Forest Park High School (Woodbridge, Virginia)

Forest Park High School is a public high school in Woodbridge, Virginia, unincorporated Prince William County, Virginia, United States. It is part of Prince William County Public Schools and is located on 15721 Forest Park Drive (formerly Spriggs Road; the name changed during 2005-2006 construction on Spriggs Road). The school's name references adjacent Prince William Forest Park, one of the largest natural parks in the Washington metropolitan area.

Forest Park High School
Address
15721 Forest Park Drive

Woodbridge
,
Virginia
22193
Information
TypePublic
MottoNon scholae, sed vitae discimus
(We do not learn for the school, but for life)
Founded2000
School districtPrince William County Public Schools
School number(703) 583-3200
NCES School ID510313002542[1]
PrincipalRichard Martinez
Faculty125.88[1] (on FTE basis)
Grades9–12
Enrollment2,165 (2017-18)[2]
Student to teacher ratio18.15[1]
Color(s)  Royal blue
  Kelly green
MascotBruin
Websiteforestparkhs.pwcs.edu

Forest Park, which was opened in 2000, is the home of the first information technology (iT) specialty program in Prince William County.

In 2008 Newsweek magazine ranked Forest Park on its annual list of "America's Top Public High Schools" [3]

Academics

iT program

Forest Park High School is a center for the iT (Information Technology) program. All interested students must apply for the program, bringing in many students around Prince William County. There are three fields that students can enter: Computer Graphics, Networking, Programming. Each year, iT students are required to take an iT core class. Students can receive a special iT Diploma if they complete six iT courses (four core), or five iT courses and an AP class.

Demographics

In the 2017-2018 school year, Forest Park's student body was:

  • 27.1% Black/African American
  • 20.8% Hispanic
  • 8.2% Asian
  • 7.6% Two or More Races
  • .2% American Indian/Alaskan
  • .1% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
  • 36.0% White[4]

Test scores

Forest Park High School is an accredited high school based on its performance on the Virginia Standards of Learning tests.

Athletics

The Forest Park High School mascot and athletic emblem is the Bruin with royal blue and Kelly green serving as its school colors. The school is a member of the AAA Cardinal District of the AAA Northwest Region of the Virginia High School League (VHSL).

The Bruins compete in the following sports:

State champions
  • 2003 Girls Volleyball [5]
  • 2004, 2006 Girls Basketball [5]
  • 2013 Boys Indoor Track [5]
  • 2013 Boys Outdoor Track [5]
  • 2014 Boys Indoor Track [5]

Notable athletic alumni

Extracurricular activities

Forest Park students have the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of special interest clubs that offer activities, events and competitions,[6] including:

Band

Under the direction of Mr. Shawn W. Davern, the Forest Park band program, a fourteen-time Virginia honor band, offers a wide variety of performing groups, both curricular and extracurricular including

  • Concert Band
  • Symphonic Band
  • Wind Ensemble
  • The Marching Bruin Band
  • Pep Band
  • Jazz Band
  • Indoor Ensembles
  • Chamber Ensembles

Marching Band—performs at the football games as well as competitions. They also perform in the commons certain mornings before class starts.

Pep Band—organized in the 2001–02 school year by students, the Pep Band performs at both the boys and girls basketball home games as well as any regional/state games they are allowed to attend.

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Chorus

Forest Park's choir program has received regional, state and national recognition. In 2005, the Concert Choir was awarded Overall Grand Champion at a national music festival in Orlando. In 2006 and 2008, the Concert Choir was awarded Overall Choral Champion at an international festival in New York City. In 2009, Forest Park Choirs won the Sweepstakes Award at Heritage Festivals in Atlanta. In December 2009, the choir was featured at Epcot Center at the Candlelight Celebration Concert with celebrity narrator, Whoopi Goldberg. In 2011, the Bel Canto Women’s Choir was awarded the Adjudicator’s Award at a national choral festival in New York City, while the Concert Choir and Platinum Jazz won 1st place in their categories.[7] In 2015, Forest Park's Concert Choir was featured at Epcot Center at the Christmas Candlelight Processional with Celebrity Narrator, Chandra Wilson.

The program is directed by Ms. Lara Brittain. Ensembles in the vocal music program include:

  • Platinum Vocal Jazz Ensemble
  • Concert Choir
  • VoiceMale
  • Bel Canto
  • Men's Chorus
  • Varsity Women's Choir

Orchestra
  • Intermediate orchestra
  • Advanced orchestra
  • Consort orchestra

Drama

Forest Park High School also hosts a drama club. Sponsoring three shows a year (a musical, mainstage play, and a one-act play), the program is currently headed by Mrs. Lori Spitzer-Wilk. Forest Park has performed popular shows in the past such as Beauty and the Beast, Sweet Charity, The Wizard of Oz, Oklahoma! , Shrek The Musical, and Young Frankenstein.

Ursa Major literary magazine

The Forest Park literary magazine, Ursa Major, is an award-winning publication[8] produced by the students of the Creative Writing classes and is sponsored by Mrs. Laura Dowling. The magazine is open to all students in the school for literary and artistic submissions. Publication of the magazine is annual in the spring. The magazine also sponsors a Coffee House in the early spring to showcase art in all forms. The magazine can be purchased each June or on-line at lulu.com.

See also

References
  1. "Search for Public Schools - Forest Park High (510313002542)". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  2. https://www.pwcs.edu/UserFiles/Servers/Server_340140/File/Facilities/Publications/2017-18/PWCS%202017-18%20Student%20Demographics%20Report.pdf
  3. "The Top of the Class - Newsweek's complete list of the 1,300 top U.S. high schools". Newsweek. 16 May 2008. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  4. https://www.pwcs.edu/UserFiles/Servers/Server_340140/File/Accountability/SchoolDataProfiles/HS%20Profiles/ForestPark.pdf
  5. http://www.vhsl.org/files/pub-vhsl-recordbook-jan10.pdf Archived 2010-04-14 at the Wayback Machine Virginia High School League Book of Records 2009-2010
  6. "Activities and clubs". Forest Park High School. Retrieved 2018-04-12.
  7. "Awards". Singing Bruins. Archived from the original on August 3, 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  8. "Writing/Photo/Design Contest". Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
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