Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School

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Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School
Address
9525 Main Street Fairfax, Virginia 22031
Information
School district	Fairfax County Public Schools
Principal	Jeff Yost
Staff	approximately 260
Enrollment	2,172 (2006)
School type	Public high school
Grades	9–12
Language	English
Campus	Suburban
Mascot	Cavaliers
Color(s)	Navy blue, red, and white ███
Founded	1962
Feeder schools	Frost Middle School
Rival schools	Fairfax High School Oakton High School Lake Braddock Secondary School Robinson Secondary School Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Athletic conferences	Liberty District Northern Region
Homepage	http://www.fcps.edu/woodsonhs

Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School, commonly known as W.T. Woodson High School, is a high school located in Fairfax County, Virginia, east of the city of Fairfax.

Coordinates: 38°50′26″N 77°16′32″W / 38.840425, -77.275516

The school opened in 1962 and once was the largest school in the state. As of 2008 the student population is around 2,100. Woodson has the biggest campus in Fairfax county in size of area, and also houses Woodson Adult High School, a program designed to allow adults to earn their GEDs. It was ranked #34 on Newsweek's Top 1000 U.S. High Schools in 2004. The school is named after Wilbert Tucker Woodson, superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools from 1929 to 1961.

Robert Elliott, the school's principal, retired in late November of 2007. The new principal is Jeff Yost, former assistant principal.

[edit] Renovation

Renovations at Woodson

Woodson has recently begun the process of renovating all of its facilities and also adding lots of new classroom space. The project is being paid for in bonds that were established in 2003 by a voter referendum. The issue of whether to renovate had been debated for several years before the plan was approved. Woodson was one of the oldest schools in Fairfax County Public Schools, as the main facilities (plumbing, heating/cooling, floors, electrical) were still fundamentally the same as they were back in the 1970s when the school was new.

The school fields are now crowded with trailers, storage containers, and construction equipment. Renovation will be completed hall-by-hall; two halls were closed for renovations during the 2006-2007 school year, and the classrooms were relocated to the trailers. This process is to be repeated with two different halls for the 2007-2008 school year, with classes returning to the previously closed halls and others rotating out to the trailers. Construction on the new additions to the school have begun as well. The project is expected to be completed between 2010-2011.

[edit] Demographics

Woodson High School's student body is 64.60% White, 3.54% Black, 6.19% Hispanic, 21.60% Asian, and 4.06% Other for the 2006-2007 school year.

[edit] Test scores

Woodson High School is a fully accredited high school based on the Standards of Learning tests in Virginia. The average SAT score in 2006 for Woodson High School was 1,711 (568 in Critical Reading, 584 in Math, and 559 in Writing). The following table shows the passing rates of all Woodson students in their respective years and academic subjects.

^[1]

[edit] Athletics and extracurricular activities

Woodson's mascot is a Cavalier and the sports teams play in the AAA Liberty District and the Northern Region. The girl's field hockey team defeated Princess Anne High School in the state finals in 2004, and the girl's Lacrosse team won states in 2005. Both the Girl's Tennis team and the Girl's Lacrosse teams came in second place in the state in the 2006-2007 school year. The school's competitive fall Varsity Cheerleading team took 1st in their invitational, as well as 3rd in their district in the 2007-2008 school year. The team also moved on to Regionals. The band received the prestigious Sudler Flag of Honor in 1995 and is credited as a Virginia Honor Band almost every year. The choral department has distinguished itself as one of the finest programs in the state and the nation. It is the largest choral program in the state of Virginia with over 300 members in the 2006-2007 school year. [1] The school's Model UN club won the Best Small School cup at the Ivy League Model United Nations Conference in 2006. In 2008, Woodson beat Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in the District It's Academic competition, the first time Jefferson has lost in over five years.^{[citation needed]} The W. T. Woodson Varsity Precisionettes dance team placed first in both hip hop and pom in the 2004 Contest of Champions National Competition in Orlando, Florida.

[edit] Communities served by Woodson

Several unincorporated areas, such as Mantua^[2],and Wakefield Forest are served by Woodson.

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• On April 1st, 1973, a strong tornado struck Woodson High School and ripped off the roof. It was hit on a Sunday and no injuries were reported.
• In 2004, Newsweek rated Woodson as the 22nd best high school in the United States according to the Challenge Index system developed by The Washington Post reporter Jay Mathews. In 2005, the school was 34th, in 2006, the school was 92nd, and in 2007 the school was 65th in the United States.

[edit] Notable alumni

• Michael Weiss, U. S. skating and Olympic champion.
• Christopher McCandless, Alaskan traveler; subject of the nonfiction work Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
• Austin St. John, (Born September 17, 1975) is an American actor best known for his role on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as Jason Lee Scott, the Original Red Power Ranger.
• Tommy Amaker, men's basketball coach for the University of Michigan (2001 - March 17, 2007) and Harvard University (2007 - present)
• Catherine Coleman, astronaut
• Andy Heck, pro-football player (1989 - 2002), currently the tight ends coach for the University of Virginia's football team
• Joe Easley, former Dismemberment Plan drummer
• Giti Khalsa, Percussion for the band Seven Mary Three[2]
• Terry Clark, Guitar for the band Carbon Leaf [3]
• Kevin Harrison, Director and writer of the Hollywood movie "First Descent" [4]
• Abe Thompson, professional soccer player, all-time leader scorer at the University of Maryland, College Park with 112 points, currently plays with FC Dallas of MLS [5]
• Denny (Denise) Dowse, television actress [6]
• Matt Abts, drummer for the band Gov't Mule[7]
• Jaclyn (Raveia) Schmitt, former professional soccer player, WUSA North Carolina Courage and New York Power, First female soccer player to be inducted to the University of Richmond's sports hall of fame [8]
• Tommy Steenberg, U.S. Figure Skater
• Bob Cesca, columnist/blogger for The Huffington Post; creator of anime series Kung Fu Jimmy Chow and web cartoon Napster Bad
• Steve Marino, Professional Golfer

[edit] References

1. ^ FCPS - School Profiles - Woodson HS - VDOE Accreditation Summary
2. ^ "Schools." Mantua.

[edit] External links

• WTWoodson.com (An alumni site run by alumni)
• Newsweek's top 1,000 High Schools 2005
• Woodson Band Website
• Woodson Chorus Website
• Woodson Orchestra Website
• Woodson Drama Website