Independence High School is a public

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

in Ashburn,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, and is part of

Loudoun County Public Schools Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) is a branch of the Loudoun County, Virginia, Loudoun County, Virginia, United States government, and administers Public school (government funded), public schools in the county. LCPS's headquarters is located ...

. Opening its doors to students for the first time in 2019, Independence High School serves the communities of Ashburn and Brambleton.

Administration

Independence High School is headed by John G. Gabriel, a 2017 semi-finalist for ''The Washington Post'' Principal of the year. Gabriel was previously the principal of John Champe High School, and an assistant principal at Park View High School.

Athletics

The Independence High School

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

is a

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

and its sports teams currently play in the 5A Potomac District. The Independence High School athletic director is Ryan Rogers, who came from th
Heritage High School
in

Leesburg, Virginia Leesburg is a town in and the county seat of Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. It is part of both the Northern Virginia region of the state and the Washington metropolitan area, including Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. European se ...

to open up the school in 2019. Independence High School offers competitive cheer, cross country,

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who play while marching. Historically they were used in armed forces and many marching bands remain military bands. Others are still associated with military units or emulate a military sty ...

crew A crew is a body or a group of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchy, hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the ta ...

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

, indoor and outdoor track, girls' volleyball,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

, and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

Extracurricular activities

Marching arts

Marching band

The Independence High School Marching Band is under the direction of Kyle Harrington and Amanda Young and has grown a prestigious reputation since its beginning in 2019. The band has amassed numerous awards and achievements, including the VMBC Commonwealth Cup in 2023 and 2024, along with being crowned class 6A state champions in both of these years. They also placed second at the

Bands Of America Bands of America (BOA) is a music education advocacy organization and promoter of high school marching band competitions in the United States. Established in 1975 as Marching Bands of America (MBA), founder Larry McCormick's goal was to provide e ...

Mid-Atlantic Regional in 2023 and were the class 3A champions, as well as being placed 15th at the

Indianapolis Super Regional during prelims in 2024.

Indoor percussion ensemble

For the first time in the school's history, Independence High School participated in an

indoor percussion ensemble An indoor percussion ensemble or indoor drumline is a type of marching ensemble consisting of battery and front ensemble instruments. It differs itself from a traditional percussion ensemble by not only on musical performance, but on theatrics ...

season in 2025 and combined with Rock Ridge High School and Briar Woods High School to form Rock Ridge Combined Percussion. During the 2025 season, the group was under the direction of Justin Ratcliff and Patrick O'Rourke from Rock Ridge High School, along with having help from additional staff from the other two schools.

Independence Chorus

The Independence Chorus is currently a growing program under the direction of Mrs. Jennifer Tyler. The choral program consistently receives high scores at Assessment and demonstrates significant promise. In addition to running the choral program, Jenn Tyler is the musical director for Independence High School's musicals, while also runnin
Storm Music
a private voice and piano lesson studio. The Independence Chorus is a growing program and shows excellent progress under the direction of Jennifer Tyler.

References

External links

Independence High School website

Independence High School athletics

Independence High School bands
{{Authority control 2019 establishments in Virginia Educational institutions established in 2019 Public high schools in Virginia Schools in Loudoun County, Virginia