Forest Park High School (Prince William County, 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, 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"

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

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:

* Fall sports
** Cheerleading
** Cross country (boys and girls)
** Field hockey
** Football
** Golf
** Volleyball
* Winter sports
** Basketball (boys and girls)
** Indoor track (boys and girls)
** Swimming (boys and girls)
** Wrestling

* Spring sports
** Baseball
** Softball
** Crew (boys and girls)
** Lacrosse (boys and girls)
** Soccer (boys and girls)
** Tennis (boys and girls)
** Track and field (boys and girls)

Athletic and activities championships

State champions

* 2003 Girls Volleyball http://www.vhsl.org/files/pub-vhsl-recordbook-jan10.pdf Virginia High School League Book of Records 2009-2010
* 2004, 2006 Girls Basketball
* 2013 Boys Indoor Track
* 2013 Boys Outdoor Track
* 2014 Boys Indoor Track
* 2020 CyberPatriot Virginia All Service Division
* 2021 CyberPatriot Virginia All Service Division

2021 CyberPatriot All Service Division National Finalists

Notable athletic alumni

* Ali Krieger – Soccer player; NJ/NY Gotham FC, United States women's national soccer team world cup champion
* C. J. Sapong – Soccer player; James Madison University, Philadelphia Union
* Monica Wright – Basketball player; University of Virginia, WNBA Minnesota Lynx
* Mustaqeem Williams – Track/Football player; University of Tennessee, XFL Vegas Vipers 2020 Olympic Trials
* Ricky Morgan – Track; University of Southern California, Gold Medalist World Junior Championship Team USA Coach University of Texas
* Josh Washington – Track; University of Arkansas, 4xAll American

Extracurricular activities

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

*Academic Team
*America's Club
*Art Club
*Breakfast With Santa
* Chess Club
*Computer Science Team
*Cyber Club
*Dance Team
*Debate Team
*Drama Club
*Earth Science Resource Club
*Edge Club
*Educators Rising
* FBLA
* Fellowship of Christian Athletes
*French Club
*French Honor Society
* German club
*International Club
* JROTC
*Key Club
*Math League
*Sr. Macina's Fan Club
* Model UN
*Muslim Student Association

*My Little Pony Club
*National Art Honor Society
*National Honor Society
*Orchestra Club
*Photography Club
*Racquetball Team
* Relay for Life Club
*Robotics
* Russian club
*SCA
*Science National Honor Society
*Social Studies Honor Society
*Spanish Club
*Spanish Honor Society
*Spring Musical
*Student Ambassador Program
*Theater Sports
*Ursa Major Literary Magazine

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.

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. 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 a publication 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

* Prince William County Public Schools
* Virginia High School League

References

External links

*

GreatSchools Profile

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Educational institutions established in 2000
Public high schools in Virginia
Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League teams
Schools in Prince William County, Virginia
2000 establishments in Virginia