Potomac Falls High School

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Potomac Falls High School
Address
46400 Algonkian Parkway Sterling, Virginia, 20165, United States
Website
http://www.loudoun.k12.va.us/pfhs
Information
School district	Loudoun County Public Schools
Principal	David Spage
School type	Public high school
Grades	9–12
Language	English
Campus	Suburban
Mascot	Panthers
Colors	Black and Purple
Founded	1997
Enrollment	1,488 (2006)
Rival Schools	Dominion High School Park View High School
Athletic Conference	Dulles District Region II

Potomac Falls High School is a public secondary school in Potomac Falls, an unincorporated area in Loudoun County, Virginia. The school is part of the Loudoun County Public Schools system and is located on 46400 Algonkian Parkway. Potomac Falls' student body is drawn from the Cascades, Countryside, Broad Run Farms, and Dulles Town Center communities.

Contents 1 History 2 Demographics 3 Accreditation and Test Scores 3.1 Accreditation 3.2 SAT Scores 4 Enrollment History 5 Extracurricular Activities 5.1 Athletics 5.2 Band 5.3 Debate 6 Notes

[edit] History

Potomac Falls High School opened in 1997,^[1] drawing its student body from Park View High School and Broad Run High School. It was the first high school built in 21 years, with Park View being the most recent school opening in 1976. There were about 900 students in grades 9-11 when Potomac Falls opened. There was no senior class since seniors attending Park View and Broad Run who lived in Potomac Falls' attendance area remained at those schools through graduation.

In 2003, students from Potomac Falls and Park View High School were fed into Dominion High School after becoming overcrowded, while students from Broad Run High School and Park View were sent to Potomac Falls. However, growth has stabilized in Sterling since then, and there are no new high schools being planned in the area for the foreseeable future.

The basic high school design for Potomac Falls has been used for every new high school built in Loudoun County since then. Stone Bridge opened in 2000 with Potomac Falls' basic design, but with a larger auditorium and some additional classrooms. Heritage, Dominion, Briar Woods, and Freedom also use the same basic template.

In 2005, Potomac Falls High School dropped resource and instead replaced sixth period with a new system called FLEX. In FLEX, the students first go to period 7, 2, 3, 4 (respectively) from 10:38-11:19 and then they go to period 1, 8, 5, homeroom (respectively) from 11:25 to 12:07. The two periods the students go to depend on what FLEX day it is (the periods will always be the same, if they FLEX to seventh, they will flex to first, if they FLEX to second, they will FLEX to eighth, etc.). This time is usually used for assemblies, clubs, or to fill out forms.

In 2006, Potomac Falls High School decided to make an advisory period. This period began as an add-on of 20 minutes to the last FLEX of the week, but in the 2006-2007 school year it was changed to a full 45 minute FLEX period occuring at the last FLEX of every other week.

[edit] Demographics

In 2006-2007, Potomac Falls' student body was 70% White; 9% Black; 11% Hispanic; and 10% Asian.

[edit] Accreditation and Test Scores

[edit] Accreditation

Potomac Falls 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 Potomac Falls was a 1,555 (532 in Math; 517 in Critical Reading; 506 in Writing).

School Year	Mathematics	Critical Reading	Writing	Total
2000-2001	515	516	n/a	1,031
2001-2002	526	531	n/a	1,057
2002-2003	531	528	n/a	1,059
2003-2004	533	534	n/a	1,067
2004-2005	542	534	n/a	1,076
2005-2006	532	517	506	1,555 (1,049 M & CR)

[edit] Enrollment History

School Year	Number of Students
1997-1998	858
1998-1999	1,216
1999-2000	1,380
2000-2001	1,506
2001-2002	1,579
2002-2003	1,641
2003-2004	1,414
2004-2005	1,405
2005-2006	1,455

[edit] Extracurricular Activities

[edit] Athletics

The mascot is a Panther and the sports teams currently play in the AA Dulles District and Region II. At its opening, the Panthers played in the AAA Concorde District and the Northern Region, but the Panthers were at a severe disadvantage because their enrollment was considerably below the AA/AAA cutoff, and most of its member schools included some of the largest schools in the state, including Herndon and Chantilly High Schools, both schools with enrollments nearly at 2,500 students at the time, while Potomac Falls' enrollment in the 1998-1999 school year was at around 1,200. Potomac Falls played in the Concorde District nevertheless partly because Park View and Broad Run were also in the Northern Region but played in the Liberty District at the time, and also because it was assumed that most AA sized high schools in Northern Virginia, like George C. Marshall High School, would play up in AAA.

Since Potomac Falls' move to AA in 1999, they have enjoyed much success, particularly in their soccer programs. Potomac Falls has won five AA state titles, two girls soccer titles in 2000 and 2004, one in boys soccer in 2006, one in boys golf in 2001, and one in boys tennis in 2002.^{[citation needed]} The cheerleaders of Potomac Falls received the regional and district title in 2006, and placed 3rd in the state.^{[citation needed]} The Panther Dancers (Potomac Falls Dance Team) won a state title in their jazz routine in November of 2006.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Band

The Potomac Falls band has earned the title of Virginia Honor Band by the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association (VBODA) seven consecutive times since its opening in 1997 (1998 – 2005),^[2] attaining overall "superior" ratings at both the State Marching Band Festival and the State Concert Band Festival each of those years. The first six of the seven honors were attained under the direction of Darron Young (currently the director of bands at nearby Loudoun County High School). Timothy Niebergall is PFHS's current director of bands.

[edit] Debate

Potomac Falls debate is coached by Alice Foltz and Lynn Damaty. The three divisions (Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, and Student Congress) compete in tournaments across the state.^[3]

[edit] Notes