| South Lakes High School | |
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Veritas in Scientia (Truth in Knowledge)
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| Address | |
| 11400 South Lakes Drive Reston, Virginia 20191 |
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| Information | |
| School type | Public, high school |
| Founded | 1979 |
| School district | Fairfax County Public Schools |
| Principal | Bruce Butler |
| Staff | approximately 200 |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Enrollment | 1,860[1] (2009) |
| Language | English |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Color(s) | Royal Blue █ and Kelly Green █ |
| Mascot | Seahawks |
| Feeder schools | Hughes Middle School, Rachel Carson Middle School |
| Rival schools | Herndon High School |
| Athletic conferences | Liberty District Northern Region |
| Website | http://www.fcps.edu/SouthLakesHS/ |
South Lakes High School is the primary high school for the community of Reston in Fairfax County, Virginia. The school, part of Fairfax County Public Schools, had 1,860 students in the 2009-2010 school year.[1]
The principal is Bruce Butler. The school also has 16 other administrators, including assistant administrators for each grade.[2] The school's mascot is the Seahawk. The school colors are royal blue and kelly green. South Lakes' cross-town rival is Herndon High School.[3] The school newspaper is named the Sentinel.[4]
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South Lakes underwent a $48.2 million renovation from winter 2006 through August 2008. The renovation was completed in time for the 2008-2009 school year.[5]
Its main feeder middle school is Langston Hughes Middle School, which is located just next door. Due to redistricting, a small number of students from Rachel Carson Middle School are set to attend South Lakes from the 2008-2009 school year onwards. Additionally, a small number of students who attended Thoreau Middle School, who previously resided in the James Madison High School district, are now set to attend South Lakes.
In the 2009 school year, South Lakes High School's student body was 46.25% White, 18.76% Black, 16.97% Hispanic, 11.01% Asian, and 7.01% other. 16.79% were not proficient in English, and 33.09% qualified for the free or reduced lunch program.[6]
South Lakes High School is a fully accredited high school based on the Standards of Learning tests in Virginia. The average SAT score in 2009 for South Lakes was 1588 (533 Critical Reading, 536 Math, 519 Reading)[1]
When the school first opened in 1979, South Lakes High School had an "open classroom" design. The school was laid out into four quadrants, one quadrant area for each grade level. Each quadrant, or "sub-school", was labeled by color: green for freshman, blue for sophomores, yellow for juniors, and orange for seniors. When the school was first opened each sub-school was designed to be a classroom within itself. The open space was not divided into individual classrooms or interrupted with walls. The open design was quickly determined to be an ineffective and distracting way for people to learn, especially with different teachers and students learning different materials around them. Individual classrooms were created with temporary dividers which remained until a renovation which took place between 2006 and 2008.
The recent renovation changed several of the building's characteristic features. The four sub-school design was kept, but altered. Like the original design, there are four separate locker commons (one for each grade level), but the ease of access from one to another has been improved. Each classroom is divided by walls, rather than temporary dividers, and have their own door and windows (if located along the perimeter wall of the building). Classrooms have LCD projectors and the math classrooms are equipped with SmartBoards. The four cafeterias were combined into one larger cafeteria located in the center of the building. The media center was also moved and enlarged.[5]
The school's curriculum offers special education courses, remedial coursework, standard courses, and college-level advanced courses. Advanced coursework is offered in the form of the International Baccalaureate program. There is also one Advanced Placement class: AP U.S. Government and Politics. South Lakes also has an Army JROTC program.[1]
South Lakes was a pioneer in the FCPS Political Science Program. A 1.5 credit class reserved for seniors, Political Science involves a one semester introduction to the discipline followed by a semester-long internship with a local government agency or organization. In the past, notable offices such as those of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. John Kerry have hosted interns. Students that have participated in this program have attended prestigious universities, including several Ivy League schools, the University of Virginia, and the College of William and Mary.
As of the 2011-2012 school year, South Lakes began offering a course in Geo-spatial Information Systems (GIS). James Madison University gives five credits to students who have successfully completed the course. The class is only available to Seniors.
South Lakes offers twenty sports at the varsity, JV, and freshman levels.[1] The mascot is a seahawk and the sports teams play in the AAA Liberty District and Northern Region of the Virginia High School League.[7] It is best known for their boys basketball team which has been consistently one of the best teams in the Washington area. Former Duke guard and current Phoenix Suns forward Grant Hill also attended South Lakes. Additionally, Alan Webb, high school and American mile record holder and Olympian attended.
South Lakes has more than seventy clubs, including National Honor Society, World Language Honor Society, Math Honor Society, Model United Nations, and Tri-M Music Honor Society, and clubs for interests in government, academic competitions, performing arts, business, science, computer science, journalism, student leadership and special interests in addition to honor societies for the languages offered.[1][8] South Lakes formed a hockey club in 2009, which won the 2009 JV Hockey Tournament at Ashburn. The team was undefeated in the winter 2010-2011 season.
South Lakes' music department consists of band, orchestra, and chorus programs. They have also recently added a guitar program which started in 2010.
The marching band, the Marching Seahawks, won First Place, Group IIA, at the USSBA, Northern Virginia Regional on Saturday, September 30, 2006. They also earned the distinction of Best Percussion and Best Music in their group. In March 2007 the South Lakes Band traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana to participate in the prestigious Bands of America festival. The band traveled to Orlando, Florida in the spring 2008 and received excellent ratings. At the Oakton Classic on October 11, 2008 they won 2nd place in their class and received caption awards in Brass, Percussion, and color guard. The South Lakes bands performed at Carnegie Hall in 2009 on special invitation.
The orchestra program contains three groups: Concert Orchestra, Symphonic Orchestra, and Chamber Orchestra. The Symphonic Orchestra has received superior ratings at festival competition for the past 8 years. Along with the band and chorus, the orchestra travels once a year. The orchestra has competed in Chicago, Myrtle Beach, Orlando, and New York. In 2008 the orchestra received top honors in Orlando, Florida where the Symphonic Orchestra was awarded superior ratings in every category and Overall Orchestra Champions. In 2009, the orchestra traveled to New York and received Superior ratings.
The South Lakes chorus program contains five groups: Women's Chorale, Men's Camerata, Bella Voce, Chamber Singers, Show Choir, LACE (Ladies A Capella Ensemble) and SMAC (South Lakes Men's A Capella).[8] Every spring, the choral program goes on a trip with the band and orchestra to attend a competition. The advanced Choruses have won at these competitions every year for the past few years. The 2008 trip was to Orlando, Florida where all choirs earned first place in their categories, and South Lakes Singers took home Overall Choral Champions. South Lakes also hosts the yearly East Coast A Cappella Summit. This event showcases different A cappella groups, including Blue Jupiter and Inpulse. These groups also host seminars and workshops on different areas of performance and vocal styles.
The South Lakes High School Theatre Arts Department has been honored with many awards, including multiple nominations and wins in the Cappies (Critics and Awards) Program. Perhaps most notably, the Theatre Arts Department performed its student production of "Phantom" at the 2000 Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland as part of an international program showcasing American high school talent.
More recently, the school won 5 "Cappies" for their production of "Les Miserables: School Edition", taking home awards for Lead Actress in a Musical (Mary Davis), Lead Actor in a Musical (Sean McCoy), Best Comic Actor in a Musical (Alex Turner), Best Orchestra, and Best Lighting.[9] The Department has been selected to represent the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States at the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
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