Chantilly High School

Overview

Chantilly High School is home to four years of study, 9th–12th grade. It is organized into five different "subschools" which each provide administration for a different group of students. Subschools 1–4 are divided by student surnames. Subschool 5 consists of the Chantilly Center, a special-education co-facility which serves students from a wider geographical area than the rest of Chantilly High School. The school uses a block scheduling system.

Chantilly was listed in Newsweek in 2003 as the 72nd-best public high school in America. Chantilly has a high percentage of students enrolled in advanced placement (AP) and honors classes. Chantilly is also a member of the largest public school bus system in the nation, recently overcoming New York City and Los Angeles, with currently over 45 buses servicing the school daily.

Chantilly High School is also home to Chantilly Academy, which offers classes for students in the FCPS school district, including culinary, engineering, Auto Tech, Cisco Networking, and Cosmetology. A full listing of classes may be found at their web site The Academy is home to Chantilly Robotics, a FIRST robotics team participating in the FIRST Robotics Competition, composed of students from around FCPS. Chantilly Academy is also home to VA-20012, Chantilly Academy Air Force Junior ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corp). The mission of the program is to build better citizens through the practice of leadership. The program hase one of the state's highest achieving drill team and color guards.

History

Chantilly High School was built in 1973 as part of the "superschool" or "open classroom/no wall high school" idea. It was also built as a temporary school, made to last for only five years or so. As such, it was built with modules (similar to the modular additions currently being constructed at other FCPS schools), and the school was built in three months. Parts of the school were brought to the site on flatbed trucks and placed together with several cranes. As such, many of the rooms fell into disrepair because they were designed to be temporary, and so Chantilly received a renovation in the early 1990s. Chantilly High school opened in 1973 with students ranging from grades 7 through 10, with four sub schools (Red, Blue, Orange and Yellow), each having color-coordinated lockers. The first graduating class was the class of 1976. Grades 7 and 8 were included in Chantilly High's initial student population due to overcrowding in the intermediate schools. Grades 7 and 8 were moved out when the new intermediate school was built.

The original school colors, as determined by a group of students selected to represent the incoming classes, were orange, white and brown, with the athletic teams named the Chantilly Crusaders. These colors and team name were rejected by the student body and prior to the opening day of the new school, a special vote was held to change the colors and team name. Out of the three options provided by the Fairfax County School Board the purple and white Chantilly Chargers were selected by the student body.

Demographics

As of the 2013–14 school year the school's demographic breakdown is:

Arts and activities

Many of the sports teams have qualified for district, regional, or state competitions. Various clubs and honor societies are active throughout the school year. In December 2007, The Odyssey's adviser-teacher, Mary Kay Downes, won the National Yearbook Adviser of the Year award for her work for yearbooks all over the county.

The CHS Mighty Marching Chargers were the Grand Champion at the Virginia Showcase of Bands and Grand Champion between 2003 and 2006 at the JMU Parade of Champions. The Mighty Marching Chargers were undefeated in the state of Virginia from 2000–2005. Chantilly's indoor drumline has won twelve Atlantic Indoor Association championships (1997, 1999, 2001–2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014). The indoor drumline has also won six Winter Guard International regionals (Nashville 2003, Richmond 2011, and Spartanburg in PSA class; Coatesville 2006, Richmond 2007, and Dayton 2008 in PSO), was the 2011 WGI Percussion Scholastic A class world champion, and the 2014 WGI Percussion Scholastic Open class bronze medalist (promoted from A to Open mid-season in 2014). In December 2011, the Chantilly High School Mighty Marching Chargers represented the Commonwealth of Virginia in the first annual Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Each March, the school hosts the Chantilly Invitational Jazz Festival, which showcases middle and high school bands from across the region, as well as distinguished guest performers. Chantilly Jazz won the Down Beat Magazine award for Best High School Jazz Band for 1985 that included groups from across the entire United States. Chantilly Jazz placed 2nd in the Down Beat Magazine competition in 1986.

Chantilly has a show choir, Touch of Class. With seven choirs total, the Chantilly Choral program features both award winning show choirs and concert ensembles. In 2006, the show choir won 2nd place at a national show choir competition in San Antonio, TX. Touch of Class and the Chantilly Jazz Band join together every Memorial Day weekend for their hit show "Jazz and Pizzazz," a widely recognized performance. Touch of Class was also featured on Fox News in November 2010, when it was named America's Favorite Show Choir in a National Contest hosted by Parade Magazine.

On 12 April 2011, the Chantilly High School orchestras and choirs were invited to perform at the closing of the 10th Annual Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards in the Opera House at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Academic awards

Chantilly is also renowned for its achievement in inter-scholastic competitions. In 2006, Chantilly won the VHSL AAA division's Wachovia Cup in academics, beating out rivals Westfield High School and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. The cup has competitions in 8 different areas, including Newspaper, Newsmagazine, Yearbook, Scholastic Bowl, Debate, Forensics, Literary Magazine, and Theater. This will have been the 8th time Chantilly has won the Wachovia Cup in 12 years. The Chantilly Speech and Debate team has competed on the national level, having finalists at Princeton, Harvard and UC Berkeley tournaments, as well as VHSL State winners and qualifiers for Nationals.

Music and theater

In 2006 the theater department took second place in the One-Act Play Regionals, winning a number of first and second-place awards in the VHSL competition, including best duo, monologue, and readers theater. In 2007, the theater sports team won first place. In 2011, Chantilly took first place in the VHSL One-Act competition.

Over the years, the department has won Cappies for Best actor/actress, best set, best lighting, and best cameo actor/actress. They have been the only National Capital Area high school to have been nominated for Costumes for a play and have had numerous student critics been published in The Washington Post over the years. In 2007, Chantilly was nominated for 12 Cappies awards, including featured actress, featured actor, critics team, graduating critic, costumes, hair and makeup, and more. They went on to win Comic Actor in a play (Jake Ashey - "Sheridan Whiteside"), Best Set and Best Play for The Man Who Came to Dinner.

In 2011, the theater department took first place in the VHSL State One-Act Play competition for the second time in school history. Also in 2011, Chantilly's One Act Play AP Theatre, written and directed by Ed Monk, won the AAA Virginia State Championship with a perfect score.

In 2011, Chantilly's Indoor Drumline won the world championship in WGI's PSA group.

Sports

Chantilly High School stadium sports use Charger Stadium. The 8,500-seat football and soccer stadium underwent a major renovation, with conversion to AstroTurf.

The varsity golf team were Concorde District Champions in 2005, 2006 and 2007, Northern Region Champions in 2005 and 2007, and finished 4th, 6th and 2nd in the state tournament in 2005, 2006 and 2007, respectively.

The Chantilly HS football team won the VHSL Division 6 AAA Northern Region Finals against rival Westfield High School two years after having a winless regular season. The Chargers fell short of the championship with a 42–20 loss to Osbourn High School. Chantilly was also the 1996 VHSL AAA State Football Champions led by future NFL player Bhawoh Jue.

In 2007, Chantilly won the Varsity Cheerleading Concord District Championship, the Northern Region Championship, and the AAA Virginia State Championship. Chantilly holds the highest score ever received in the State Championship, with a 281.

In 2008, Chantilly won the Varsity Boys' Lacrosse Concorde District Championship, the Northern Region Championship, and the AAA Virginia State Championship.

In 2009, Chantilly won the Varsity Boys' Lacrosse Concorde District Championship, the Northern Region Championship, and were the Runners up for the AAA Virginia State Championship.

In 2009, Chantilly varsity girls' soccer won the Concorde District Championship, the Northern Region Championship, and the AAA Virginia State Championship.

In 2011, Chantilly won the Varsity Boys' Lacrosse Concorde District Championship, the Northern Region Championship, and were the runners-up for the AAA Virginia State Championship.

In 2012, Chantilly varsity boys' lacrosse were the runners-up for AAA Virginia State Championship.

In 2012, Chantilly boys' cross country captured its first ever Concorde District Championship, The Northern Region Championship, and the AAA Virginia State Championship. Team captain Sean McGorty was the individual district, regional and state champion, and finished as the national runner up in the Footlocker National Championships.

In 2013, Chantilly won the Varsity Boys' Lacrosse Concord District Championship, and the AAA Virginia State Championship.

In 2013, Chantilly Boys' Cross Country won its second straight Northern Region championship, and the first 6A State Championship.

In 2013, the Varsity Golf team won the 6A State Championship.

In 2014, the Boys' Indoor Track team won the Concorde Conference Championship, and their first Region 6A Championship. The Boys' Spring Track team also won the Concorde Conference Championship.

In 2014, the Varsity Baseball team won the Northern Region title, and finished as the state runners-up.

In 2015, the Varsity Baseball team won the Northern Region title, and finished as the state runners-up.

In 2015, the varsity girls' soccer team won the Conference 5 District Championship.

In 2015, the varsity boys' lacrosse team won the Conference 5 District Championship.

In 2015, the varsity boys' lacrosse team won the Northern Region 6A Championship.

Test scores

Chantilly High School is a fully accredited high school based on the Standards of Learning tests in Virginia. The average SAT score in 2006 for Chantilly was 1628 (535 in Critical Reading, 565 in Math, and 528 in Writing). As of 2011,Chantilly High School students exceeded state average SOL scores for all major exam categories.

Learning Seminar

Prior to the 2006–2007 school year, Chantilly High School implemented what is now known as "Learning Seminar" (LS). According to Principal James Kacur its primary purpose is to provide extra time for remediation and enrichment of students. The outlined plan established two rotating periods on "A" days that would be used for teachers to allow students to make up work, do activities that normally wouldn't fit in class time, and allow students to go to other classes in case they needed extra remediation. It has also been used to fit in assemblies and pep rallies that would normally take time out of the normal day. The plan, however, has been criticized by students and faculty alike for its vagueness, most notably what teachers can and can not do during "LS". As of the 2008–2009 school year, Principal James Kacur has identified several problems with LS and revised the system for the 2009–2010 school year.

Teacher scandals

In March 2006, Thomas Newlun, 53, a special education teacher, allegedly gave a small amount of marijuana to a 17-year-old student during a break between classes. Newlun was charged with distribution of marijuana to a minor, drug distribution on school property and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

On 11 January 2008, Spanish teacher Matthew McGuire was arrested on charges of using his computer to solicit sex with a minor. McGuire also coached track at Chantilly. Arlington County police said they arrested McGuire at his Alexandria home after investigating his online activities for several months. According to Alexandria court records, a detective posing as a 13-year-old girl named Jessica had several conversations with McGuire between March and December 2007.

Notable alumni