Loudoun County High School

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Loudoun County High School

LCHS Logo
Established 1954
School type public school
Principal Bill Oblas
Location 415 Dry Mill Road SW
Leesburg, Virginia 20175
Enrollment 1,342
Athletic Conference Dulles District
Region II
Colors Navy Blue
Gold
Nickname Raiders
Rival Schools Heritage High School
Loudoun Valley High School
Homepage Official Site

Loudoun County High School is a public secondary school in Leesburg, Virginia. It is located on 415 Dry Mill Road SW in the Town of Leesburg and is part of Loudoun County Public Schools. It currently serves students who live in western and southern Leesburg, Middleburg, and Lucketts. Many students, teachers, and locals refer to Loudoun County High School as County.

Contents

[edit] History

Front of Loudoun County High School
Enlarge
Front of Loudoun County High School

The school is the oldest high school in Loudoun County which opened in 1954. County has served a mostly rural population, and remained this way especially after Broad Run High School's opening in 1967 took sections in the more suburban eastern half of the county. However, as the growth of Loudoun County hit further west beginning in the 1980's, and because of rapid growth from that time on, most of County's population has become suburban.

After over 45 years of being the sole high school for the central part of the county, in 2000, County sent most of its eastern Leesburg student base to Stone Bridge High School after its student body ballooned to 1,600 students from about 1,200 for most of the 1990s. Two years later, County fed the remainder of its eastern Leesburg student base into Heritage High School. In 2005, a small number of County students were relocated to Freedom High School.

[edit] Renovations

County has undergone several renovations and expansions since it was opened. In the 1980's, a new science wing and cafeteria were built in the back of the high school, which allowed the old cafeteria to become the new site of the current band and chorus rooms. One large problem with the science wing was that it was located upstairs from the cafeteria, but was unconnected to the rest of the school. In 1996, a new main gymnasium and girls locker rooms were completed. The new gymnasium can carry about 1,300 people, and the old main gym (which could only carry about 500) became the auxiliary gymnasium. Six foundation based trailers were built to replace classrooms that were displaced by the project.

In 1999, additional parking spaces were built around LCHS because of the addition of eight temporary trailers that were placed on a faculty parking lot due to overcrowding; the trailers were moved to Loudoun Valley the next year when Stone Bridge opened. In 2002, two high school seniors set an assistant principal's office on fire, closing school for a week. Because of the fire's damage, the school had to replace its old-fashioned bell system with an electronic one that the other five high schools at that time used. The main office was renovated before the end of the 2001-2002 school year.

In 2005, Loudoun County underwent its most extensive project in school history, which included the building of another auxiliary gym to replace the older one (which was the main gym). The old auxiliary gymnasium turned into a new library, which used to be in a second floor hallway. The library's area turned into a new section of classrooms which eliminated the need for the six foundation based trailers which were removed. Additional classrooms were built adjacent to the science wing and aerial walkways were built connecting the second floor of the front of the school to the science wing. The completions were done in 2006.

[edit] Demographics

In 2005-2006, Loudoun County's student body was 77% White; 9% Black; 9% Hispanic; and 4% Asian.

[edit] Accreditation and Test Scores

[edit] Accreditation

Loudoun County High School is a fully accredited high school based on its overall performance on the Standards of Learning tests in Virginia.

[edit] SAT Scores

The average SAT score in 2006 for Loudoun County was a 1,582 (530 in Math; 537 in Critical Reading; 515 in Writing).

School Year Mathematics Critical Reading Writing Total
2000-2001 518 530 n/a 1,048
2001-2002 520 533 n/a 1,053
2002-2003 533 544 n/a 1,077
2003-2004 535 555 n/a 1,090
2004-2005 551 548 n/a 1,099
2005-2006 530 537 515 1,582 (1,067 M & CR)

[edit] Enrollment History

School Year Number of Students
1995-1996 1,116
1996-1997 1,259
1997-1998 1,289
1998-1999 1,432
1999-2000 1,584
2000-2001 1,151
2001-2002 1,172
2002-2003 1,118
2003-2004 1,145
2004-2005 1,219
2005-2006 1,244

[edit] Athletics

County plays in the AA Dulles District and Region II. The mascot is a raider, from John Mosby's era. Unlike most of the older Loudoun County high schools at some point in their history, County has never played in Group AAA, though it did flirt above the AA/AAA cutoff in 2000. Their rival school has traditionally been Loudoun Valley High School, but recently, Heritage High School has begun to assume this role because it is located less than five miles from County, along with Valley's departure to Group AAA in the 2005-2006 school year.

The Raiders fan club "Raider Riot" was formed in the fall of 2006. It constantly consists of 30-50 fans and can sometimes reach up to 100-150 at big rival games.

Loudoun County High School consistently fields strong girl's basketball, girl's soccer, and girl's tennis teams, all of which have been AA state runner ups within the last 10 years. Though it is the oldest high school in Loudoun County with many distinguished athletes and teams over the years, County did not receive their first state title until 2003, when they won the AA girls' tennis state title over Jamestown High School of Williamsburg. This was followed in 2006, capturing the AA boys' tennis state title over Hidden Valley High School of Roanoke. The boys also had a record of 23-0, a perfect season. Also in 2006, Girls basketball finished second in the state to Jamestown High School of Williamsburg, Virginia, ending a tough run to the final 4 ending at Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, Virginia. The girls volleyball team was the runner-up to the state championship in 2006 after winning the Dulles District championship as well as the Region championship.

[edit] Trivia

  • Loudoun County High School was mentioned in the movie, Remember the Titans, when Bill Yoast the former head coach at Francis C. Hammond High School of Alexandria, Virginia initially decided to move to another school as head coach. Yoast however in the movie and in real life stayed in Alexandria to become the defensive coordinator at T.C. Williams High School.


Loudoun County Public Schools

High Schools
Briar Woods | Broad Run | Dominion | Freedom | Heritage | Loudoun County | Loudoun Valley | Park View | Potomac Falls | Stone Bridge

Intermediate Schools
Harmony

Middle Schools
Belmont Ridge | Blue Ridge | Eagle Ridge | Farmwell Station | Harper Park | Mercer | River Bend | Seneca Ridge | Simpson | Smart's Mill | Sterling

Alternative/Magnet Programs
Academy of Science C.S. Monroe Technology Center