Yorktown High School
Encyclopedia : Y : YO : YOR : Yorktown High School
| Established | 1960 |
|---|---|
| School type | public school |
| Principal | Ray Pasi |
| Location | Arlington, Virginia |
| Enrollment | 1,859 |
| Athletic Conference | National District Northern Region |
| Colors | Columbia Blue, White |
| Nickname | Patriots |
| Rival School | Wakefield High School, Washington-Lee High School |
| Homepage | [Official Site] |
Yorktown High School is a public high school located in Arlington County, Virginia. The school is a part of the Arlington Public Schools district.
Yorktown has about 1,800 students and over 200 faculty. Students grow through their involvement with each other through days like ROCSfest. It is a Blue Ribbon School and it has an avid educational system. Its current principal is Dr. Raymond Pasi. All of Yorktown teams are named the "Patriots."
In the 2005 Challenge Index study of public high schools, Yorktown placed in the top ten most academically challenging high schools in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Yorktown ranked 25th in the same study when it last ranked schools nationwide.
History
- In September of 1960 the "New School" in Arlington opened its doors for the first time to students and staff. As a young biology teacher I shared with many of you the excitement of that time, something I continued to do until my retirement in l995 as the last original staff member:
Origins
The school building began as a studio for a public broadcasting channel, as well as an elementary school (known as "Yorktown Elementary"). Additions have been continually added over the years, making the school much larger, but leaving many of the older sections still incorporated within the walls, often still being used as classrooms. Yorktown is placed on a small parcel of land and does not own its athletic grounds but it belongs to Arlington County, and is known as Greenbrier Park. This includes the multi-purpose stadium (used for football, lacrosse, baseball, field hockey, and soccer) and a quarter-mile asphalt track, which abuts a small playground frequented by small children and their parents.The Rock
One unique feature at Yorktown is the beloved Rock. The Rock was placed at the corner of the school near the athletic fields in 1994. Since then it has been tagged (spray-painted) by classes, sports teams, clubs, and people trying to raise awareness about certain issues every year. An inspection of a piece of fallen-off paint revealed the cumulative layers of paint on the rock is nearly one inch thick. The Rock has even been known to receive several new layers of spray paint in a night, by different groups of students.ROCSfest
ROCSfest is a thrice-yearly set of programs designed by Yorktown High School to help each student learn to Respect Others, the Community, and Self. The program was implemented at Yorktown in the 2003-2004 school year by a Social Studies teacher, Michael Palermo. The program consists of a series of teamwork and trust-building games; however, much of the student population does not take the activities seriously and the number of cases of truancy on ROCs days are so high that the administration cannot call and notify all the parents of offenders. For the 2005-2006 school year, the program was split into three half-day session instead of the one full-day program of previous years to cut down on truancy by having classes on the same days as ROCSfest. For the 2004-2005 program, sportswriter and tv show co-host, Michael Wilbon, attended the event as a motivational speaker for the student body. ROCSfest is facilitated by students from the Leadership & Diversity Training class, which is based on the Help Increase the Peace Program (HIPP), created by a Quaker group known as the American Friends Service Committee. Recent guest speakers at the ROCSfest include former Secretary of State, General Colin Powell.
Alumni
Famous and notable alumni from Yorktown include TV personality Katie Couric, astronaut David M. Brown, pilot David Charlebois, olympic swimmer Tom Dolan, diplomat Joe Kruzel, former U.S. Senator from Minnesota Paul Wellstone, and judge and civic activist George Varoutsos.David Brown was an astronaut aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia and was killed when it was destroyed; David Charlebois was a pilot on one of the hijacked airliners on the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks which crashed into the Pentagon; Beverly Johnson, a world-class rock climber, died in a helicopter incident; Paul Wellstone died in an airplane crash; Joe Kruzel, a U.S. diplomat, killed in an armored-vehicle attack; and Charles Monroe, a county civic leader, collapsed during a board meeting.
Most of these distinguished alumni (and others) are honored in the school's "Hall of Fame and Inspiration," located in the auditorium lobby. The plaques honoring the former students were made possible through the generosity of Hubert N. "Jay" Hoffman III, YHS Class of 1962.
Student life
Students take eight periods of classes throughout every school year. Lunch periods are 4, 5, and 6. Seniors are allowed to go off-campus during lunch to eat or buy food, but many underclassmen still leave, since the administrators are relatively lax regarding this rule. On certain days the schedule is a block day, meaning that the first and seventh periods last two periods each (odd block) or their second and eighth periods take two periods each (even block). This ensures that teachers have an adequate amount of time to teach their students. Each period is roughly 45 minutes, so block classes are about 1 hour and 30 minutes long, with 10 minutes before or after, allowing students to stretch, buy food, and socialize. Between all other classes there are 6-minute breaks allowing students to move from class to class in the congested halls. The break was extended from 5 minutes after the "new building" was built, in order to allow students to navigate the extra distance, since the "old" and "new" buildings are unconnected except through the gym. Recently, the school board has moved to ban all unhealthy snacks and soda, replacing them with healthier options, but there are still soda machines in operation despite the fact that the ban was to begin Oct 31, 2005. Only the snack machines have so far been affected. All of the vending machines except those in and adjacent to the cafeteria, however, are turned off during the lunch periods in an attempt to curb the purchase of such unhealthy food and drink.Activities and Clubs
Yorktown is characterized by a large student body with most students participating heavily in several clubs and activities. Several classes also call for extensive after-school time, leaving the halls of Yorktown filled with students even after final bell. Yorktown offers a debate team, a student newspaper (The Yorktown Sentry), an award winning music program, and extensive theatrical activities in addition to numerous student-led clubs and sports teams. Those that cannot find a club or activity they enjoy at Yorktown can usually find an activity at the Arlington Career Center by using two class periods to take a course there. If all else fails, students can work together and start their own club. This has led to the formation of clubs such as the Rock, Paper, Scissors club.The Yorktown Theatre Department
- Please see the child page here
Population
-as of the [Virginia Department of Education] (2005-2006)-- Total Student Enrollment: 1,859
- Asian/Pacific Islander: 8.6%
- Black: 7.3%
- Hispanic: 15.7%
- White: 68.3%
- American Indian/Alaskan Native: 0.1%
- Students who receive English as a second language support: 91
- Enrolled in Advanced Placement Courses: 981
- Enrolled in Independent Studies: 52
- Total Teaching Faculty: 111
- Total Administrators: 6
- Teachers with a master’s degree or beyond : 95
- Average Years of Teaching Experience in Arlington: 12
- Total Average Years of Teaching Experience: 12
Test Scores
Yorktown High School is a fully accredited high school base on its performance on the Standards of Learning tests in Virginia. Yorktown's average SAT score in 2005 was an 1,154 (577 in Verbal; 577 in Math).Athletics
Yorktown High School posses a very successful athletic program, directed by Mike Krufreld who preaches a philosophy of playing with class and sportsmanship. Setting the high standard for athletic excellence started in the 1960's when the boy's gymnastics team, led by nationally renown head coach Jesse Meeks, guided the team to eight state titles in a ten-year span dating from 1963-1973. Other sports to garner a state title have been girl's gymnastics, boy's tennis, and most recently in 2006 girl's swimming. Yorktown is also recognized for building up a successful wrestling program from the 1960's all the way until the 90's with seven individual state champs.Yet most popular at Yorktown is football. Football became a niche sport in the upper Arlington community after Meeks (also football coach) guided the team to several near-undefeated seasons in the 70's which resulted in several district titles. After his departure, the program fell victim to mediocrity until present head coach Bruce Hanson took hold of the reigns in 1984 and soon brought back the winning ways to Greenbrier Stadium. Friday night home games are a big draw for the school, averaging around 2,000-3,000 in attendance depending on the opponent. While never winning a state title, Yorktown has won two region titles (1988 & '99) with three runner-up finishes as well. Prior to 2005, Yorktown has never went two consecutive years without a National District title to their credit.
Arlington County is in the process of rebuilding brand new outdoor athletic facilities for Yorktown, including two softball fields, seperate baseball stadium, and brand new football stadium set to include state-of-the-art FieldTurf, concrete bleachers, multi-story press box, new track, restrooms, larger concession stand, and storage buildings. Costs are around 7 million dollars total with the football stadium set to be completed Fall of '06 in time for football season.
External links
Concorde District
Centreville | Chantilly | Fairfax | Herndon | Oakton | Robinson | Westfield
Liberty District
Jefferson | Langley | Marshall | Madison | McLean | South Lakes | Stone Bridge | Woodson
National District
Edison | Falls Church | Loudoun Valley | Mount Vernon | Stuart | Wakefield | Washington-Lee | Yorktown
Patriot District
Annandale | Hayfield | Lake Braddock | Lee | South County | West Potomac | West Springfield | T.C. Williams
| Arlington, Virginia Public Schools High Schools H-B Woodlawn | Wakefield | Washington-Lee | Yorktown Middle Schools Gunston | H-B Woodlawn | Jefferson | Kenmore | Swanson | Williamsburg |
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