popular in the 1970s when it was built, South Lakes High School has an "open classroom" design, laid out in a quadrant (one quadrant area for each grade level) with an upper level and a lower level. Each quadrant is referred to as a "sub-school", labeled by colors: green for freshman, blue for sophomores, yellow for juniors, and orange for seniors. Within the open area of each quadrant, classrooms are created via temporary dividers. The original design was meant for each "sub-school" to be a classroom by itself; when it was found that it was difficult for people to learn in such a way, the dividers were put up.

Another unique characteristic of the school is that over 90 percent of the classrooms used to have no exterior windows. The school underwent renovation, however, and as of 2008, the old temporary dividers no longer exist, nor do the fireproof curtains. Now each classroom has its own door, lights, and a unit to control temperature, and the sub-schools are no longer color-coded.

Athletics

The mascot is a seahawk and the sports teams play in the AAA Liberty District and Northern Region of the Virginia High School League. It is best known for their boys basketball team which has been consistently one of the best teams in the Washington area. Former Duke guard and current Phoenix Suns forward Grant Hill also attended South Lakes. Additionally, Alan Webb, high school mile record holder and Olympian attended.

Band

South Lakes' band is led by Grayson Fore. The Marching Seahawks won First Place, Group IIA, at the USSBA, Northern Virginia Regional on Saturday, September 30, 2006. They also earned the distinction of Best Percussion and Best Music in their group. In addition to being ranked first in Virginia, they are 20th ranked in the nation. In March, 2007 the South Lakes Band traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana to participate in the prestigious Bands of America festival. The South Lakes band will travel in 2009 to Carnegie Hall on special invitation.

Orchestra

South Lakes' orchestra is led by Kathy Thompson. The ordinary trip is to Orlando for the music festival held there annually.

Chorus

The South Lakes Chorus program is run by Rita Gigliotti. This program contains five groups: Mixed Chorus, South Lakes Singers, Advanced Women's Ensemble, Show Choir, and SMAC (South Lakes Men's A Cappella Choir). The Advanced Ensembles regularly receive high scores of "1"s and "2"s at Festival competitions. Every spring, the choral program goes on a trip with the band and orchestra to attend a competition. The advanced Choruses have won at these competitions every year for the past few years. The 2008 trip was to Orlando, Florida where all choirs earned first place in their categories, and South Lakes Singers took home Overall Choral Champions. South Lakes also hosts the yearly East Coast A Cappella Summit. This event showcases different "A cappella" groups, including Blue Jupiter and Inpulse. These groups also host seminars and workshops on different areas of performance and vocal styles.

Theatre Arts Program

The South Lakes Theatre Arts Program is run by Maria Harris. Mrs. Harris has directed and taught at the school for 25 years. The program and its members have been given many awards and Cappies wins and nominations.

Political science program

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. The class is taught by Wynndolynn Thompson, MPA who makes internship placement decisions based on student performance during the first semester classroom session. In the past, notable offices such as those of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. John Kerry have hosted interns.

Notable alumni

*Alan Webb, Olympic runner, high school mile record holder (3:53.43), and American mile record holder.
*Grant Hill, NBA basketball player - Duke University
*Spookey Ruben, pop musician - York University
*Christy Winters-Scott, University of Maryland women's basketball star (and former assistant coach) and a former local broadcaster for WNBA Washington Mystics home games (led 1982 South Lakes women's varsity basketball team to Virginia state title). She is now the head girls basketball coach at South Lakes.
*Andrew Siciliano, broadcaster for Fox Sports Radio, Fox Sports Net television, DirecTV Red Zone Channel, Arena Football
*Michael Hersch, composer
*Jamie Hersch, French horn, formerly with the National Symphony Orchestra, currently with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra
*Aron Kader, comedian
*Joey Beard, basketball player, high school All-American, played for Duke University and Boston University. Currently playing in Europe.
*Michael Jackson, basketball player, played for the 1984 Georgetown University National Championship team, Olympic team, played professionally for the Sacramento Kings
*Avail band members went to South Lakes and the band was formed while they were still attending.

References

External links

* [http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/SouthLakesHS/ South Lakes High School website]
* [http://www.seahawkboosters.com/ South Lakes High School Athletic Boosters website]
*South Lakes Band homepage [http://www.southlakesband.org/index.htm?page=/home.htm]
* [http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/browse_school/va/569/ South Lakes High School on GreatSchools.net]
* [http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?archive=true&article=37357&paper=71&cat=104 South Lakes rivalry with Herndon High School]
* [http://www.hessconstruction.com/access-southlakes.htm Description of South Lakes High School renovation]
* [http://www.sltheatrearts.com/ South Lakes Theatre Arts website]