Broad Run High School
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Broad Run High School
| Established | 1967 |
|---|---|
| School type | public school |
| Principal | Edgar Markley, Ed.D. |
| Address | 21670 Ashburn Road Ashburn, Virginia 20147 |
| Enrollment | 1,415 |
| Athletic Conference | Dulles District Region II |
| Colors | Maroon and Gold |
| Nickname | Spartans |
| Rival Schools | Stone Bridge High School Park View High School |
| Homepage | Official Site |
Broad Run High School is a public secondary school in Ashburn, Virginia. The school is part of Loudoun County Public Schools and located on 21670 Ashburn Road. The current principal is Dr. Edgar Markley.
Contents |
[edit] History
Broad Run opened in 1969 serving all of eastern Loudoun County, including all of Ashburn, Arcola, western Chantilly or what is now known as South Riding, and Sterling. In 1976, a portion of the Sterling student body was moved to Park View High School. As the Ashburn area grew considerably, more students were shifted to Potomac Falls High School in 1997. Stone Bridge High School opened in 2000, which split the Ashburn student body to two different high schools. Broad Run gave the remainder of its Sterling student population to Potomac Falls after Dominion High School opened in 2003 and shifted students in Arcola to Stone Bridge. In 2005, Broad Run split off its South Riding students to Freedom High School .
[edit] Schedule information
Broad Run High School is open from 9:00 AM until 3:48 PM on all school days like the other nine Loudoun County high schools. It is notable that Loudoun County schools are open much later than neighboring jurisdictions such as Fairfax County and Prince William County where most schools open at around 7:30 AM and close between 2:00 and 2:30 PM.
Broad Run operates on an 8 period block schedule alternating each day. Periods 1-4 meet on A days (all class periods in order); and periods 5-8 are on B days. Though there are eight periods, all students have a mandatory FLEX period which is 6th period. Some students, usually seniors who have enough credits, elect to leave early from school or come late.
[edit] FLEX
In 2003, the school changed its scheduling to a new block schedule. Prior to this switch, Broad Run started every day with the same class for 45 minutes, while the rest of the day consisted of 3 ninety minute periods that alternated every other day. After the change, each day had 4 ninety minute periods with periods 1, 3, 5, and 7 meeting on the first day and 2, 4, 6, and 8 on the second. Instead of offering an 8th class, the school instituted a FLEX system, where students would go to two previous classes for approximately 40 minutes each during 6th period for class review or usage as a study hall period. The classes students were to report to rotated on a previously determined schedule, occasionally omitting a class for homeroom or class meetings. While the same schedule has been used since the change, administrators frequently alter how they refer to the FLEX days every year, with "maroon and gold" days, "A and B" days, and "flex and non-flex" days all having been used at some point.
[edit] Reception
Reception to this program has been mixed. Many students enjoy the opportunity to complete homework and study during school. Further, many teachers enjoy the ability to spend extra time outside of their normal class period to review course material or meet individually with students. At the same time, students frequently complain when their teachers require them to complete class specific work instead of finishing homework for other classes. Teachers also on occasion violate the mandate of the program by teaching new material during FLEX. According to the guidelines established by the administration, teachers are not supposed to use the period for studying new material.
[edit] Spartan Read
In 2004, Broad Run started a new program designed to boost the reading levels of students in the school. Spartan Read requires students to spend the first 15 minutes of FLEX in silent reading. Teachers are supposed to enforce this rule and provide reading material for students who did not bring anything to read. Enforcement of the program in individual classrooms varies by teacher: some strictly adhere to the rules while others are more lenient and only require students to remain quiet during the period.
[edit] Demographics
In 2005-2006, Broad Run's student body was 65% White; 10% Black; 10% Hispanic; and 15% Asian.
[edit] Accreditation and Test Scores
[edit] Accreditation
Broad Run High School is a fully accredited high school based on the Standards of Learning tests in Virginia.
[edit] SAT Scores
The average SAT score in 2006 for Broad Run was a 1,568 (535 in Math; 525 in Verbal; 508 in Writing).
| School Year | Mathematics | Critical Reading | Writing | Total |
| 2000-2001 | 515 | 522 | n/a | 1,037 |
| 2001-2002 | 528 | 532 | n/a | 1,060 |
| 2002-2003 | 530 | 527 | n/a | 1,057 |
| 2003-2004 | 530 | 532 | n/a | 1,062 |
| 2004-2005 | 532 | 522 | n/a | 1,054 |
| 2005-2006 | 535 | 525 | 508 | 1,568 (1,060 M & CR) |
[edit] AYP
In respect to Adequate Yearly Progress, the percentage of students passing the English and Math tests at Broad Run averages slightly higher than Loudoun County as a whole, but lags slightly behind in Science.
[edit] Enrollment History
| School Year | Number of Students |
| 1995-1996 | 1,543 |
| 1996-1997 | 1,751 |
| 1997-1998 | 1,284 |
| 1998-1999 | 1,315 |
| 1999-2000 | 1,670 |
| 2000-2001 | 1,343 |
| 2001-2002 | 1,376 |
| 2002-2003 | 1,520 |
| 2003-2004 | 1,483 |
| 2004-2005 | 1,687 |
| 2005-2006 | 1,448 |
[edit] Extracurricular Activities
[edit] Band
Broad Run's band program includes over 100 students, with two concert bands, a marching band, a jazz ensemble, and a jazz lab. The program has won many awards and competitions over a 30+ year history, both locally and on school sponsored trips in the second semester. Broad Run has been named a Virginia Honor Band, the top award for bands in Virginia, twice in its history (1996-1997 and 2003-2004).[1] The band regularly plans spring trips for the month of April to various festivals across the country, including in past years: Orlando, Virginia Beach, Walt Disney World, and Myrtle Beach. Broad Run regularly has multiple students make the All Virginia Band and Orchestra, which is comprised of the top high school musicians in the Commonwealth.
[edit] Recent history
In September of 2000, Eric Van Nederynen was shot and killed while walking to a shopping center near his home.[2] A bari saxaphonist in the band, his murder shocked the entire community in a region that had experienced little violent crime.
In the past 10 years the program has seen a rapid turnover of directors, having 4 from 1996 to present. Barely one year after the shooting, then-band director of the school, Jeffery Kelley, was arrested and charged with two felony counts of taking indecent liberties with two students in the band.[3] Kelley was only caught after being wrongly accused by a disgruntled freshman, upset with her grade in his class. Although this initial accusation was later proved false, it prompted two actual victims to come forth with similar allegations. Director of the band program since 1997, parents and students were shocked by his arrest after knowing him for over 4 years. However, Kelley pled guilty to the charges in March of 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, all but six months suspended and is a registered sex offender. Following his mid-school year departure, Rob Romich took over the program, successfully leading the program to receive high ratings at festivals for the top three bands in the program (wind ensemble, jazz ensemble, and marching band) and becoming a Virginia Honor Band once again. Lisa Napoli was hired to replace Romich in the summer of 2005 and is the current director of bands at Broad Run.
Since Loudoun County Public Schools opened a string program in the middle schools in 2002 to 6th graders, Broad Run and the other nine Loudoun high schools now also have string ensembles starting in the 2005-2006 school year during the school day. As the string program continues to grow, as well as Loudoun County in general, there are plans to introduce a full orchestra program at the high school level similar to the programs found in neighboring Fairfax County.
[edit] Color Guard
Broad Run's color guard program has become a highlight of the Fine Arts program at Broad Run. Under the direction of Catina Anderson, the Fall and Winter Guards have won virtually every competition they have attended beginning in the 2000s.[citation needed] The Fall Guard competes as a unit of the marching band, while the Winter Guard competes independently indoors against various guards from all across the Mid-Atlantic region. The 2006 show was dedicated to the Race for the Cure for Breast Cancer with the music selection and choreography tailored to the theme. In addition, the Winter Guard collected donations throughout the season to donate for breast cancer research and participate in the 2006 Race for the Cure. In the same season, the Winter Guard won the Gold Medal in their division at the Atlantic Indoor Association Championships in Raleigh, North Carolina.
[edit] Debate
The school has a successful debate team under the direction of Ron Richards, having won the inaugural AA State Championship in 2004 (won by policy contemporary switch-side team, Devin Kidner and Reed Pannell) and coming within 2 points of the title in 2005, losing to cross-town rival Stone Bridge. Prior to 2004, no team championship was awarded in debate at the state level, though Broad Run regularly filled the ranks of individual champions. A trophy case located in the school is dedicated solely for trophies won by the debate teams, yet still cannot accommodate the large quantity of trophies amassed over the years. There are three types of debate that have active participation: Policy, Lincoln-Douglass, and Student Congress. Public Forum and Speech teams are set up, but have little to no membership. The team is headed by Albert, but it is unclear who will lead the team next year (it will most likely be one of the co-captains)
[edit] Athletics
Broad Run is a member of the AA Dulles District and Region II. The mascot is a Spartan. Broad Run has been well known for their softball program in recent years, however they have won 6 state titles at the AA level,[4] including:
- 2 for boys cross country (1972 and 1974, runner-up in 1993)
- 1 for girls gymnastics (1991, runner-up in 1976, 1988, and 1990) (note: A and AA were categorized for the purposes of gymnastics as one "unclassified" level)
- 1 for baseball (1991, runner-up in 1990)
- 1 in softball (2000, runner-up in 1994 and 2002)
- 1 in girls soccer (2001, runner-up in 2004)
As well, Broad Run has fielded numerous individual champions in the sports of softball, swimming, and track and field. In addition, the 2000 and 2002 softball teams set new state records for various team categories such as total runs scored in a season, consecutive shutout innings, total strikeouts in a season, and total strikeouts in one. Christy Anch, pitcher for the Lady Spartans from 1999-2002, personally holds 22 individual records according to the Virginia High School League as of November 2005.
The Broad Run football program has experienced varying degrees of success since 2000. The Spartans have fielded 2 teams with winning records (2003 and 2004 6-4 records) and have sent several players to Division I and II colleges. Losing seasons in 2002 and 2005 led to the dismissal of Ken Belchik as head coach and the hiring of Michael Burnett in 2006. The team's record was 1-9 in 2005.
[edit] Rivalries
Broad Run's primary rival school is Stone Bridge High School, located about two miles away. The rivalry between Broad Run and Stone Bridge has been intense in recent years, with large attendance at many of the football, soccer, and softball games between the two schools. However, Stone Bridge moved to the AAA Liberty District in 2005 which drew the football rivalry to a halt, but both schools still play each other in nearly every other sport.
Broad Run still enjoys rivalries with Park View High School in softball, Loudoun County High School in girls' basketball and girls' soccer, and Potomac Falls High School in boys' soccer. The rivalry with Park View in particular has intensified since Stone Bridge's district change, as the two schools were once heated rival schools.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Virginia Honor Bands Yearly History
- ^ "Teen killed in Countryside" by Jon Echtenkamp, Loudoun-Times Mirror, September 17, 2000, retrieved April 10, 2006
- ^ "High school band director arrested on sex charges" by Jon Echtenkamp, Loudoun-Times Mirror, December 05, 2001, retrieved April 10, 2006
- ^ VHSL Record Book, includes list of past champions
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