Forest Park High School (Prince William County, Virginia)

Forest Park Senior High School is a high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

in Woodbridge

Woodbridge, Virginia

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 31,941 people, 10,687 households, and 7,769 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 3,047.8 people per square mile . There were 11,026 housing units at an average density of 1,052.1/sq mi...

, unincorporated Prince William County

Prince William County, Virginia

-National protected areas:* Featherstone National Wildlife Refuge* Manassas National Battlefield Park* Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge* Prince William Forest Park-Government and politics:...

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is part of Prince William County Public Schools

Prince William County Public Schools

Prince William County Public Schools is a Virginia school division with its headquarters in the Kelly Leadership Center in unincorporated Prince William County, Virginia, United States...

and is located on 15721 Forest Park Drive (formerly Spriggs Road; the name changed during 2005-2006 construction on Spriggs Road). The school's name references adjacent Prince William Forest Park

Prince William Forest Park

Prince William Forest Park was established as Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area in 1936 and is located in southeastern Prince William County, Virginia, adjacent to the Marine Corps Base Quantico. The park is the largest protected natural area in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region at...

, one of the largest national parks in the Washington metropolitan area.

Forest Park is the home of the first information technology (iT) specialty program in Prince William County. Forest Park Senior High School is also accredited with their Academic Scholastic Team (2003, 2006, and 2009 Cardinal District Champions), girls basketball team (the 2003-2004 and 2005-06 Virginia State Champions), their Women's Lightweight four rowing team (2005-2006 State Champions), and their Women's Junior Quad rowing team (2007-2008 national champions)

In 2008 Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...

magazine did not number rank Forest Park on its annual list of "America's Top Public High Schools"

iT Program

Forest Park Senior High School is a center for the iT (Information Technology

Information technology

Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...

) program. All interested students must apply for the program, bringing in many students around Prince William County. There are three fields that students can enter: Computer Graphics

Computer graphics

Computer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer with help from specialized software and hardware....

, Networking

Computer network

A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....

, Programming. Each year, iT students are required to take an iT core class. Students can receive a special iT Diploma

Diploma

A diploma is a certificate or deed issued by an educational institution, such as a university, that testifies that the recipient has successfully completed a particular course of study or confers an academic degree. In countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia, the word diploma refers to...

if they complete six iT courses (four core), or five iT courses and an AP class. As of 2008 Chuck Drake is the head of the program.

County Observatory

The Prince William County Observatory complex consists of two robotic domes that are mounted to the roof of Forest Park High School.
The ten-foot fiberglass dome houses a sixteen inch Meade telescope, with a CCD camera attached. Students can remotely control the dome and telescope and images will be downloaded into the student's computer.
The smaller dome, known as Robo-Dome, will house an eight inch Meade telescope with solar screen. A video camera and computer will be attached to the telescope.

Test scores

Forest Park Senior High School is a partially accredited high school based on its performance on the Virginia Standards of Learning

Standards of Learning

Standards of Learning ' is a public school standardized testing program in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It sets forth learning and achievement expectations for core subjects for grades K-12 in Virginia's Public Schools...

tests, yet NOT a School of Excellence. In 2005 86% of students met or exceeded Reading standards and 84% met or exceeded Math Standards.

Sports and championships

Forest Park has not received any awards/championships in Football according to the school.

National

2007 Physics Club National Champions
2008 Varsity Chess ranked 5th in Nationals in March
2008 Crew - Girl's Junior Quad placed 1st in the nation
2009 Curling team
2010 Girl's 4x800 Team placed third at NIke Nationals

State champions

2002 Girls Volleyball runners-up
2003 Girls Volleyball
2003 Girls Cross Country runners-up
2004, 2006 Girls Basketball
2005, 2008 Girls Basketball runners-up
2004, 2005, 2006 Women's Lightweight 4 Crew - Bronze, Silver & Gold
2007 Boys Indoor Track 4x800 Relay
2007 Boys Outdoor Track 4x800 Relay
2005, 2006 Crew - Boys lightweight 4- Bronze
2009 Crew - Women's Senior Quad Gold

Individual Champions

2002 Boys Indoor Triple Jump 46-1 Reynold Smith Forest Park
2003 Boys Outdoor Triple Jump 47-8.25 Reynold Smith Forest Park
2004 Wrestling - Bryan Evans - 215 lbs.

Individual Records

2008 Girls Volleyball - most blocks, season: 216 - Kellie Goss

Regional champions

2003 Baseball
2002, 2003, 2006, 2007 Volleyball
2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011 Girls Basketball
2006 Women's Soccer
2003,2004 Mens Cross Country
2010 Classic Public Policy Debate

Cardinal district champions

2003 Varsity Cheerleading
2003, 2006, 2009 Academic Scholastic Team
2004 - 2005 Wrestling
2004 - 2006 Women's Varsity Tennis
2003, 2006, 2007 Baseball
2003, 2005, 2007 Boys Soccer
2000 - 2008 Volleyball
2004, 2006 Women's Soccer
2004, 2006, 2007 Girls Lacrosse
2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Field Hockey
2007, 2008, 2009 Men's Lacrosse
2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 Boys Cross Country
2007 - 2008 Girls Basketball
2005 - 2006 Women's Swimming
2007 - 2008 Men's Swim Team
2006, 2007 Men's Indoor Track
2007 Men's Outdoor Track
2008 Women's Softball
2008 Men's Swimming
2008, 2009 VHSL Scholastic Bowl Champions (2x)
2009, Women's VHS Tape Changing Champions
2007, 2008, 2009, Men's Swimming- soon to add 2010
2009 Varsity Cheerleading
2009 Varsity Wrestling

Pro/Semi-pro or Notable Alumni

Ali Krieger
Ali Krieger
Alexandra Blaire "Ali" Krieger is an American soccer player currently playing for 1. FFC Frankfurt of the Frauen-Bundesliga and is a member of the United States Women's National Soccer Team.-Youth and High School:...

- 1. FFC Frankfurt
1. FFC Frankfurt
1. FFC Frankfurt is a German women's association football club based in Frankfurt, Hesse and has a membership of about 430. The team currently plays in the German first division women's Bundesliga.- History :...

, United States women's national soccer team
United States women's national soccer team
The United States women's national soccer team represents the United States in international soccer competition and is controlled by U.S. Soccer. The U.S. team won the first ever Women's World Cup in 1991, and has since been a superpower in women's soccer. It is currently ranked first in the world...
Monica Wright
Monica Wright
Monica Wright is a professional basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA and Botaş SK of the Turkish Women's League. She was selected second overall by the Minnesota Lynx in the 2010 WNBA Entry Draft.-Early life:...

- University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

, WNBA Minnesota Lynx
Minnesota Lynx
The Minnesota Lynx are a professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded prior to the 1999 season...
Kim Bonilla- West Virginia University
West Virginia University
West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...

, Pitea IF
Piteå IF
Piteå IF is a Swedish football club located in Piteå.-Background:The club was formed 24 May 1918 but did not take up football until 1920 when they merged with their local rivaling club IFK Piteå, which then was dissolved...
C. J. Sapong
C. J. Sapong
C. J. Sapong is an American soccer player who currently plays for Sporting Kansas City in Major League Soccer.-College and Amateur:...

- James Madison University
James Madison University
James Madison University is a public coeducational research university located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the university has undergone four name changes before settling with James Madison University...

, Sporting Kansas City

Band

The band ensembles at Forest Park are currently under the direction of Mr. Donald Magee, the school's second band director. He succeeds Mr. J.R. Snow, who built the band into a perennial honor band by the Virginia Band and Orchestra Director's Association.

Concert Band
Symphonic Band
Wind Ensemble
Marching Band—performs at the football games as well as competitions.
Pep Band—organized in the 2001-2002 school year by students, the Pep Band performs at both the boy's and girl's basketball home games as well as any regional/state games they are allowed to attend.

Choir

Forest Park's choir program is one of the most prestigious in the state. The program is directed by Ms. Lara Brittain. Ensembles in the vocal music program include:

Platinum Vocal Jazz Ensemble
Concert Choir
VoiceMale
Bel Canto
Men's Chorus
Varsity Women's Choir

Orchestra

Forest Park High School's String Orchestras have consistently received accolades, notably recitatives overall 1s at Festival for multiple years. The program is under the direction of Mrs. Katherine Colburn, currently at FP after teaching for some time at Potomac. Orchestras include:

Freshman orchestra
Advanced orchestra
Consort orchestra

Improv Club

Forest Park sponsors a popular and successful Theater Sports team, more commonly known as Improv. The club performances are loosely based on the tv show Whose Line Is It Anyway. The Improv club is an off-shoot of the Drama Club, which hosts various events throughout the year.

Drama

Forest Park High School also hosts a drama club. Sponsoring three shows a year (a musical, mainstage play, and a one-act play), the program is currently headed by Ms. Lori Spitzer. Forest Park has performed popular shows in the past such as Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast (musical)
Beauty and the Beast is a musical with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice and a book by Linda Woolverton, based on the 1991 Disney film of the same name. Seven new songs were written for the stage musical...

, Sweet Charity
Sweet Charity
Sweet Charity is a musical with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and book by Neil Simon. It was directed and choreographed for Broadway by Bob Fosse starring his wife and muse Gwen Verdon. It is based on Federico Fellini's screenplay for Nights of Cabiria...

, The Wizard of Oz and Oklahoma!
Oklahoma!
Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance...

.

Key Club

A club that is run by Shannon Geraghty is partnered with the Kiwanis Club, personally with the Woodbridge Adult Lodge and is a community service oriented organization. It boasts a member range of between 80 and 100 students each year with a large percentage being active in such activities as Mend-a-House, Habitat for Humanity, AXE, Military Personnel Donations (cards and baskets sent to them), and Walter Reed Military Hospital. They sponsor the Adopt-a-Highway program on Spriggs Road, participating in cleanup activities along the thoroughfare. It was also the first high school Key Club program organized in Prince William County.

Ursa Major literary magazine

The Forest Park literary magazine, Ursa Major, is an award winning publication produced by the students of the Creative Writing classes and sponsored by Mrs. Laura Dowling. The magazine is open to all students in the school for literary and artistic submissions. Publication of the magazine is annual in the spring. The magazine also sponsors a Coffee House in the early spring to showcase art in all forms. The magazine can be purchased each June or on-line at lulu.com.