Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School

Infobox Education in the United States
name= Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School


imagesize= 60px
motto=
streetaddress= 9525 Main Street
city= Fairfax
state= Virginia
zipcode= 22031
url= http://www.fcps.edu/woodsonhs
district= Fairfax County Public Schools
principal= Jeff Yost
assistant_principals=
staff= approximately 260
fundingtype= Public
schooltype= high school
grades= 9–12
language= English
communities=
feeders= Frost Middle School
campus= Suburban
mascot= Cavaliers
colors= Navy blue, red, and white ███
founded= 1962
enrollment= 2,172
enrollment_as_of= 2006
free_label_1= Rival schools
free_1= Fairfax High School Oakton High School Lake Braddock Secondary School Robinson Secondary School Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
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

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.

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 [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7723397/site/newsweek/ 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 2007. The new principal is Jeff Yost, former assistant principal.

Academics and statistics

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).

VDOE accreditation summary

The following table shows the passing rates of all Woodson students in their respective years and academic subjects, as determined by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). [http://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/schlprfl/f?p=108:9:1497176964888998::NO::P0_CURRENT_SCHOOL_ID:130]

OL test scores

[http://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/schlprfl/f?p=108:18:1497176964888998::NO::P0_CURRENT_SCHOOL_ID:130]

Demographics

Woodson High School's student body is 63.93% White, 3.82% Black, 6.16% Hispanic, 21.74% Asian, and 4.35% Other for the 2007-2008 school year.

Renovation

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.

Activities, groups, and programs

Woodson's mascot is a Cavalier and the sports teams play in the AAA Liberty District and the Northern Region.

ports department

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.

Visual arts

Performing arts department

Woodson features a Band, Choral, and Orchestral Departments. In its band program, there are three different leveled ensembles, as well as a Marching Band that performs in the fall and a Jazz Band that plays during the winter. The current director is Melinda McKenzie Hall.The band received the prestigious Sudler Flag of Honor in 1995.

The Choral program features two Women's Ensembles and two Men's Ensembles, as well as a Chorale and a Select Vocal Ensemble, which has performed at the Kennedy Center. The choral department is the largest in the state of Virginia, with over 300 members each year since 2006. The current director is Michael Ehrlich. He celebrated his 20th anniversary of teaching choir at Woodson in 2008.

The Orchestra Department features two different leveled ensembles, advanced and intermediate. Fact|date=September 2008

Academic clubs

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.Fact|date=January 2008 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.

Communities served by Woodson

Several unincorporated areas, such as Mantua" [http://www.mantua.org/about/schools.htm Schools] ." "Mantua".] ,and Wakefield Forest are served by Woodson.

Woodson in the news

*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 placed 34th; in 2006, it placed 92nd; and in 2007 the school was ranked 65th in the United States.

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)
*Mike Bianucci, played baseball for Auburn University and was drafted by the Texas Rangers in 2008.
*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 [http://www.7m3.com/]
*Terry Clark, Guitar for the band Carbon Leaf [http://www.carbonleaf.com/]
*Kevin Harrison, Director and writer of the Hollywood movie "First Descent" [http://www.firstdescentmovie.com/]
*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 [http://fc.dallas.mlsnet.com/MLS/players/bio.jsp?team=fcd&player=thompson_a&playerId=tho411916&statType=current]
*Denny (Denise) Dowse, television actress [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0236225/]
*Matt Abts, drummer for the band Gov't Mule [http://www.mule.net/]
*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 [http://richmondspiders.cstv.com/sports/w-soccer/spec-rel/121907aaa.html]
*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

References

External links

* [http://www.wtwoodson.com WTWoodson.com] (An alumni site run by alumni)
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7723397/site/newsweek/.com Newsweek's top 1,000 High Schools 2005]
* [http://www.woodsonband.org/ Woodson Band Website]
* [http://www.woodsonchorus.org/ Woodson Chorus Website]
* [http://www.woodsonorchestra.org/ Woodson Orchestra Website]
* [http://www.wtwdrama.org/ Woodson Drama Website]