Battlefield High School

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Battlefield High School
Success Is A Choice
Address
15000 Graduation Drive Haymarket, Virginia, 20169, United States
Website
www.BattlefieldHighSchool.org
Information
School number	(571) 261-4400
School district	Prince William County Schools
Principal	Amy Ethridge-Conti
Vice principal	Natalie K. Bonshire, L. Edward Stephenson, Major Warner
School type	Public high school
Grades	9–12
Mascot	Bobcat
Colors	Purple, Black, and Silver
Founded	2004
Enrollment	2,262
Athletic Conference	AAA Cedar Run District AAA Northwest Region

Battlefield High School is a public secondary school in Haymarket, Virginia, located within the Gainesville District of Prince William County, and is part of Prince William County Public Schools. It is one of two Centers for Information Technology in the school division. The Prince William County School Division is the third largest school district in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the fifty-eighth largest school district in the United States.

Originally nicknamed "Dominion Valley High School" for its location proximal to the housing development of the same name along Route 15, the naming committee for the school ultimately elected to avoid options that included "Dominion Valley," "Gainesville," and "Haymarket" as it was felt the school name shouldn't ostracize any of the communities or developments it would ultimately serve.

While even some school district documents refer to the school with the acronym "BFHS," the acronym "BHS" is preferred.

The rapid construction of homes in the area surrounding Battlefield has resulted in a tremendous population increase, which guarantees that at least for now, the school will operate well over its intended capacity. Communities served by Battlefield include Bridlewood, Bristow, Bull Run Mountain Estates, Catharpin, Coverstone, Dominion Valley, Evergreen, Gainesville, Glenkirk, Heritage Hunt, Lake Manassas, Piedmont, Rocky Run, Somerset, Town of Haymarket, and West Market.

Contents 1 History 2 Campus 3 Students 3.1 Enrollment 3.2 Attendance 3.3 Standardized test scores 4 Faculty and staff 5 Curriculum 6 Extracurricular activities 7 Other Photographs 8 References 9 See Also 10 External links

[edit] History

Battlefield High School was opened in September 2004 as the ninth high school in Prince William County.

Its first principal was Jack W. Parker, who retired in 2005. The current principal is Amy Ethridge-Conti. Assistant Principals include Natalie K. Bonshire, Major R. Warner, Jr., and L. Edward Stephenson. Jane Sumner is the Specialty Program Coordinator and Lisa Zdravecky is currently the Teacher on Administrative Assignment. Ben Stutler serves as Director of Activities, and Danielle "Dani" Gately serves as Head of Security along with the School Resource Officer, Officer John Tillman.

In both the 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 school years, Battlefield High School was named a "School of Excellence" by Prince William County. According to PWCS, "a School of Excellence must be fully accredited by the state and ... must ensure that ninety-five percent of students beginning the year on or above grade level pass the SOL tests. They must also ensure that fifty percent of students beginning the year below grade level pass the SOL tests."^[1]

Battlefield High School is a fully accredited high school based on its performance on the Standards of Learning tests in Virginia since its opening in 2004.^[2]

[edit] Campus

Originally simply "High School #9," the campus includes one primary academic building, a separate security residence, an observation tower overlooking the large student parking lot, and the athletic stadium complex. (The stadium does not currently bear a specific name.) Located on Graduation Drive, the school is within the Dominion Valley subdivision. The academic facility ("the school") is approximately 276,000 square feet in size, is located on a 79.77-acre site, and was designed by Moseley Architects, formerly Moseley Wilkins, and Wood. Construction took place beginning in March 2002, with the facility opening on 19 August 2004.^[3]

Many of the interior trim aspects were originally painted a salmon color, but after the selection of the school colors (purple, black, and silver), many trim sections were repainted in school colors. The floors of the school feature black tile borders along wall edges and school-colored purple lockers, configured "over-under" to provide two lockers per bay. The walls are white and power-efficient fluorescent lighting is used throughout, supplemented by natural light that enters through windows both in classrooms and in stairwells, as well as through the courtyard. Additionally, a large atrium at the center of the school is a functional architectural detail that allows natural light into the surrounding areas.

As is common practice with many modern schools, corridors are labeled with "road signs," helping students to navigate the large structure. At Battlefield, "east-west" roads are numbered First, Second, and Third streets on the ground level, beginning closest to the front of the school. On the upper level, Fourth and Fifth streets follow the same pattern. "North-south" corridors are "avenues," each beginning with an ascending letter of the alphabet and each named for something relevant to Battlefield's community. "Antioch Avenue" is the first on the ground floor, followed by "Bristow," "Catharpin," and "Dominion Valley" Avenues. On the upper floor, "Evergreen, "Freedom," "Gainesville," and "Haymarket" Avenues complete the grid.

The on-paper capacity of the school is approximately 2,050, though the school's current enrollment (2,266) seems to be fully contained within the existing facility. However, it is anticipated that the population will outgrow the physical facility starting in 2007, demonstrative of the rapid pace of growth in the region. There are preliminary plans in place to open the county's eleventh high school in the nearby Brentsville Magisterial District near Vint Hill, which would again be designed for approximately 2,050 students. ^[4] While the plan originally called to open this new high school by 2010, budget concerns may delay this opening.

[edit] Students

As of 30 September 2006, using the terms from the reporting instrument, the student body was 64.3% White, 11.9% Asian / Pacific Islander, 11.4% Black, 9.7% Hispanic, 2.6% unspecified, and less than 1% Indian/Alaskan. English is the predominantly-spoken first language of the population, followed by Korean. Over twenty countries of origin are represented in the student body.

[edit] Enrollment

Upon its opening for the 2004–2005 school year, the student population was approximately 1,100 students. With the addition of the senior class for 2005–2006, that number was approximately 1,750. The enrollment for 2006–2007 as of 30 September was 2,276 students, with 736 students in 9^th, 605 in 10^th, 514 in 11^th, and 421 in 12^th grades respectively.^[5]

According to a report by the Guidance Department of 26 March 2007, there are currently 2,262 students enrolled, with 713 students in 9^th, 608 in 10^th, 508 in 11^th, and 415 in 12^th grades respectively. The anticipated enrollment for opening day of the 2007–2008 academic year is 2,477, with growth expected to result in enrollment exceeding 2,500 during the course of that year.

In 2004–2005, 5.57% of the student body was enrolled in Advanced Placement courses. In 2005–2006, that figure increased to 11.51% of the student body. In 2005–2006, 42% of graduating students received a Standard Diploma, and 50.4% of graduating students received an Advanced Diploma. Dropout rates have been less than 2% since the school opened in 2004.

For 2006–2007, the school began hosting its Air Force JROTC program, which is currently comprised of 135 students. The program is led by Lt. Col. R. Cartee and Chief Master Sergeant D. Woodiel, and instructs both aerospace history and engineering as well as leadership and community skills.

The iT Specialty Program at BHS stood at 415 students for 2006–2007.

[edit] Attendance

Average daily attendance for 2004–2005 was 94.7%, and for 2005–2006 was 94.18%, with any duration departure from the instructional setting constituting an absence for purposes of reporting this statistic. In the 2005–2006 school year, 90% of graduating students matriculated to a college or university, 49% to a four year program and 41% to a two year program.

[edit] Standardized test scores

As reported by the school division to the Virginia Department of Education, English Performance pass rates were 91% of 99% tested in 2004–2005, and 92% of 100% tested in 2005–2006. Mathematics Performance pass rates were 93% of 99% tested in 2004–2005, and 90% of 99% tested in 2005–2006. Science Performance pass rates were 89% throughout 2004–2006. Social Studies Performance pass rates were 95% for 2004–2005 and 92% for 2005–2006.

The average composite SAT score for a Battlefield High School student in 2005–2006 was 1035.

[edit] Faculty and staff

Battlefield High School employs 223 total staff members, 143 of whom are members of the instructional faculty. Forty-two of the teachers are new for 2006–2007, including 28 newly-created positions. This includes a full security staff, and a full custodial staff. PWCS facilities were recently ranked the cleanest and best maintained on the eastern seaboard by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board. As reported to the Virginia Department of Education, in 2005–2006, only four teachers in the building did not meet Federal standards for the definition of "Highly Qualified," less than the Commonwealth average of five teachers per school. As of 2005–2006, 48% of the staff had completed at least one graduate degree beyond the Bachelor level. Many teachers at Battlefield hold multiple graduate degrees and/or professional certifications, and several are actively involved in doctoral studies. It is anticipated that approximately 20 to 25 new teacher positions will be added for the 2007–2008 academic year.

There are currently several committees operating at the school, including the Technology Committee, the Social Committee, the Research Professional Learning Community, the Principal's Advisory Council, and the Ninth Grade Transition Task Force.

[edit] Curriculum

Battlefield offers a county wide IT-specialized program for qualified students. The program offers courses in computer science and programming, as well as advanced certification programs including A+, Oracle, Cisco, Microsoft Certified Systems, and is a certification center for the Certified Internet Web Professional program.^[6]

In 2006, the Virginia Department of Education conferred an award upon the iT team of business partners for collaboration between the iT program at Battlefield and local industry.^[7]

[edit] Extracurricular activities

The school mascot is the bobcat and the sports teams currently play in the AAA Cedar Run District and Northwest Region.

As of 16 March 2007, the roster of clubs and activities at Battlefield High School included the following:

Animae Band (Both Concert and Marching) Baseball Basketball (Boys, Girls) Bowling Club Cheer Creative Writing / Magazine Crew (Boys, Girls) Cross Country (Boys, Girls) Culture Club (formerly World Languages Club) Dance Debate D.E.C.A. (Distributive Education Club of America) Drama / Theatre EDGE (interdenominational Christians) English Honor Society (Quill and Scroll) Equestrian Club F.B.L.A. (Future Business Leaders of America)

F.C.A. (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) Field hockey Football Forensics Freshman Class Future Educators of America Golf Gymnastics (Boys, Girls) Guitar Club Hip Hop Indoor Track (Boys, Girls) Interact Club International Club Junior Class Key Club Lacrosse (Boys, Girls) Model United Nations National Honor Society National Art Honor Society National French Honor Society National Latin Honor Society

National Spanish Honor Society Newspaper Orchestra Outdoor Track (Boys, Girls) Photography Club Robotics S.C.A. (Student Council Association) Scholastic Bowl Science Club Senior Class Soccer (Boys, Girls) Softball Sophomore Class Step Team Swim (Boys, Girls) Tennis (Boys, Girls) Tri-M Music Honor Society T.S.A. (Technology Student Association) Volleyball (Boys, Girls) Wrestling Yearbook

The Battlefield Robocats robotics team received the "Rookie All Star" award during both the FIRST 2006 Richmond, Virginia preliminary competition and the FIRST 2006 Columbia, North Carolina preliminary competition, qualifying the Robocats for the FIRST Robotics World Championship held in Atlanta, Georgia. The Robocats took the "Rookie All Star" award a third time during the Atlanta World Championships, making them the 2006 Rookie Team of the Year.^[8] The team is led by teachers Gail Drake and Michael Piccione.

The girls tennis team won the 2006 Cedar Run District^[9] and the Northwestern Regional title. Coach Lisa Rucker was named Coach of the Year by The Washington Post as a result.^[9]

The Battlefield Band is a Virginia Honor Band, and is affiliated with the Virginia Band and Orchestra Director's Association, or VBODA.^[10] The band is under the direction of Matt Brodt.

[edit] Other Photographs

Staff members accept the latest School of Excellence banner from the School Board.	The Men's Chorus performs.	Students process to the first graduation in 2006.	Men's Basketball forms its next strategy.
The Robotics Team celebrates victory.	LtCol Cartee instructs AFJROTC drill.	The Battlefield Band performing in 2006.	Local officials help dedicate BHS in 2004.
The "satellite" office, home to several Assistant Principals.	The 835-seat auditorium.	The courtyard in February.	The "mini theatre," seating nearly 80.
A science classroom.	A language arts classroom.	A visual arts classroom.	Lecture Two, one of the large seminar spaces at Battlefield.
A social studies classroom.	Gymnasium interior.	One of many computer labs in the facility.

[edit] References

[edit] See Also

• Prince William County Public Schools

[edit] External links

• Prince William County Public Schools
• PWCS High School Directory
• Battlefield High School Official Website
• Battlefield High School SchoolFusion Site
• Battlefield IT Specialty Program
• Battlefield Robotics
• Battlefield Band Program
• Town of Haymarket

• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 38.844755° -77.633321°
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