West Potomac High School

Infobox Education in the United States
name= West Potomac High School
imagesize= 137px
motto= Excellence is a Tradition [ [http://www.fcps.edu/WestPotomacHS/pages/about/school.html About our school...] WPHS Website]
streetaddress= 6500 Quander Road
city= Alexandria
state= Virginia
zipcode= 22307
url= http://www.fcps.edu/WestPotomacHS
district= Fairfax County Public Schools
principal= Rima Vesilind
assistant_principals=
staff= approximately 220
fundingtype= Public
schooltype= high school
grades= 9–12
language= English
communities=
feeders= Sandburg Middle School
campus= Suburban
mascot= Wolverines
colors= Royal and silver ██
founded= 1985
enrollment= 1,959
enrollment_as_of= 2006
free_label_1= Rival schools
free_1= Mount Vernon High School
free_label_2= Athletic conferences
free_2= Patriot District Northern Region
bgcolor_section= #BBDDBB
bgcolor_label= #BBDDBB
bgcolor_value= #EEEEEE
bgcolor_address= #EEEEEE
bgcolor_url= #EEEEEE

West Potomac High School (created by merging Fort Hunt High School and Groveton High School) is a public secondary school in Alexandria, Virginia. It is located on 6500 Quander Road and is part of Fairfax County Public Schools.

History

West Potomac High School was formed by combining the student bodies and staff of Groveton and Fort Hunt High Schools in 1985. The Fairfax County School Board, citing costs and declining enrollment as causes, decided to close Fort Hunt and combine the schools on Groveton's site. Since Groveton and Fort Hunt had a traditional rivalry going back for many years, this was a highly controversial decision which prompted the School Board to rename Groveton in a mostly-successful move to defuse the controversy.

The school's facilities have been expanded since the merger, with two wings added to the main building over the intervening years.

The site of Fort Hunt High school is now Carl Sandburg Middle School, while the site of the old Groveton High School is now the Fairfax County Adult Learning Center. In West Potomac's inaugural year, 1985-1986, the school motto was "The Tradition Begins Now". As the school performed well compared to high schools throughout the rest of the county, the motto was later changed to "Excellence is a Tradition".

There is an intense rivalry with neighboring Mount Vernon High School.

Demographics

In 2006-2007, West Potomac's student body was 44.43% White; 26.40% Black; 18.30% Hispanic; 7.58% Asian; 3.29% Other [ [http://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/schlprfl/f?p=108:13:3973283178551506::::P0_CURRENT_SCHOOL_ID:200 FCPS > School Profiles > West Potomac HS > Demographics] Fairfax County Public Schools June 2007]

chool newspaper

West Potomac High School's newspaper, the "West Potomac Wire", is published monthly.

ports

In recent years, the school's track and field program, cross country, and also the crew team have been very successful. In the 2004-05 season, the boys track team won the regional title. In the 2005-06 season, the boys track team remained the AAA Patriot District champions for the 5th year in a row, while the girls track team moved up to the second place standing, behind Lake Braddock Secondary School.

West Potomac won Virginia AAA football championships in 1989 and 1990. cite web | url = http://www.vhsl.org/recbook.pdf | title = Virginia High School League Book of Records, Eleventh Edition | publisher = Virginia High School League | date = 2007-06 ] The Wolverines also won state championships in girls cross country in 1989 and 1990. The West Potomac It's Academic team won first place in the Patriot District and fourth in the region in January 2008.

Notable alumni

* Tiombe Hurd, '91 — 2004 Olympian who holds the American record in the triple jump [ [http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?archive=true&article=80568&paper=71&cat=198 Former Wolverine star made U.S. Olympic squad on third try in 2004.] , Rich Sanders, "The Connection", July 20, 2006]
* Willie Pile, '98 — Professional American football player (Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys) [ [http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?archive=true&article=80561&paper=71&cat=198 Late arrival to the sport, Pile has excelled on gridiron at West Potomac, Virginia Tech, and in the NFL] , Rich Sanders, "The Connection", August 3, 2006.]
* Michelle Madison, '89 — Model, TV personalityFact|date=November 2007
* Micah Johnson — American football player for the University of Kentucky. Transferred to Fort Campbell High School in Fort Campbell, KY in 2004, graduated '06
* Donna Dixon, — Groveton High School graduate. Actress wife of Dan Aykroyd. Daughter of Earl Dixon, owner of the now-defunct club Hillbilly Heaven, which was on Jefferson Davis Highway in Lorton, Virginia, graduated '75
* Jimmy Bennet — College football player for the University of Connecticut.
* Robert Byrd — College football player for Troy University.

External links

* [http://wpwire.com West Potomac Wire]

References