Lake Braddock Secondary School

Lake Braddock Secondary School
Address
9200 Burke Lake Road Burke, Virginia 22015
Coordinates	38.8026°N 77.2646°W / 38.8026; -77.2646
Information
School type	Public, secondary school
Founded	1973
School district	Fairfax County Public Schools
Principal	Dave Thomas
Assistant principals	Tom Garber
Staff	approximately 400
Grades	7–12
Enrollment	4,135  (2011)
Middle school	1545
High school	2,590
Language	English
Campus	Suburban
Color(s)	Purple and gold ██
Mascot	Bruins
Feeder schools	Cherry Run Elementary School Keene Mill Elementary School Kings Glen Elementary School Little Run Elementary School Orange Hunt Elementary School Ravensworth Elementary School Sangster Elementary School White Oaks Elementary School
Rival schools	Robinson Secondary School West Springfield High School South County Secondary School
Athletic conferences	Patriot District Northern Region
Website	http://www.fcps.edu/LakeBraddockSS

Lake Braddock Secondary School is a combined junior-high and high school in Burke, Virginia, United States, administered by Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). It is one of four secondary schools in Fairfax County; the other three are Hayfield, Robinson, and South County. Opened in 1973, Lake Braddock has recently completed an extensive renovation project. Its mascot is the Bruin, and its school colors are purple and gold.

History

When opened in 1973, adjacent to the namesake reservoir, Lake Braddock drew its students from nearby Robinson Secondary School to the west and West Springfield High School to the south. Lake Braddock was built without walls in most of its educational areas, as it was believed by the administrators of the era that students would learn better in an "open" environment. When school officials realized a school without walls was distracting to teenage students, temporary walls were installed around many classrooms in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This resulted in significant climate control problems throughout the building, which were largely left unfixed until the school was renovated.

Athletics

Soccer

The Girl's Varsity Soccer team is the only team in Virginia to win two back-to-back AAA state championships in 2006 and 2007. The boy's soccer team has won the state championship several times, including a 5-0 victory over Hilton High in 1988 and another title in 1989.

Football

After a 0-10 season in 2004, Lake Braddock went 6-4 in 2005 marking a turn around for the program. In the 2007 season, the Bruins went on a seven game winning streak after their first-week loss to Robinson; Their only other loss came to Northern Region runner-up West Springfield. The Bruins went 8-3 in the regular season in 2007 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2000. In 2009 the Bruins were the Patriot District and the Northern Region Champions and went 8-2 in the regular seasons.They made into the playoffs where they managed to beat Fairfax, defeat Robinson, Redeem themselves against Woodson and win a thrilling overtime game against Battlefield.They continue on to the State Championship and were defeated by the Thomas Dale Knights 35-21. In the first round of 2010 Division 6 playoff games, Lake Braddock easily defeated Langley, 34-10. In the second round of the 2010 Division 6 playoff games, after a stunning 17-3 first half deficit, the Bruins overcame arch rival Robinson (and the referees) with a 24-23 victory on their road to another Northern Region Championship Game. Although, winning against Robinson 24-23, Robinson has been trying to make a huge come back in future games. Lake Braddock advanced into the state semi-final after a 56-18 win over Chantilly High School. In an exciting rematch of the 2009 state semi-final playoff game, the Battlefield Bobcats, who had been defeated 27-24 in overtime by the Bruins the previous year, hung on to win a close 35-27 victory and advanced to win the state title. Lake Braddock did go on to have a 7 wins and 4 losses Fall 2011 season.

Baseball

The Lake Braddock baseball program has won district and regional championships. With a win in the 2008 regionals, they earned titles in two of the last three regional championships. The class of 2013 is one of the most talented classes if not the most talented class to ever play at Lake Braddock. Key players who have been on Varsity are Garrett Driscoll, Alex Gransback, Thomas Rogers, and Alex Lewis.

Crew

The Lake Braddock Crew team was formed in 2000. The position of head coach is currently held by Tracy Shakespeare. The team of more than one hundred students practices at Bull Run Marina. Their men's quad won the VASRA State Championships in 2011, and moved on to the SRAA Scholastic Nationals and the US Rowing Youth Nationals. The women's lightweight eight and freshman eight both came in third place at the 2011 VASRA State Championships, and both moved on to the SRAA Scholasatic Nationals.

Tennis

The Lake Braddock Tennis Teams have achieved success in recent years as regional powerhouse Robinson Secondary School moved into the Concorde District. The Boys Team has won three of four district championships since the redistricting. The team has lost only two district matches in that time frame. The team has also won over 55 district matches in a row, over a four year period. This is one of the longest streaks in the school's history.

Cross Country

The Lake Braddock Cross-Country team has astounded many in their past seasons with 9 girls state championships and 1 boys state championship. Both the boys and the girls team won the state title in 1987. The girls team just recently won the state title in 2009 and the boys team received 4th place in the state. This past season, the boys team took back to back patriot district championships and the girls took the northern region championship.

Lake Braddock Theatre

The Lake Braddock Theatre program is currently in its 34th season, having been under the direction of R.L. Mirabal for most of that time. It has participated in the Cappie program since its inception in 1999, garnering 49 nominations and 13 awards. The theatre is represented in the International Thespian Society by troupe #4807, and contributes to the ITS festival in Lincoln, Nebraska every summer.

Awards

LBT has won the Virginia High School League Patriot District One-Act Play Championship five times (1996, 2000, 2005, 2011, 2012). The most recent Patriot District title was garnered by award-winning star actors Emily Murphy, Sara Silversmith, Sarah Fick, and Zach Newby. LBT also received a Cappie Award for Best Play in 2000 for Dracula. The theater was invited to perform at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2003. Individual students have also received awards for their performances throughout the years.

Musical accomplishments

The Lake Braddock Music program has had several students who have gone to conservatories and major schools of music, including four students currently attending Juilliard School.

Bands

The Lake Braddock band program consists of four concert ensembles at the high-school level: Symphonic Band, Concert One, Concert Two, and a specialty Jazz band. The high school band program is conducted by Michael Luley and Patrick Smith. Roy Holder announced his retirenment at the end of the 2010-2011 school year, after 30 consecutive years as honor band; every year since the award was created. The Symphonic Band has been awarded 30 consecutive superior ratings at the Virginia Band & Orchestra Association (VBODA) Festival since 1981, when the ratings system was first installed. The Lake Braddock Middle School bands are conducted by Michael Luley, Patrick Smith, and Louis Bean.

Marching Band

The Lake Braddock Marching Band is a subset of Lake Braddock Bands and is combined with the Color Guard, conducted by Michael Luley and assistant Patrick Smith. The band has played the half-time show at Bruin football games for over 15 years. They have received 31 consecutive superior ratings at the VBODA Marching Competition since 1981. When combined with the 30 consecutive superior ratings at Festival mentioned above, this makes Lake Braddock the only high school in the state of Virginia to receive the title of Honor Band every year the competition has existed.

Color Guard

The Color Guard generally has about 20 members. Besides performing with the marching band in the fall, the guard performs an indoor performance in the spring, calling it "Spring Guard".

Orchestras

Photo of Symphony Orchestra performing at District IX Festival, on March 18, 2006 at Centreville High School.

Six ensembles comprise the Lake Braddock Orchestra program. The middle school groups are Concert Orchestra, String Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra, and the high school groups are Concert Orchestra, String Ensemble, and Symphony Orchestra. The current head instructor is Beth Reed. The former head instructor of 13 years, until 2010, was Stephanie Holmes.

Chorus

Picture of combined choral groups, with the Lake Braddock Symphony Orchestra, during the Requiem concert on November 15, 2005 at Immanuel Bible Church

The Lake Braddock Chorus consists of 5 different choirs. The five choirs are divided by skill level, as well as by the requirement of audition. The Men's Choir, Women's Vocal Ensemble and the female Freshmen in Bel Canto make up the non-auditioned choirs, and Select Women and Lake Braddock Singers make up the auditioned choirs.

The Lake Braddock Singers (formally known as Symphonic Chorale) is composed of seven Sopranos, eight Altos, four Tenors, five Baritones and four Basses. Each of the female sections is divided into two subsections of three to four singers, and the male sections divide regularly to subsections between two and four people. The choir sings primarily a cappella music with exception to the major works concert. The group is encouraged, by the director, to be leaders within the full choir and help the non-auditioned choirs with their music.

Select Women is a traditional women's choir of approximately 35 10th-12th graders; this number varies from year to year. It is one of the two auditioned choirs at Lake Braddock. Select Women sings in four parts regularly being Soprano 1, Soprano 2, Alto 1, and Alto 2. Members of this group are expected to be leaders in the Choral program. Select is also expected to help the non-auditioned choirs with their music when performing together during the major works concert.

An A cappella group formed in 2008 inspired by the pop a cappella groups of major colleges, including JMU Madison Project and Blues Tones Organizations that perform yearly for the Choir program at Lake Braddock. The group was founded by students and is managed by students as well.

The choirs have won many awards, including in 2006, winning almost every category they entered in Nashville.^{[citation needed]} In 2007, the choir performed in New York City near the site of the former World Trade Center buildings. The choirs also have turned out several highly successful singers, including a quarterfinalist for American Idol, and a several performers in musical theater.

Lake Braddock Secondary School‘s Musical Theatre is a very well known musical theatre in Fairfax County. Every year the Lake Braddock Chorus and the Lake Braddock Theatre programs come together and produce a musical. The musical theatre has been around for over 10 years and has produced shows such as Into the Woods, Guys and Dolls, Oklahoma!, Hello Dolly, The Wizard of Oz, High School Musical, The Sound of Music, Annie, and most recently a top notch performance of Les Misérables. Auditions are usually held in the fall and rehearsals begin shortly after the end of auditions. Rehearsals then last until the spring when the Show airs to the public. Anyone can audition for a musical at Lake Braddock and you do not have to be enrolled in the chorus or theatre classes in order to audition, although it certainly helps because of the practice you receive in those classes that will help you audition better for the musical.

The director of the High School Chorus Program, Megan Cartwright is in charge of producing the musicals. Megan Cartwright has been the director of the High School Chorus Program for over 6 years. She works with the director of the middle school Chorus Program, Mrs. McCarthy. Mr. Mirabal, the head of the Lake Braddock Theatre Program, is also involved in these performances. The Theatre program is responsible for things in the show including the lighting, sound, set/set changes, etc. Musicals at Lake Braddock Secondary School usually have 4 showings over the course of 2 weeks.

Lake Braddock clubs

Lake Braddock is home to over seventy clubs. The DECA Club has sent students to national level competitions. In September 2006, Lake Braddock started a boys volleyball team. The Lake Braddock Speech Team was reorganized in 2006 and began to compete in the VHSL. The Lake Braddock Model United Nations Club is an active participant in local and national conferences. The school also has one of the few active high school chapters of Students for a Democratic Society. The school's It's Academic team has been featured on WRC-TV multiple times. Lake Braddock provides Crew (Rowing) as a club sport. Lake Braddock Crew has medaled in many regattas, including state competitions.

Renovations

A picture of Lake Braddock, during the height of renovation (April 2006).

The school finished a three-year renovation in the summer of 2007, beginning right after school ended in June 2004. The renovations cost taxpayers around $72 million - a record for Fairfax County Public Schools. Fifty-two classroom trailers were installed on campus to accommodate the construction. Other than expanding the school and refurbishing the building, two main goals of the project were an overhaul of the ventilation system and enclose classrooms with permanent walls. Lake Braddock's renovation is now seen as a model^{[citation needed]} for other renovation projects in Fairfax County, such as the renovation of nearby W.T. Woodson High School.

Notable alumni

• Stephen Cao (class of 2014), Passionate Korean-Pop singer and dancer.
• Yousef Abu-Taleb (class of 1998), actor
• Eric Axelson (class of 1989), musician/artist. Bass player for Dismemberment Plan and Maritime.
• Retesh Bhalla (class of 2000), Professional Wrestler "Sonjay Dutt".
• Julia Campbell (class of 1979), actress. Has appeared on television shows such as "Friends" and "Seinfeld" as well as many others.
• Hubert Davis (class of 1988), played 12 seasons in the NBA, now an ESPN college basketball studio analyst. The annual Hubert Davis Tournament of Champions basketball tournament is named in his honor.
• Chad Sisson (class of 1997), "Chad Dukes" co-host of "The Lavar Arrington Show" on WJFK 106.7FM in Washington, D.C.
• Tiffany Dupont (class of 1999), actress. Former Miss University of Georgia. Principal cast member for "The Bedford Diaries" on The CW. Has also appeared in "Grounded For Life", "Yes, Dear", "Joan of Arcadia", and "Greek".
• Matthew Continetti (class of 1999), Author/Journalist. Associate editor at The Weekly Standard magazine; his book, The K-Street Gang, was published in April 2006. Also a frequent contributor on the MSNBC television show Hardball with Chris Matthews.
• Greg Eklund (class of 1988), drummer. Member of the alternative rock band Everclear 1994-2003.
• Allen Johnson (class of 1989), track and field star and Olympic gold medalist for whom the school's track and annual outdoor track and field invitational is named
• Ed Moses (class of 1998), swimmer and Olympic gold medalist
• Bruce Nozick (class of 1978), actor, Has appeared in television and movies such as "Along Came Polly", "24", "Entourage" and as Whit Tillerman in the Showtime series "Weeds".
• Mia Hamm (class of 1989), professional women's soccer player and Olympic gold medalist
• Michael Patrick, Attorney/Author, appeared on CNBC's American Greed and quoted legal analyst
• Eeric Truumees, MD, Noted Spine Surgeon in Austin, TX, author of several textbooks and dozens of articles.
• Susan Williams (class of 1987), Olympic bronze medalist in the triathlon 2004
• Justin Spring (class of 2002), gymnast. Member of United States 2008 Olympic Gymnastics Team.
• Travis Morrison (class of 1990), founding member and vocalist/guitarist for The Dismemberment Plan. After the band broke up, he began his solo career, later forming current band, Travis Morrison Hellfighters.
• Steve Cummings (class of 1988), original drummer and founding member of The Dismemberment Plan
• Tal Bayer and Tom Goodin, (class of 1988), founding members (singer and guitarist) of the Pietasters
• Ann Marie Calhoun (class of 1997), violinist

External links

• Lake Braddock Secondary School
• Lake Braddock Sports
• Lake Braddock Crew
• Lake Braddock Band
• Lake Braddock Orchestra
• Lake Braddock Theatre
• Lake Braddock Chorus