| North Stafford High School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
| 839 Garrisonville Rd Stafford, Virginia, 22554 United States |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Public High School |
| Established | 1981 |
| School district | Stafford County Public Schools |
| Superintendent | Dr. Randy Bridges |
| Principal | Mr. Thomas M. Nichols |
| Vice principal | Mrs. Jeanna DeCarli Mr. Dan Hornick Mrs. Rosina Raines Ms. Margaret Lowry |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Enrollment | 1,725 (Fall 2010) |
| Language | English |
| Color(s) | Navy Blue/Columbia Blue, Orange, and White |
| Athletics conference | Virginia High School League AAA Northwest Region AAA Commonwealth District |
| Mascot | Wolverines |
| Rival | Mountain View High School Stafford Senior High School Colonial Forge High School Brooke Point High School |
| Newspaper | The North Star |
| Feeder schools | H.H. Poole Middle School (Majority) A.G. Wright Middle School (Minority) Rodney E. Thompson Middle School (Minority) |
| Website | http://nshs.staffordschools.net |
North Stafford High School is a public high school in northern Stafford County, Virginia. It is one of five public high schools in the Stafford County Public School District and instructs students in grades 9 through 12.
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Completed in 1981, North Stafford High School was the second high school to be built in Stafford County. Robert White served as the school's principal from 1981 until 1997. Numerous changes occurred in the school during the next five years under the guidance of principals Henry Johnson and James Stemple including changing the school's colors to the current colors of navy blue, Columbia blue, and orange.[1]
The school underwent major renovations in 2003 including the construction of an additional wing on the school for foreign language and to account for overcrowding. The renovation also included adding a new art studio and weight room. In the 2004-2005 school year, James Stemple left to be principal at the newly constructed Mountain View High School and was replaced by current principal Mr. Nichols.
North Stafford is located on State Route 610, or Garrisonville Road, approximately 3 miles from I-95 and U.S. Route 1. The school's attendance zone covers mostly the housing developments along Route 610 between Shelton Shop Road and I-95. Due to the influx of population in Stafford County in recent years, the school's attendance zones and enrollment have fluctuated greatly. Currently, North Stafford's student population is 69% White, 22% Black, 5% Hispanic, and 3% Asian/Pacific Islander.[2]
North Stafford prides itself in achieving academic excellence every year. The school has received Full Accreditation since 2002 and has met AYP in all but one of those years.[3][4][5] Students at North Stafford are offered a variety of choices of study, including the option of Advanced Placement (AP) or Dual Enrollment (DE) courses, business and management classes, and an extensive career and technical education department. Classes not offered at North Stafford but in another Stafford County Public School can be traveled to, allowing students to explore various interests. The Commonwealth Governor's School has one of its 5 locations at North Stafford High School. This magnet school program features a unified curriculum of advanced core classes and cooperative teaching. This program is available grades 9-12. Enrolled students take all of their core classes at the North Stafford Site. Students who are not based at a school with a CGS site are bused to a different site for these four courses. Mountain View students travel to participate in this program.
The North Stafford Band Program is a 20-time Virginia Honor Band, the only band in Stafford County to earn this accomplishment and one of only six schools in the state have the same or higher accomplishments. They are currently under the direction of Mr. Austin Nicholas.
North Stafford currently competes varsity teams in 16 different sports as a member of the AAA Commonwealth District and Northwest Region of the Virginia High School League. The school also fields an Ice Hockey team as a club sport, and the national award-winning Wolverine Thunder Step Team.
The Wolverine Thunder Step Team was selected as one of the four finalists in the "National Step Battle" sponsored by Sony Pictures and Stomp the Yard. Receiving over 50% of the vote, North Stafford's Wolverine Thunder won the competition, along with a trip for the team to New York City.[6]
In their inaugural seasons, the Field Hockey team finished as district champions with a record of 9-3 and the Varsity Football team finished with a record of 6-4.[1] North Stafford has achieved 8 VHSL state championships.[7] The girls gymnastics team won four straight state titles from 1987–1991 and the field hockey team won a state title in 1988. Since the VHSL state cheerleading competition began in 1997, North Stafford has won 3 state titles (1999, 2001, 2004), placed second twice, third once, and fifth in 2006.[7] The school's hockey team, which plays in the NVSHL, has also won 2 state championships in its 4 years of existence.
North Stafford's football program began to receive recognition as a program competitive outside of the Commonwealth District starting with the fall 1999 season. Under the leadership of senior quarterback Chris Ashinhurst, the team advanced to the regional championship game for the first time in school history while rewriting much of the state football record book. Before the start of the 2004 season, 3 players had already committed to Division I-A colleges. The 2004 team finished the regular season undefeated and captured the Commonwealth District and Northwest Region championships. The team's success brought about unprecedented community support as the team continued into the state playoffs. On December 11, 2004, North Stafford played Meadowbrook High School at the University of Richmond stadium for the AAA Division 5 Championship. Despite leading 14-0 in the first half, North Stafford lost 27-35 and took home the runner-up title. But during the 2009 school year they went 7-4 with a playoff appearance. They were ranked first in the Commonwealth district for Division 5 and won a first round bye. However they lost to Osbourne in the Regional Semi-final. Recently they have had there struggles with more than 4 head coaching changes since that historic team, but individual players have gone on to the next level and furthered they playing ranging from FCS-Division 3. North Stafford Football has fans, supporting the Wolverines even through the multipal tough times as of late.
North Stafford cheerleading has earned many titles. In the 09-10 season, the NSHS cheerleading team placed 2nd in Commonwealth Districts, 1st in Northwestern Region, and 2nd in VHSL state competition.
The school's basketball teams have also had success in recent years. In the 2003-2004 season, senior Tierra Bumbrey set a new school scoring record with a total of 1,260 points and the team advanced to the Northwest Region championship. However, that record was broken again the very next year by senior Chris Darnell. During the second half of the 2004-2005 season, the boy's basketball team tied the school record for consecutive wins and advanced to the Northwest Region playoffs. In his career at North Stafford, Darnell set the school record of 1,464 points, 243 blocks, and 776 rebounds.[8]
The North Stafford Boy's Soccer team won the Virginia 1 AAA State Championship in June 2011. Beating Deep Run 1-0. [9] The team also reached the state semi-finals in 2006. The 2007 team was coached by Iric "Boomer" Bressler and former North Stafford standout defender Andrew Mitchell. North Stafford won the Commonwealth District championship over rival Stafford High School while going undefeated in the district. The team finished their 2007 season ranked fifth in the Metro Area by The Washington Post.[10] The team reached the Elite 8 of Virginia soccer in 2010 before losing to Patrick Henry High School of Roanoke, VA.
The Golf Team has had struggles in the past couple of years. But, with newly appointed Head Coach Mike Byrd, the team cut 47 strokes off their final scores, and 2 young men advanced to the VHSL Regionals. The two young men were Ian Chamberlin(Freshman) and Jake Morgan(Junior). In the 2010 season, Taylor Byrd (Sophomore) shot a 73 and Constantine Seuss (Junior) shot an 85 to make it into the regional tournament. They finished third in the district tournament and hope to be even more successful in 2011. The team will be led by Ian, Taylor, and Franco Martinez (Junior).
The Cross Country, Indoor Track, and Spring Track teams have demonstrated varying degrees of success. The Men's team overall is more competitive within the VHSL than is the Women's team in all three sports. In the 2005 Cross Country season, the Men's team won the Commonwealth District Championship[11] and Northwest Regional Meet[12] over county rival Colonial Forge. They went on to place 6th in the AAA division of the VHSL Cross Country Championships.[13] During the Spring season of 2011, the 4x400 Boy's record was set at 3.24.39. at the Northwest Regional Championships where they placed 2nd overall. The group consisted of Mouad Rais, Gabriel Famodu, TJ Williams, as well as Matthew Gaddy.
| Virginia AAA State Championships [7] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Sport | |||
| 1988 | Field Hockey | |||
| 1988 | Girls Gymnastics | |||
| 1989 | Girls Gymnastics | |||
| 1990 | Girls Gymnastics | |||
| 1991 | Girls Gymnastics | |||
| 1999 | Cheerleading | |||
| 2001 | Cheerleading | |||
| 2004 | Cheerleading | |||
| 2011 | Boys Soccer | |||
| Virginia AAA State Runner-up [7] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Sport | |||
| 1989 | Field Hockey | |||
| 1999 | Wrestling | |||
| 2002 | Cheerleading | |||
| 2003 | Cheerleading | |||
| 2004 | Football | |||
| North Stafford State Football Records [7] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Category | Stat | Year | Rank |
| Chris Ashinhurst | Completions (SS) | 259 | 1999 | 1 |
| Chris Ashinhurst | Passing Yds (SS) | 3,306 | 1999 | 1* |
| Chris Ashinhurst | Completions (C) | 404 | 1999 | 5* |
| Nate Ilaoa | Yds Receiving (SS) | 1,299 | 1999 | 2* |
| Nate Ilaoa | Receptions (SS) | 82 | 1999 | 3* |
| Jared Fowler | Completions (SS) | 185 | 2001 | 5* |
| Josh Baldwin | Receptions (SS) | 83 | 2001 | 3(tie)* |
| C=Career | SS=Single Season | * - since broken | ||
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