Lake Braddock High School
9200 Burke Lake Road
Burke, VA 22015
703-426-1000
Principal: Linda Burke
Linda.Burke@fcps.edu
Web site: www.fcps.edu/LakeBraddockSS
Back-to-School Night: Grades 7-8, Tuesday, Sept. 27, 7 p.m.; Grades 9-12, Monday, Sept. 26, 7 p.m.
According to Assistant Principal Dave Thomas, Lake Braddock Secondary School is continuing to expand academic and after-school programs for students in both middle school and high school. A key goal for the school staff is to provide a safe and productive learning environment during construction at the school.
Lake Braddock is undergoing the largest renovation project in Fairfax County Public School history. Just over a year into the project, new features and sections to the school include a state-of-the-art heating and cooling system, 16 new science labs, and 52 general education classrooms. A new library and main entrance have significantly changed the front of the building, as well.
"It has been a challenge to limit the impact of construction of the daily lives of our students," said Thomas. Nonetheless, "it is the commitment of the faculty and staff to continue to provide top quality instruction in the classroom, teach, support and assist our students in their academic endeavors, and participate in faculty training and staff development in a variety of areas."
A variety of activities to choose from including sports, dance, arts and crafts, and computers are available in the Middle School After School Program, beginning at the end of September. The program will run on late-bus days, from 2:15-4 p.m., throughout the school year.
High school students will have an expanded AP (Advanced Placement) program to include courses in AP computer science (advanced level). Lake Braddock offers various other AP classes, including classes in foreign language, social studies, science, English, Math, art and music.
"At the start of our renovation, our theme – Bruins Under Construction – Inside and Out – was announced and celebrated with our students and community," Thomas said. "We will continue with this theme for the coming school year."
Enrollment for the upcoming school year is expected to be around 3,850 students for the second year in a row.
Robinson Secondary School
5035 Sideburn Road
Fairfax, VA 22032
703-426-2100
Principal: Dan Meier
Dan.Meier@fcps.edu
Web site: www.fcps.edu/RobinsonSS/
Back-to-School Night: Grades 7-8, Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m.; Grades 9-10, Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m.; Grades 11-12, Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m.
Robinson Secondary School is looking forward to several new things this year, said associate principal Rick Mondloch.
A new modular building in back of the school will add 10 new classrooms to Robinson, along with space for teachers and conference rooms. The building, which will also have a covered walkway to the main building and its own plumbing, will be completed in December, said Mondloch.
“We continue to be very large, but this will ease things quite a bit,” said principal Dan Meier. Total projected enrollment at Robinson this year is 4,114 students: 2,844 high schoolers and 1,270 middle schoolers.
Robinson will also have a new scoreboard, said Mondloch. Its sports teams are now part of the Concorde District, and will play Fairfax, Chantilly, Centreville, Herndon, Oakton and Westfield high schools.
International Baccalaureate (IB) and Advanced Placement (AP) courses will continue at the high school level, said Meier. In a change from previous years, a full range of honors courses will now be available to both seventh and eighth grades in the middle school.
Robinson also offers classes for students from seventh to 12th grades who are behind more than a grade level on reading, said Meier, as well as remediation classes for students who fall behind on SOL tests. The school offers a new criminal justice program for students interested in law enforcement, said Mondloch.
Also, said Meier, Robinson students who want to prepare for the SAT tests can take an online class for free. The school will subscribe to the class so that students can sign on and prepare for the tests from home, he said.
<bt>West Springfield High School
6100 Rolling Road
Springfield, VA 22152
703-913-3800
Principal: David Smith
david.smith@fcps.edu
Web site: www.fcps.edu/WestSpringfieldHS
Back-to-School Night: Tuesday, Sept. 20, in Spartan Hall. Entertainment begins at 6:30 p.m. Parents are encouraged to arrive early or carpool.
Parent Coffees: West Springfield will be hosting a series of informational coffees for parents. The coffees will be broken down by grade level: seniors, Tuesday, Sept. 13; juniors, Thursday, Sept. 15; sophomores, Thursday, Sept. 29; and, freshmen, Tuesday, Sept. 27. All of coffees convene at 7 p.m., in Spartan Hall.
West Springfield High School will open the school year with about 30 new staff members, about 40 more students and very few changes.
"There are no new programs," said Principal David Smith. "There are some refinements to existing programs. We're continuing to hone our schools to meet the needs of all of our kids."
According to Smith, the goal for the new school year is to do "a better job of what we've been trying to do all along."
With the new South County Secondary School opening in Lorton and the concurrent boundary change, West Springfield is one of the schools that has seen a shift in its attendance. Over the next four years, approximately 40 students will be added annually to West Springfield. This year, Smith expects the student population to be about 2,270 strong when the first attendance is taken.
To accommodate the new students, Smith said that the school has made "some minor changes." Over the summer, an additional classroom was carved out of space from the back of the library. Smith said that this new classroom will probably be used for the science department. Also, the school has added one trailer and an old darkroom has been converted into a small classroom.
To help keep the student population in check, Smith said that he has been "taking a pretty firm line on new pupil placement requests."
For the new year, West Springfield's core goals remain the same, Smith said: "To try to meet every student's academic needs."
W.T. Woodson High School
9525 Main St.
Fairfax, VA 22031
703-503-4600
Principal: Robert Elliott
Robert.Elliott@fcps.edu
Web site: www.fcps.edu/woodsonhs/
Back-to-School Night: Wednesday, Sept. 28, starts at 5:30 p.m. with an Activity Fair.
No major changes are planned at W.T. Woodson High School this year, said principal Robert Elliott, by e-mail, although the school is expecting renovations around 2007. Trailers will begin arriving in the summer and fall of 2006, wrote Elliott.
During the year, Woodson’s PTSA will sponsor Friday-night sock hops as alcohol-free alternatives following home games. Faculty and staff will continue to focus on overcoming challenges posed by the “No Child Left Behind” law, wrote Elliott. The school houses two regional special education programs for students, some of whom come from outside Fairfax.
Enrollment continues to increase, wrote Elliott, and will be somewhere between 2,050 and 2,100 in the coming year.
Sam Wallace, Lea Mae Rice and Michael O'Connell provided additional reporting for this story.