Yorktown High School (Arlington County, Virginia)

Not to be confused with York High School, in Yorktown, Virginia.

Yorktown High School
Address
5200 Yorktown Blvd Arlington , Virginia 22207
Coordinates	38°54′12″N77°08′21″W / 38.903458°N 77.139151°W / 38.903458; -77.139151
Information
School type	Public, high school
Founded	1960
School board	Arlington Public Schools
School district	Arlington Public Schools
Principal	Kevin Clark
Faculty	137.66 FTEs [1]
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	2,496 (2019–20) [1]
Student to teacher ratio	18.12 [1]
Language	English
Campus	Suburban
Color(s)	Columbia Blue and White
Mascot	Patriots
Rival	Washington-Liberty High School Wakefield High School
Athletic conferences	AAA Liberty District Northern Region
Website	apsva.us/yhs

Yorktown High School is a public high school located in Arlington County, Virginia. There are around 240 teachers and 2100 students as of 2019. ^[2] In 2022-23 school year, there were 2,577 students. Yorktown's attendance area makes up the northern third of Arlington County. ^[3]

Yorktown is an accredited high school based on Virginia's Standards of Learning (SOL) examinations, and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The school was ranked among the top 100 schools in the nation by Newsweek in 2008. ^[4]

History

The school building opened in January 1950 as an elementary school, The Yorktown School, and it was later converted into a high school. It was called Yorktown from its opening. At that time it was a one-story building and only housed the elementary students.

The high school opened for the first time for the 1960–61 school year, with only sophomores and juniors. ^[5] The first graduating class was in 1962. The original elementary school was converted into a high school to relieve crowding at Washington-Liberty High School.

The school was threatened with closure in 1982 due to declining enrollment, but remained open due to community support. To boost the school's population, the attendance boundary between Washington-Liberty and Yorktown in the northeastern portion of the county was redrawn in 1983. Portions of the Donaldson Run, Cherrydale, Woodmont, Dover Crystal, and Old Dominion neighborhoods were transferred into a larger Yorktown district.^{[ citation needed ]}

In the 1990s its boundaries expanded once again to serve the communities of Rosslyn, Courthouse, Clarendon, Westover, Halls Hill/Highview Park, and portions of Dominion Hills. An entirely new Yorktown facility opened for the 2013–14 school year, after several years of construction. The replacement campus was designed by Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects.^{[ citation needed ]}

Original front entrance of Yorktown High School, prior to 2010 rebuilding

Post-renovation picture, taken from the same perspective as the photo above

Building structure and location

Additions have been made, enlarging the school, but leaving many of the older sections still incorporated within the walls, often still being used as classrooms. Yorktown is placed on a small parcel^{[ clarification needed ]} of land. The School Board does not own the adjacent athletic grounds, Greenbrier Park, which belong to Arlington County. Construction and renovation has been completed on Greenbrier Park.^{[ when? ]} Individual softball and baseball fields have been installed along with a new turf field to be used for football, field hockey, soccer, and lacrosse. A rubberized track was added.^{[ citation needed ]}

First a square, three-floor building was built and connected by a hallway to the old building. Over the next summer a long section of the new building was completed and attached directly to the first phase, and most of the old building was demolished leaving only a small section of science and music classrooms. The newest wing of the new building, the pool, and the gymnasium were then opened over winter break of the next year and the final section of the old building was demolished. As of the 2013–14 school year, the last wing was completed along with the courtyard.

Renovation

Arlington proposed a Bond Package, approved by voters in 2000.^{[ citation needed ]} As a result, in 2003, the school added an external wing to the school, containing classrooms and computer lab.

On May 8, 2006, the Arlington County School Board approved a preliminary design to rebuild the building. Voters approved about $25,000,000 for the project in the 2006 elections and $75,000,000 is on the ballot for next year. On February 1, 2007, the School Board unanimously approved the schematic design for the new Yorktown High School. ^[6]

A new school building opened in September 2004. The athletic fields were renovated in 2007. ^[7]

In January 2012, Phase II of the construction was completed, including three floors of classrooms, an eight-lane pool with diving well, a wrestling room, weight room and new main gym.^{[ citation needed ]}

As of March 7, 2018, plans have been approved to go ahead with another renovation to increase the buildings capacity to 2,189 seats. The conversion will add at least 6 classrooms. The project will cost approximately $4,000,000. ^[8]

Demographics

As of the 2021-2022 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,531 students and 143.69 classroom teachers (on a full-time equivalent basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 17.61:1. There were 196 students eligible for free lunch and 52 eligible for reduced-cost lunch. ^[1]

The school's demographic breakdown of the 2022-2023 school year was as follows: ^[9]

• 61.2% Caucasian
• 16.6% Hispanic
• 7.4% Asian
• 5.5% African-American
• 0.2% American Indian/Alaskan Native
• 0% Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander
• 9.1% Multiple

The vast majority of the school's students reside in the area of the county commonly called "North Arlington" which is the portion of the county north of Arlington Boulevard (US Route 50). The attendance area covers the high rise neighborhood of Rosslyn, which borders Georgetown, all the way to the more suburban neighborhoods of North Arlington bordering Falls Church and McLean. ^[10] A small portion of McLean (22101) and a small portion of Falls Church (22046) within Arlington County are under the jurisdiction of the Arlington Public Schools and its students attend Yorktown. Many of the neighborhoods in the Yorktown attendance area are also zoned to Washington-Liberty High School. High school boundary changes between the two schools historically have occurred at least once every decade.^{[ citation needed ]}

Academics

Performing arts

Yorktown's winter guard has won gold medals in the Atlantic Indoor Association Championships in 2009 and 2010. ^{[11] [12]} After 2009 championships, they were promoted to the A3 class; in 2010 to A2.

The school has won Best Color Guard at the 2009 and 2010 USSBA State Championships.^{[ citation needed ]}

The schools band program has been awarded the title of Virginia Honor Band 8 times, most recently in the 2017-2018 and 2021-2022 school years. ^[13]

Yorktown's Theatre Arts Program has won various awards. It received the Virginia Theatre Association (VTA) award in 2010. It was a finalist to compete in the Southeastern Theatre Conference.^{[ citation needed ]} The 2011 and 2012 performances won both ensemble and acting awards from VTA.^{[ citation needed ]} In 1999, their show ranked 1st in the state. ^{[14] [15] [16]}

The Yorktown Sentry

The school's newspaper, The Yorktown Sentry, has been in publication since 1959. ^[17]

Sports

The school mascot is the Patriots.

Pool and stadiums

Yorktown has a public partnership with Arlington County to use the athletic facilities of Greenbrier Park for softball, baseball, and track & field events.

The Yorktown swimming pool is operated by Arlington Public Schools. During the week, it is used for the high school physical education program of Yorktown and for students of neighboring elementary schools. The school's swim and dive teams use the facility. ^[18]

Starting in 2002, the Arlington County School Board intended to spend over $700,000 on the installation and maintenance of new FieldTurf in various athletic fields and stadiums. In 2006, Yorktown's outdoor stadium was the last of the three Arlington high schools to undergo installation. ^[19]

Football

The Yorktown High School football team's head coach has been Bruce Hanson since 1984. ^[20]

Yorktown State Championships since 2005

Virginia State Championships
Year	Sport/Competition	School
2005	AAA Girls Swimming and Diving	Yorktown
2006	AAA Debate	Yorktown
2006	AAA Girls Swimming and Diving	Yorktown
2007	AAA Girls Swimming and Diving	Yorktown
2007	AAA Debate	Yorktown
2008	AAA Debate	Yorktown
2009	Men’s Rowing	Yorktown
2017	6A Girls Soccer	Yorktown
2019	Class 6 Girls Soccer	Yorktown
2021	Class 6 Girls Field Hockey	Yorktown
2021	Class 6 Girls Swimming and Diving	Yorktown
2021	Class 6 Boys Lacrosse	Yorktown over Battlefield
2021	Women’s Rowing	Yorktown
2022	Class 6 Girls Soccer	Yorktown over Kellam
2022	Class 6 Girls Lacrosse	Yorktown over Battlefield
2023	Class 6 Girls Swimming and Dive	Yorktown
2023	Class 6 Girls Field Hockey	Yorktown over Woodson

Notable alumni

• James K. Baker, 1963, ^[21] co-founder of Dragon Systems and inventor of mechanisms used in Apple Inc.'s Siri
• David Blumenthal, 1970, ^[22] pianist, concert musician, and chamber artist
• Emily Couric, 1965, ^[23] former Virginia state senator
• Katie Couric 1975, ^[24] American broadcast journalist and author
• Jeannemarie Devolites Davis c. 1974, ^[25] former Virginia state legislator
• Tom Dolan, 1993, ^[26] Olympic gold medalist swimmer
• Greg Garcia, c. 1988, ^[27] television producer
• Torri Huske, 2021, 2020 Summer Olympics swimmer ^[28]
• Beverly Johnson, 1965, ^[23] pioneering rock climber and adventurer who skied across Greenland, windsurfed across the Bering Straits, and was the first person to solo cross the Straits of Magellan in an open kayak
• Rich Lowry, 1986, ^[29] editor-in-chief, National Review
• Heather McHugh, 1965, ^[22] poet
• Eric Schmidt, 1972, ^[30] former CEO and executive chairman, Google
• M.J. Stewart, 2014, professional football player, Tampa Bay Buccaneers ^[31]
• Paul Wellstone, 1962, ^[32] former U.S. Senator

References

1. School data for Yorktown High, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed November 14, 2019.
2. "Yorktown High Report Card". Virginia Dept. of Education. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
3. "Yorktown High - Public School". nces.ed.gov. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
4. Dan Brillman and Gina Pace (2008). "The Top of the Class". Newsweek. Archived from the original on October 18, 2007. Retrieved September 11, 2008.
5. "Yorktown High School". yorktown68.myevent.com. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
6. "schematic design" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 29, 2011.
7. "Greengrocer Park – Construction Updates" . Retrieved September 6, 2007.
8. "Yorktown High School Modifications Set For Approval". ARLnow.com - Arlington, Va. Local News. 2018-03-07. Retrieved 2018-03-29.
9. "Yorktown High". Virginia School Quality Profiles. 2022-12-29. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
10. "High School Boundary Map (School Year 2018-19)" (PDF). Arlington Public Schools.
11. 2009 AIA Championships recaps Archived March 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
12. 2010 AIA Championships recaps Archived March 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
13. "Virginia Honor Bands". www.vboda.org. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
14. "CarolCadby.com". CarolCadby.com. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
15. "YHS Theatre Awards - Yorktown Theatre Arts Parents (TAP)". Yhstheatre.org. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
16. "YHS Theatre Program Shows - Yorktown Theatre Arts Parents (TAP)". Yhstheatre.org. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
17. "General Information – Yorktown Sentry" . Retrieved 2019-04-01.
18. "Yorktown Aquatics Center". Arlington Public Schools.
19. "Arlington and Synthetic Turf Fields". Arlingtonva.us. Archived from the original on March 10, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2013.
20. Dalton, Sofie. "Bruce Hanson: A Yorktown Legend". Yorktown Sentry. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
21. "Hall of Fame 2014 | the Alumni & Friends of Yorktown High School".
22. "Hall of Fame 2008 | the Alumni & Friends of Yorktown High School".
23. "Hall of Fame 2004 | the Alumni & Friends of Yorktown High School".
24. Grenadier 1974 - Yorktown High School. Hunter Publishing Company. p. 120.
25. Grenadier 1974 - Yorktown High School. Hunter Publishing Company. p. 22.
26. Tom Dolan
27. Greg Garcia (producer)
28. "Torri Huske". Swim Swam. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
29. Rich Lowry
30. Eric Schmidt
31. "Yorktown grad M.J. Stewart leads locals selected in 2018 NFL draft". www.washingtonpost.com. Archived from the original on 2018-05-02. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
32. "Paul Wellstone, LATE A SENATOR FROM MINNESOTA" (PDF).

External links

• Official website