Yorktown High School
Encyclopedia
Yorktown High School is one of three public high schools located in Arlington, Virginia
. There are 111 teachers and 1748 students as of 2009, 981 of whom are enrolled in AP courses. It is a fully accredited high school based on Virginia's SOL
examinations, and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
. The school is ranked among the top 75 schools in the nation according to Newsweek
. ; however Washington-Lee High School remains ahead of Yorktown according to Newsweek
.
Yorktown has a strong taste for student participation in artistic activities. Instrumental, choral, theatrical, and visual arts are prominent in the school's atmosphere.
Yorktown's athletes participate in the Virginia High School League
and are named the Patriots. The teams wear the colors Carolina blue, white, and navy as an accent color.
Yorktown Highschool is currently under construction.
Set Method
The school now is a three-floored square building, similar to that of Wakefield High School
. The lowest level is devoted to all of the non-computer related arts and the gymnasium, with an extra wing for physics and other assorted classes. The middle level (the ground floor from the front of the school) contains administrative offices, science classes, and various English and social studies classes. The top floor is mostly made up of language and computer classes. In the center of the building, there is a small courtyard, where the round two-floor library is located. The so-called "New Building", completed in 2004, is made up of three floors as well, with classes mixed with little concern to subject matter; however there are no science classes located in this building. This addition is only connected to the older building through the gymnasium, however the doors are only to be used during athletic events; this was changed when the tunnel was added in the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year.
On May 8, 2006, the Arlington County School Board approved a preliminary design to rebuild the building. Voters approved about $25,000,000 for the project in the 2006 elections and $75,000,000 is on the ballot for next year. On February 1, 2007, the School Board unanimously approved the schematic design for the new Yorktown High School. In addition, a new building opened in September 2004 for the school and the athletic fields were recently renovated.
The vast majority of the school's students reside in the area of the county commonly called "North Arlington" which is the portion of the county north of Arlington Boulevard (US Rt. 50). The attendance area currently stretches from the high rise neighborhoods that border Washington, DC like Rosslyn, Courthouse and Clarendon in the northeastern part of the county to the more traditional neighborhoods of large single family homes in the northern and western parts of the county adjacent to the City of Falls Church, McLean and Upper Northwest (DC). The portion of McLean (22101) within Arlington County is under the jurisdiction of the Arlington Public Schools and its students attend Yorktown. Many of the neighborhoods in the Yorktown attendance area are also zoned to Washington-Lee High School. High school boundary changes between the two schools historically have occurred at least once every decade.
, attended the event as a motivational speaker for the student body, as did retired U. S. Army General and Secretary of State, Colin Powell
for the 2006 program. ROCSfest is facilitated by students from the Leadership & Diversity Training class, which is based on the Help Increase the Peace Program (HIPP), created by a Quaker
group known as the American Friends Service Committee
.
by classes, sports teams, rival schools, clubs, and people trying to raise awareness about certain issues every year. An inspection of a piece of fallen-off paint has revealed that the cumulative coats of paint on the rock is nearly one inch thick. The Rock has even been known to receive several new layers of spray paint in a night, by different groups of students. The rock is also a meeting place for people at Yorktown.
club. Yorktown's Big Brother/Sister Program allows current juniors to pair themselves with freshman to help ease the transition from the middle to high school years.
entitled "Bottom's Dream" and placed again, going on to win second place at the 2011 Virginia High School League
theatre festival. This was the first time the program had placed since Julius Caeser, a decade previously.
and are called the Patriots. The teams wear the colors Carolina blue and white.
(performing arts)
Yorktown High School owns and manages its own swimming pool
. During the week, it is used for physical education for the students of Yorktown and for students of neighboring middle and elementary schools. Other times, it is used publicly for the community at large. The community does not have a team to represent the public pool, but is represented by the Patriots' swim and dive teams.
Starting in 2002, Arlington County was to spend well over $700,000 on the installation and maintenance of new Fieldturf
in various athletic fields and stadiums. In 2006, Yorktown's outdoor stadium was the last of the three Arlington high schools to undergo installation. Washington-Lee High School
and Wakefield High School
had their fields installed in 2005 and 2004, respectively.
Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The land that became Arlington was originally donated by Virginia to the United States government to form part of the new federal capital district. On February 27, 1801, the United States Congress organized the area as a subdivision of...
. There are 111 teachers and 1748 students as of 2009, 981 of whom are enrolled in AP courses. It is a fully accredited high school based on Virginia's SOL
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...
examinations, and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is one of the six regional accreditation organizations recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation...
. The school is ranked among the top 75 schools in the nation according to 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...
. ; however Washington-Lee High School remains ahead of Yorktown according to 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...
.
Yorktown has a strong taste for student participation in artistic activities. Instrumental, choral, theatrical, and visual arts are prominent in the school's atmosphere.
Yorktown's athletes participate in the Virginia High School League
Virginia High School League
The Virginia High School League is the arbiter of interscholastic competition among public high schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Unlike similar organizations in many other states, private or religious schools are prohibited from joining. Non-public schools belong to other organizations,...
and are named the Patriots. The teams wear the colors Carolina blue, white, and navy as an accent color.
History
The school opened for the first time for the 1960-1961 school year, with only Sophomore and Junior classes. The first graduating class was in 1962. The building was originally an elementary school, which was converted into a high school to relieve crowding at Washington-Lee High School. The school was threatened with closure in 1982 due to declining enrollment, but because of strong community support, the idea was nixed. To boost the school's population, the attendance boundary between W-L and Yorktown in the northeastern portion of the county was redrawn in 1983. Portions of the Donaldson Run, Cherrydale, Woodmont, Dover Crystal, and Old Dominion neighborhoods were transferred into a larger Yorktown district. In the 90 s its boundaries expanded once again to serve the communities of Rosslyn, Courthouse, Clarendon, Westover, Halls Hill/Highview Park, and portions of Dominion Hills. Today the school has the largest student body of the county's three comprehensive high schools. Construction has, as of 2009, begun on an entirely new Yorktown facility. The replacement campus was designed by Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects. With respect to the school's progressive pedagogical underpinnings, the new facility seeks to create a flexible and sophisticated high school learning environment that will meet the needs of the community well into the 21st century.Yorktown Highschool is currently under construction.
Alumni Hall of Fame
Most of these distinguished alumni (and others) are honored in the school's "Hall of Fame and Inspiration, " located in the auditorium lobby. The plaques honoring the former students were made possible through the generosity of Hubert N. "Jay" Hoffman III, YHS Class of 1962.- David McDowell BrownDavid McDowell BrownDavid McDowell Brown was a United States Naval Captain and a NASA astronaut. He died on his first space flight, when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during orbital reentry into the Earth's atmosphere...
, U.S. Navy captain and NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
astronaut, died on board the Space Shuttle ColumbiaSpace Shuttle ColumbiaSpace Shuttle Columbia was the first spaceworthy Space Shuttle in NASA's orbital fleet. First launched on the STS-1 mission, the first of the Space Shuttle program, it completed 27 missions before being destroyed during re-entry on February 1, 2003 near the end of its 28th, STS-107. All seven crew...
when it disintegrated during re-entry in 2003 - David Charlebois, pilot; first officer of American Airlines Flight 77 which crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11
- Katie CouricKatie CouricKatherine Anne "Katie" Couric is an American journalist and author. She serves as Special Correspondent for ABC News, contributing to ABC World News, Nightline, 20/20, Good Morning America, This Week and primetime news specials...
, anchor of the CBS Evening NewsCBS Evening NewsCBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963....
, former Today co-host - Tom DolanTom DolanTom Dolan is a swimmer from the United States, who won a gold medal and silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics and a gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics...
, winner of two Olympic gold medals and one silver medal in swimming, alum of the University of MichiganUniversity of MichiganThe University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan... - Michael D. LeinbachMichael D. LeinbachMichael D. Leinbach was the Shuttle Launch Director at NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center , Florida. He was responsible for activities in the overall shuttle launch countdown, including planning, policy, and execution.-Early life:...
, Shuttle Launch Director for NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's John F. Kennedy Space Center - Rich LowryRich LowryRichard A. Lowry is the editor of National Review, a conservative American news magazine, and a syndicated columnist.-Career:...
, editor of National ReviewNational ReviewNational Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
magazine - Gregory Thomas GarciaGregory Thomas GarciaGregory Thomas García , is an American television director, producer and writer. He was the creator/executive producer on the long-running sitcom Yes, Dear and the creator/executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning My Name Is Earl...
, Emmy AwardEmmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-winning producer and writer (My Name is EarlMy Name Is EarlMy Name Is Earl is an American television comedy series created by Greg Garcia that was originally broadcast on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States...
) - Eric E. SchmidtEric E. SchmidtEric Emerson Schmidt is an American software engineer and the current executive chairman of Google. From 2001 to 2011, he served as the chief executive officer of Google....
, CEO of Google Inc. and former member of Apple Inc.'s Board of DirectorsBoard of directorsA board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors... - Paul WellstonePaul WellstonePaul David Wellstone was a two-term U.S. Senator from the state of Minnesota and member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which is affiliated with the national Democratic Party. Before being elected to the Senate in 1990, he was a professor of political science at Carleton College...
, Democratic U.S. senator representing MinnesotaMinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, died in a plane crash in 2002]] - Tyler MathisenTyler MathisenTyler Mathisen is now Managing Editor of CNBC Business News and the host of High Net Worth. He was originally the co-anchor of such programs as Closing Bell and Business Center before being promoted to the role of Managing Editor...
, Managing Editor, CNBC News and host of High Net Worth - James SethianJames SethianJames Albert Sethian is a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, and the head of the Mathematics Group at the United States Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory....
, Head of the Mathematics Groups at University of California at Berkeley and joint developer of the Level
Set Method
Building structure and location
The school building opened in January 1950, as a brand new elementary school and served the community as an elementary school until it was converted into a high school. It was named Yorktown from its opening. At that time it was a one-story building and only housed the elementary students. Greenbrier Elementary School was a different building which has since been renamed Campbell Elementary School and is located near Carlin Springs Road. Neither school building housed a public broadcasting studio. Additions have been continually added to Yorktown over the years, making the school much larger, but leaving many of the older sections still incorporated within the walls, often still being used as classrooms. There are plans to rebuild the school. Yorktown is placed on a small parcel of land and does not own its adjacent newly renovated athletic grounds, which instead belong to Arlington County and are known as Greenbrier Park. Construction has been completed on Greenbrier Park. Individual softball and baseball fields have been installed along with a new turf field to be used for football, field hockey, soccer, and lacrosse. A rubberized track has also been added. Greenbrier Park abuts a small playground frequented by small children and their parents.The school now is a three-floored square building, similar to that of Wakefield High School
Wakefield High School (Arlington County, Virginia)
Wakefield High School is one of three public high schools located in Arlington, Virginia, and is just one block away from Alexandria. There are 140 teachers and 1364 students as of March 2008. It is a fully accredited high school based on Virginia's Standards of Learning examinations...
. The lowest level is devoted to all of the non-computer related arts and the gymnasium, with an extra wing for physics and other assorted classes. The middle level (the ground floor from the front of the school) contains administrative offices, science classes, and various English and social studies classes. The top floor is mostly made up of language and computer classes. In the center of the building, there is a small courtyard, where the round two-floor library is located. The so-called "New Building", completed in 2004, is made up of three floors as well, with classes mixed with little concern to subject matter; however there are no science classes located in this building. This addition is only connected to the older building through the gymnasium, however the doors are only to be used during athletic events; this was changed when the tunnel was added in the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year.
Renovation
In 2003, thanks to the 2000 Bond Package received by Arlington, Yorktown High School added an external wing to the school which houses the English and Mathematic departments, as well as some special education and language classes. Access to the building can be from either the outside or through the main gymnasium between the main building and the new wing.On May 8, 2006, the Arlington County School Board approved a preliminary design to rebuild the building. Voters approved about $25,000,000 for the project in the 2006 elections and $75,000,000 is on the ballot for next year. On February 1, 2007, the School Board unanimously approved the schematic design for the new Yorktown High School. In addition, a new building opened in September 2004 for the school and the athletic fields were recently renovated.
Demographics
The school's demographic breakdown of the 2006-2007 school year is as follows:- 67.8% CaucasianWhite peopleWhite people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
- 15.6% HispanicHispanicHispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
- 8.7% AsianAsian peopleAsian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
/Pacific IslanderPacific IslanderPacific Islander , is a geographic term to describe the indigenous inhabitants of any of the three major sub-regions of Oceania: Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia.According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, these three regions, together with their islands consist of:Polynesia:... - 7.4% African-AmericanAfrican AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
- 0.1% American IndianIndigenous peoples of the AmericasThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
/Alaskan NativeAlaska NativesAlaska Natives are the indigenous peoples of Alaska. They include: Aleut, Inuit, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Eyak, and a number of Northern Athabaskan cultures.-History:In 1912 the Alaska Native Brotherhood was founded...
The vast majority of the school's students reside in the area of the county commonly called "North Arlington" which is the portion of the county north of Arlington Boulevard (US Rt. 50). The attendance area currently stretches from the high rise neighborhoods that border Washington, DC like Rosslyn, Courthouse and Clarendon in the northeastern part of the county to the more traditional neighborhoods of large single family homes in the northern and western parts of the county adjacent to the City of Falls Church, McLean and Upper Northwest (DC). The portion of McLean (22101) within Arlington County is under the jurisdiction of the Arlington Public Schools and its students attend Yorktown. Many of the neighborhoods in the Yorktown attendance area are also zoned to Washington-Lee High School. High school boundary changes between the two schools historically have occurred at least once every decade.
Focus
ROCSfest
ROCSfest is a thrice-yearly set of programs designed by Yorktown High School to help each student learn to Respect Others, the Community, and Self. The program was implemented at Yorktown in the 2003-2004 school year by a Social Studies teacher, Mike Palermo. Consisting of a series of teamwork and trust-building games, the days are not taken seriously and the number of cases of truancy on ROCS days are so high that the administration cannot call and notify all the parents of offenders. For the 2005-2006 school year, the program was split into three half-day session instead of the one full-day program of previous years to cut down on truancy by having classes on the same days as ROCSfest. Problems persisted and in the 2006-2007 school year the program was discontinued for reevaluation purposes. For the 2004-2005 program, sportswriter and TV show co-host, Michael WilbonMichael Wilbon
Michael Ray Wilbon is a former sportswriter and columnist for the Washington Post and current ESPN commentator. He serves as an analyst for ESPN and co-hosts Pardon the Interruption on ESPN with former Post writer Tony Kornheiser, and has been doing so since 2001.-Career:Wilbon began working for...
, attended the event as a motivational speaker for the student body, as did retired U. S. Army General and Secretary of State, Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
for the 2006 program. ROCSfest is facilitated by students from the Leadership & Diversity Training class, which is based on the Help Increase the Peace Program (HIPP), created by a Quaker
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
group known as the American Friends Service Committee
American Friends Service Committee
The American Friends Service Committee is a Religious Society of Friends affiliated organization which works for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world...
.
The Rock
One unique feature at Yorktown is the Rock. The Rock has been at the corner of the school near the athletic fields since the late 1990s. It has been taggedSpray painting
Spray painting is a painting technique where a device sprays a coating through the air onto a surface. The most common types employ compressed gas—usually air—to atomize and direct the paint particles. Spray guns evolved from airbrushes, and the two are usually distinguished by their size and the...
by classes, sports teams, rival schools, clubs, and people trying to raise awareness about certain issues every year. An inspection of a piece of fallen-off paint has revealed that the cumulative coats of paint on the rock is nearly one inch thick. The Rock has even been known to receive several new layers of spray paint in a night, by different groups of students. The rock is also a meeting place for people at Yorktown.
Clubs and activities
Yorktown is characterized by a large student body with most students participating heavily in several clubs and activities. Several classes also call for extensive after-school time, leaving the halls of Yorktown filled with students even after the final bell. Yorktown offers a debate team, a student newspaper (The Yorktown Sentry), an award-winning music program, and extensive theatrical activities in addition to numerous student-led clubs and sports teams. Those who cannot find a club or activity at Yorktown can usually find an activity at the Arlington Career Center by using two class periods to take a course there. If all else fails, students can work together and start their own club. This has led to the formation of clubs such as the Rock, Paper, ScissorsRock-paper-scissors
Rock-paper-scissors is a hand game played by two people. The game is also known as roshambo, or another ordering of the three items ....
club. Yorktown's Big Brother/Sister Program allows current juniors to pair themselves with freshman to help ease the transition from the middle to high school years.
Theater
Yorktown has an award-winning theater department currently headed by Carol Cadby, who directs all productions and is also lead Yorktown Theatre Arts teacher. Every year, four-year students of the program research, create, produce and stage one-person shows. YHS theater students also compete in the Virginia High School League tournaments. The program won the state tournament in 1999 with An Adaptation of Julius Caesar. In the past decade, the program has qualified for the state tournament five times. In 2009, Yorktown took second place at the Virginia Theater Association Conference, qualifying for the Southeastern Theater Conference. In 2010, Yorktown competed at the VTA Conference with an abstract interpretation of A Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
entitled "Bottom's Dream" and placed again, going on to win second place at the 2011 Virginia High School League
Virginia High School League
The Virginia High School League is the arbiter of interscholastic competition among public high schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Unlike similar organizations in many other states, private or religious schools are prohibited from joining. Non-public schools belong to other organizations,...
theatre festival. This was the first time the program had placed since Julius Caeser, a decade previously.
Student publications
- The Yorktown Sentry was started in 1962 as a student newspaper for the school. Its history indicates that only English teachers from the school run the paper, but there are no guidelines as to who can and cannot. In 2001, the paper was converted into HTML and can be found here.
- "The Dailies", the school's morning news announcements TV production class is a recent new media for Yorktown High School. The group produces a variety of videos for The Dailies from end of year music videos to event reminders such as tee-shirt sales. In 2008 The Dailies (led by Zone 10's efforts) staged a "media war" with the Yorktown Sentry, pitting comical videos against critical articles. although. Recently the Dailies have been declining. due to the serios television students have been going to the arlington career center television program (who place in the top five nationally twice in the last three years), leaving the dailies with kids who are not experienced and dont take it seriously. Among the student body the Dailies are not taken seriously anymore.
- Grenadier has been the title of the Yorktown's yearbookYearbookA yearbook, also known as an annual, is a book to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school or a book published annually. Virtually all American, Australian and Canadian high schools, most colleges and many elementary and middle schools publish yearbooks...
since the school's inception.
Yorktown and "It's Academic"
Yorktown sponsors a team of students to participate in the locally televised quiz show, It's Academic. The team's faculty adviser is Beau Obetts. The Patriots have been sending the team to Scholastic Bowl tournaments in addition to the Saturday morning program. Yorktown won the first Patriot District scholastic bowl championship in 1998 under then-faculty adviser Michael Zito. The team became the National District champions in 2010, and won second place in 2011. In 2010, the team finished 7th in the nation, losing to the eventual runners up by only 5 points in the Semifinal round.Senior Experience
In a program started by Yorktown then adopted by neighboring schools, selected seniors are permitted to use the final three weeks of their senior year to involve themselves in various job experiences of interest. The student must use the hours of the school day to participate in his/her work of choice. At the end of the final week, the students gather for small group discussions to talk about the difference of school and work. All selected students for the program must complete the program in order to graduate from Yorktown High School.Performing Arts
- The Marching Patriots compete 4-6 times a season and consistently receive grade I and II honors, including with VBODAVirginia Band and Orchestra Directors AssociationThe Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association is an organization of high school, middle school, and elementary school band and orchestra directors within the Commonwealth of Virginia, whose mission is to help promote opportunities of music education to K-12 students...
. During their season, they also partake in several parades including Arlington's Neighborhood Day Parade. Their drumline often wins Best Percussion awards during marching band season; in addition, the Scholastic A-Class Indoor Drumline won a silver medal in 2009 and a gold medal in 2010 at the Atlantic Indoor Association Championships.
- Yorktown's winter guardWinter guardWinter guard is an indoor color guard activity, derived from marching band or drum & bugle corps. Unlike traditional color guard, winter guard is performed indoors, usually in a gymnasium or an indoor arena...
has won gold medals in the Atlantic Indoor Association Championships in 2009 and 2010, with their shows "To Tame a Volcano" and "How We Used to Be." After 2009 championships, they were promoted to the A3 class, and again in 2010 to A2. However, due to a lack of membership, Yorktown's winter guard has disbanded. Yorktown's color guard has also won Best Color Guard at many marching band competitions, including at the 2009 and 2010 USSBA State ChampionshipsUnited States Scholastic Band AssociationThe United States Scholastic Band Association was formed in the Fall of 1988 to provide high school band programs with a competitive circuit featuring top judges from across the continent and a venue for the US Scholastic Band Championship....
.
- All the instrumental and choral groups—including the String Orchestra, Band, and Choir—compete twice annually amongst other schools both at the District 12 level in the fall and on an out-of-state trip in the spring. The groups usually come home with grade I or II honors.
- Yorktown's Theatre Department performs in three different performances per year, including a fall drama production, a competitive One-Act production in the winter, and its more popular spring show, all of which spawn award-winning performances. The spring show competes annually amongst DC Metropolitan high schools in a formal ceremony for CappiesCritics and Awards Program for High School StudentsThe Cappies ' is an international program for recognizing, celebrating, and providing learning experiences for high school theater and journalism students and teenage playwrights....
, a high school award program created in the Washington D.C. area. They also have a partnership with Arlington's Signature Theater.
Athletics
Yorktown's athletic department competes through the Virginia High School LeagueVirginia High School League
The Virginia High School League is the arbiter of interscholastic competition among public high schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Unlike similar organizations in many other states, private or religious schools are prohibited from joining. Non-public schools belong to other organizations,...
and are called the Patriots. The teams wear the colors Carolina blue and white.
Boys Athletics
- Cross CountryCross country runningCross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
- CheerleadingCheerleadingCheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
- GolfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
- FootballAmerican footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
- Rifle TeamShooting sportsA shooting sport is a competitive sport involving tests of proficiency using various types of guns such as firearms and airguns . Hunting is also a shooting sport, and indeed shooting live pigeons was an Olympic event...
- BasketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
- WrestlingScholastic wrestlingScholastic wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the high school and middle school levels in the United States. This wrestling style is essentially Collegiate wrestling with some slight modifications. It is currently...
- Track and Field
- SwimSwimming (sport)Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
& DiveDivingDiving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one... - Soccer
- LacrosseLacrosseLacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
- Ice HockeyIce hockeyIce hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
- BaseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
- TennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
- CrewRowing (sport)Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
- Ultimate Frisbee
Girls Athletics
- Step Team
- Cross CountryCross country runningCross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
- CheerleadingCheerleadingCheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
- VolleyballVolleyballVolleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
- Field HockeyField hockeyField Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
- GymnasticsGymnasticsGymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
- BasketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
- Track and Field
- SwimSwimming (sport)Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
& DiveDivingDiving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one... - Soccer
- LacrosseLacrosseLacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
- SoftballSoftballSoftball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
- TennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
- CrewCrewA crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard...
- Ultimate Frisbee
- GolfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
Interscholastic
(Scholastic)- Debate and Speech
- It's AcademicIt's AcademicIt's Academic is a televised academic quiz competition for high school students, currently airing on two NBC affiliates in Washington, D.C. and Central Virginia and one CBS affiliate Baltimore, Maryland . The show has been on the air since October 7, 1961, making it the longest...
- Math TeamMath LeagueMath League is a mathematics competition for elementary, middle, and high school students in the United States. The Math League was founded in 1977 by two high school mathematics teachers, Steven R. Conrad and Daniel Flegler. Math Leagues, Inc...
- Model U. N.Model United NationsModel United Nations is an academic simulation of the United Nations that aims to educate participants about current events, topics in international relations, diplomacy and the United Nations agenda....
- Jr. R. O. T. C.Junior Reserve Officers' Training CorpsThe Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps is a Federal program sponsored by the United States Armed Forces in high schools across the United States...
- VJASAmerican Junior Academy of SciencesThe American Junior Academy of Sciences is the only US honor society recognizing America's premier high school students for outstanding scientific research. Each state’s Academy of Science nominates high school students as AJAS delegates. The chosen delegates are then invited to attend the AJAS...
(performing arts)
- Marching PatriotsMarching bandMarching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
- Color GuardColor guardIn the military of the United States and other militaries, the color guard carries the National Color and other flags appropriate to its position in the chain of command. Typically these include a unit flag and a departmental flag...
- Winter GuardWinter guardWinter guard is an indoor color guard activity, derived from marching band or drum & bugle corps. Unlike traditional color guard, winter guard is performed indoors, usually in a gymnasium or an indoor arena...
- Indoor DrumlineIndoor percussion ensembleAn indoor percussion ensemble or indoor drumline consists of the marching percussion and front ensemble sections of a marching band or drum corps. The only exceptions are in concert divisions where the marching line is absent and the ensemble consists entirely of a pit...
- Instrumental MusicOrchestraAn orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
- Choral MusicChoirA choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
- TheatreDramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
- Yorktown Dance Team
Pool and stadiums
Yorktown has a public partnership with Arlington County to use the athletic facilities of Greenbrier Park for softball, baseball, and track & field events. The public is free to use the Yorktown stadium for football, soccer, and other field games.Yorktown High School owns and manages its own swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
. During the week, it is used for physical education for the students of Yorktown and for students of neighboring middle and elementary schools. Other times, it is used publicly for the community at large. The community does not have a team to represent the public pool, but is represented by the Patriots' swim and dive teams.
Starting in 2002, Arlington County was to spend well over $700,000 on the installation and maintenance of new Fieldturf
FieldTurf
FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by the FieldTurf Tarkett division of Tarkett Inc., based in Calhoun, Georgia, USA. In the late 1990s, the artificial surface changed the industry with a design intended to replicate real grass...
in various athletic fields and stadiums. In 2006, Yorktown's outdoor stadium was the last of the three Arlington high schools to undergo installation. Washington-Lee High School
Washington-Lee High School
Washington-Lee High School is one of three traditional public high schools in the Arlington Public Schools district in Arlington, Virginia, covering grades 9-12. As of 2009-2010, the school had over 1,800 students and 120 teachers...
and Wakefield High School
Wakefield High School (Arlington County, Virginia)
Wakefield High School is one of three public high schools located in Arlington, Virginia, and is just one block away from Alexandria. There are 140 teachers and 1364 students as of March 2008. It is a fully accredited high school based on Virginia's Standards of Learning examinations...
had their fields installed in 2005 and 2004, respectively.
State Champions since 2005
| Virginia State Championships | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Sport/Competition | School |
| 2005 | AAA Girls Swimming and Diving | Yorktown |
| 2006 | AAA Debate | Yorktown |
| 2006 | AAA Girls Swimming and Diving | Yorktown |
| 2007 | AAA Girls Swimming and Diving | Yorktown |
| 2007 | AAA Debate | Yorktown |
| 2008 | AAA Debate | Yorktown |
| 2009 | Boy's Rowing | Yorktown |
| 2010 | AAA Forensics | Yorktown |