| Lafayette High School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
| 4460 Longhill Road Williamsburg, Virginia, 23188 United States |
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| Information | |
| School type | Public high school |
| Founded | 1973 |
| School district | Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools |
| Superintendent | Dr. Gary Matthews |
| Principal | Mrs. Swinton |
| Assistant principals | Jeff Bond Mia Pollard |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Enrollment | 1,665 (2006-07) |
| Language | English |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Color(s) | Navy Blue, Gold |
| Athletics conference | Virginia High School League Bay Rivers District Region I |
| Mascot | Rams |
| Rivals | Jamestown High School Warhill High SchoolBruton high school |
| Website | Official Site |
Lafayette High School is a public secondary school in James City County, Virginia, just outside the city limits of Williamsburg, Virginia. It is part of Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools and is located at 4460 Longhill Road.
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Lafayette High School opened in 1973 and served as the sole high school for James City County and Williamsburg City. The school itself is located in James City County though it has a Williamsburg mailing address.
In 1997, half of its student body with the exception of rising seniors were moved to Jamestown High School which opened to alleviate overcrowding at Lafayette. The Williamsburg area began to develop rapidly in the late 1990s and 2000s, which prompted the opening of Warhill High School in 2007. Students were forced to redistrict.
Lafayette High School has a long tradition of a challenging theater program. The current director is Susan McCorry who was previously employed at Toano Middle School. Past musical productions at Lafayette include The Music Man, Bells are Ringing, My Fair Lady, Pippin, The Pajama Game, Applause, Lend me a Tenor, Tommy, 1940's Radio Hour, Jesus Christ Superstar, Zombie Prom, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Footloose. Jack Poland was the drama teacher who turned a mediocre drama program into an exceptional one back in the 1970s. It was under his direction that the school produced it's best productions.
Lafayette High School has a major track and football program that has produced several professional athletes (see below). One is a track star and several became NFL football players famous for their running ability. Alumni Lawrence Taylor is in the NFL Hall of Fame. He started like Clark Kent at Lafayette and New York Giants teammates nicknamed him Superman. He is often called "the greatest defensive player of all time."
The Lafayette Band program was quite successful, winning grand championships at several band festivals since the school opened in the early 70’s under the direction of D. Keith Miller. During the period of the early 80's "Corp" style marching programs was introduced by Director John Ford and carried on by Director David Smith. The fledgling marching program was making great strides with the new competitive program. With the introduction of a solid marching program that further inspired the students to raise Lafayette's band program to a higher level, viewed as one of the top concert and jazz band programs in the state. The latter 80's brought a controversial change when Director Alan Wright took over and dismantled the highly popular marching band, changing it back to concert format band. This angered many alumnae students, parents and administrators who had built up the Marching Ram Band at great cost and effort, as it was highly popular with the local public. When Director Wright retired in the early 2000s, many alumnae cheered because the new Director T. Jonathan Hargis reestablished the marching program. The successful marching program now under Direction of Mr. Chris Smith has been advancing since his arrival with both a talented marching band as well as a strong concert and jazz program.
The main office is located right at the main entrance of the school. The wide hallway opens up into the "upper commons". The cafeteria is located in this area. There are three lines for purchasing food. The auditorium is located to the left. Three large hallways branch out from the "upper commons." A smaller hallway leads to the girls locker room and the weight room used for athletic training. The first hallway across from the main office leads to the marketing classes, the gymnasium, the boys locker room, and the trailers, which will no longer be in use after the 2007-2008 school year. There are two hallways which parallel the sides the auditorium. The first is known as the ramp. Another hallway at the top of the ramp leads to the fine arts classrooms. The other hallway leads to "the stairs. Another hallway branches off here as well. It leads to the mathematics and art classrooms. At the end of "the ramp" and "the stairs" is the "lower commons." The lower commons is a smaller gathering area that is busy when classes are changing. The Media Center is located at the back of the "lower commons." A loop goes around the media center. On one side is the semicircular world language and science hallway. On the outside of the semicircle is a pair of well equipped computer labs. On the other side is the social studies and technology hallway. At the back of the loop surrounding the Media Center is the entrance/exit to the bus loop. Two hallways bramch off from the "lower commons." One leads to the small lecture hall and the fine arts hallway. The other leads to math hallway and the social studies hallway.
Lafayette High School's student body is 74% White; 21% Black; 3% Hispanic; and 2% Asian.
| School Year | Number of Students |
|---|---|
| 1995–1996 | 1,949 |
| 1996–1997 | 1,980 |
| 1997–1998 | 1,314 |
| 1998–1999 | 1,219 |
| 1999–2000 | 1,292 |
| 2000–2001 | 1,351 |
| 2001–2002 | 1,391 |
| 2002–2003 | 1,418 |
| 2003–2004 | 1,478 |
| 2004–2005 | 1,536 |
| 2005–2006 | 1,624 |
| 2007–2008 | 1,320 |
Lafayette High School has several activities throughout the year. The first big occasion is the typical Spirit Week and Homecoming Dance. Lafayette is known in the school district for having a parade in Colonial Williamsburg that features each class making a float to accompany their class princes/princesses/kings/queens. A number of clubs also participate as well. During the past several years, the Operation Smile club has hosted a Sadie Hawkens Dance as a fundraiser. The sophomore class occasionally holds their Ring Dance at the school. Prom and After Prom have also been held at the school in past years. The school also has pep rallies for every sports season (Fall, Winter, and Spring).
The mascot is a ram and the sports teams currently play in the AA Bay Rivers District and Region I. Before Jamestown's opening, the Rams were in the AAA Peninsula District. The Rams have won thirteen AA state titles. They have five girls swimming titles from 2004–2008; one in field hockey in 2003; three titles in boys swimming in 1999, 2000, and 2009; one in boys indoor track in 2005; one in boys outdoor track in 2005; one in AA Division 4 football in 2001; and two consecutive individual girls tennis singles titles from 2007-2008.
Lafayette has a number of clubs that have been around for years. They include:
Art Club
Art Honor Society
ASL (American Sign Language) Club
Band
Chamber Choir
Dance Team
Debate Team
DECA
FBLA
Flag Squad
Forensics Team
French Club
French Honor Society
German Club
German Honor Society
Gay-Straight Alliance
Harmonics
Interact
Jazz Ensemble
Key Club
Latin Club
Latin Honor Society
The Lafayette Ledger
LESA
Literary Magazine
Logos
Model UN
Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honor Society)
National Honor Society
Operation Smile
Orchestra
Peer Partners
Project Reach-out
Quill and Scroll
Rams and Lambs
SCA
SGA
Scholastic Bowl
Show Choir
Spanish Honor Society
Student to Student
Student Athletic Trainers
TCE Skills USA
Thespian Society
Video Gaming Club
Yearbook
The Lafayette High School Theatre Department has undergone several changes in direction in the past few years. The current teacher is Williamsburg/James City County 2004 Middle School Teacher of the Year, Suzan McCorry.
Past shows performed at Lafayette Include: Grease, Noises Off, Pillow Talk Footloose, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, A Christmas Carol, Zombie Prom, The Who's Tommy, Jesus Christ Superstar, Blood Wedding, and Scenes from The Grapes of Wrath.
Past Directors Include: Jack Poland, Bill Snyder, Gail Albert, Rosemarie Allmann, Phil Raybourn
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