Potomac Senior High School is a public secondary school in unincorporated

Prince William County Prince William County is located on the Potomac River in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 482,204, making it Virginia's second-most populous county. Its county seat is the independent city of Manassas ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

; just outside Dumfries. Potomac Senior High School, which serves the nearby incorporated town of Dumfries was established in 1981. When the school first opened there were only freshmen and the students went to school. Originally the campus was located at 15941 Cardinal Drive ( Woodbridge address), what is now the Dr. A. J. Ferlazzo Building. A year and a half later the current school was opened up and the freshmen and sophomores moved there during the

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

break. The current school is at 3401 Panther Pride Drive (Dumfries, Virginia address). Panther Pride Drive was originally named "Four Year Trail." The name was changed by official decree of the school board on April 25, 2007. In 1983 Potomac had its first graduating class of approximately 400 students. Students from both Graham Park Middle School, Rippon Middle School, and the new Potomac Middle School continue their education at Potomac High School. In May 2007, ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

'' ranked Potomac 804th on its annual list of "Best High Schools in America." In 2008 and 2009, ''Newsweek'' ranked Potomac 265 out of 1,500 best public schools in America.

Demographics

In the 2017-2018 school year, Potomac's student body was: *56.6% Black/African American *24.4% Hispanic *11.6% White *8.2% Asian *4.6% Two or More Races *.4% American Indian/Alaskan *.2% Hawaiian/Pacific Islanderhttps://www.pwcs.edu/UserFiles/Servers/Server_340140/File/Accountability/SchoolDataProfiles/HS%20Profiles/Potomac.pdf

State champions

VHSL Record Book

Teams

* 1983

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

* 1985

Softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

* 1988

* 1995 Boys

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

* 1999 Boys

Indoor Track Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping event ...

* 1999 Boys

Outdoor Track Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping event ...

* 2000 Boys

* 2014 Boys Basketball * 2016 Boys Basketball * 2017 Boys

Individuals

* 1983 Anthony Thomas

Wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

(119 lb) * 2001 Chad Malone

(189 lb) * 2011 Anthony Williams

Track and Field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

(300m Hurdles) * 2017 Donovan Louis

(Long Jump) * 2017 Donovan Louis

(55m Dash) * 2017 Donovan Louis

(Long Jump) * 2018 Donovan Louis

(55m Dash) * 2019 Matthew Mitchell

(55m Hurdles)

Student groups

* Marching Band * Winter Color Guard

Extracurricular activities

The Pride of Potomac Marching Panthers is a 17 year Virginia Honor Band, and is affiliated with the Virginia Band and Orchestra Director's Association, or VBODA.

Cambridge program for mathematics and physical sciences

Potomac Senior High School hosts the Cambridge Program for Mathematics and Physical Sciences which is an international curriculum offering broad and balanced study for academically able students. The Cambridge curriculum aims to encourage the skills of independent research and investigation, the use of initiative and creativity and the application of knowledge and skills. Cambridge Scholars are students who take and pass six or more AICE level examinations. Potomac Senior High School has removed all AP classes aside from AP US Government for the 2008-2009 school year and now only offers Cambridge courses.

Test scores

Potomac Senior High School is a fully accredited high school based on its performance on the Virginia

Standards of Learning The Standards of Learning (SOL) is a public school standardized testing program in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It sets forth learning and achievement expectations for core subjects for grades K-12 in Virginia's Public Schools. The standards repr ...

tests. Its

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...

average in 2005 was a 923 (463 in Verbal; 460 in Math)

Notable alumni

* Brian Fitzgerald, Former

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player (

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

) * Edward Simms (Football) Former NFL Player (

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

) * Cliff Hawkins, all-state selection as a sophomore at Potomac and professional basketball player *

Craig Novitsky Craig Aaron Novitsky (born May 12, 1971) is an American former professional football player who was a guard for the New Orleans Saints in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football with the UCLA Bruins. As a senior, Novitsky ...

'89 (Football) at UCLA and three years with the (

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

) * Tim Raley, first team All America in baseball at

Wichita State Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

in 1987 * Keenan Carter, college Football Player

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

* Abdul Kanneh, Former NFL Player (

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

) *Tommy Thigpen, was a three-time All-

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

linebacker for the UNC Tar Heels, and was later drafted by the NY Giants. * Captain Brian Letendre (USMC) KIA -Al Anbar Province, Iraq 05/03/2006 Class of 1996

References

Board Briefs April 25, 2007

External links

*
Potomac High School Booster Club
*

Prince William County Public Schools Prince William County Public Schools is a Virginian school division with its headquarters in the Kelly Leadership Center in unincorporated Prince William County, Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population of the county was 402,002. Prince ...

Class of 1983Class of 1986Class of 1996
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1979 Public high schools in Virginia Schools in Prince William County, Virginia 1979 establishments in Virginia