Forest Park High School (Montclair, Virginia) - Forest Park High School

Forest Park Senior High School is a public high school in Montclair, 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 national parks in the Washington metropolitan area.

Forest Park is the home of the first information technology (iT) specialty program in Prince William County. Forest Park Senior High School is also recognized with their Track and Cross Country Team (State Champions 2012, 2013, and 2014; as well as 15 Individual State Titles, and 55 athletes who have gone on to run at the NCAA level), Academic Scholastic Team (2003, 2006, and 2009 Cardinal District Champions), girls basketball team (the 2003-2004 and 2005-06 Virginia State Champions), and their wrestling team (3 individual Virginia AAA Wrestling State Champions).

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

Academics

iT program

Forest Park Senior 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.

County observatory

The Prince William County Observatory complex consists of and that are mounted to the roof of Forest Park High School. The ten-foot fiberglass dome houses a sixteen-inch Meade telescope, with a CCD camera attached. Students can remotely control the dome and telescope and images will be downloaded into the student's computer. The smaller dome, known as Robo-Dome, will house an eight-inch Meade telescope with solar screen. A video camera and computer will be attached to the telescope and launched to the moon.

Demographics

The following information was provided by PWCS.edu's School Data Profiles found on their website.

In the 2011-2012 school year, Forest Park's student body was:

• 41.8% White
• 24.9% Black/African American
• 15.8% Hispanic
• 10.3% Other
• 6.7% Asian
• 0.3% American Indian/Alaskan
• 0.3% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

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:

Athletic and activities championships

World Champions

• 2014 Ricky Morgan TEAM USA 4*400 Meter Relay World Junior Track and Field Championships

National

• 2014 Mustaqeem Williams 60 Meter Dash, Ricky Morgan 400 meter dash
• 2013 4*100 meter relay, 200 meter dash Mustaqeem Williams
• 2007 Physics Club National Champions
• 2008 Varsity Chess ranked 5th in Nationals in March
• 2008 Crew - Girls Junior Quad placed 1st in the nation
• 2009 Crew - Women's Varsity Quad placed 6th in the nation
• 2010 Girls 4x800 Team placed third at New Balance Nationals

State champions

• 2003 Girls Volleyball
• 2004, 2006 Girls Basketball
• 2013 Boys Indoor Track
• 2013 Boys Outdoor Track
• 2014 Boys Indoor Track

Notable athletic alumni

• Ali Krieger â€" Soccer player; 1. FFC Frankfurt, United States women's national soccer team
• C. J. Sapong â€" Soccer player; James Madison University, Philadelphia Union
• Monica Wright â€" Basketball player; University of Virginia, WNBA Minnesota Lynx

Clubs and other organizations

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

Band

The band ensembles at Forest Park are currently under the direction of Mr. Donald Magee, the school's second band director. He succeeds Mr. J.R. Snow, who built the band into a perennial honor band by the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association.

• Concert Band
• Symphonic Band
• Wind Ensemble
• Marching Bandâ€"performs at the football games as well as competitions. They also perform in the commons certain mornings before class starts.
• Pep Bandâ€"organized in the 2001â€"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

The program is under the direction of Mr. Benjamin Pereyra. The previous teacher was Mrs. Mi-Young Shin. The teacher before that was Mrs. Katherine Colburn, who worked at FP after teaching for some time at Potomac High School. Before that the teacher was Mr. Casey. Orchestras include:

• 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 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.