Chantilly High School
Chantilly High School
| Established | 1972 |
|---|---|
| School type | Public school |
| Principal | James Kacur |
| Address | 4201 Stringfellow Road Chantilly, Virginia 20151 |
| Enrollment | 2,887 |
| Athletic Conference | Concorde District, Northern Region |
| Colors | Purple and white ██ |
| School Song | Chantilly Lace |
| Mascot | Chargers |
| Rival Schools | Centreville High School Oakton High School Westfield High School |
| Homepage | Official Site |
Chantilly High School (CHS) of Chantilly, Virginia is located in Fairfax County, Virginia and is part of the Fairfax County Public Schools system. Most of the graduates attend two or four year colleges.
Overview
Chantilly High School, known colloquially by some students as Tilly, is home for 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. Recently, the block scheduling system was modified to accommodate the addition of two 38-minute "Learning Seminar" periods, where students go to teachers in order to review material or make up missed assignments and tests due to absences, and a 40-minute "PLC" period each Friday, in which teachers in each respective subject department meet to confer.
Chantilly was listed in Newsweek in 2004 as the 94th top 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.
After the retirement of Tammy Turner, James Kacur became the school's principal in the 2005-2006 school year.
Chantilly is partners with Northrop Grumman Corporation, a global defense company based in California.
History
Chantilly High School was built in 1973 as part of the "Superschool" or "consolidated 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 only 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 1990's.
Chantilly Academy
Chantilly High School is home to the Chantilly Academy, a facility which offers special courses in "engineering & scientific technology and health & human services". It is one of several academies in the county and allow students from nearby high schools to enroll in individual classes. Chantilly Academy facilities include a wood shop, computer labs, an Engineering Systems lab, an auto body shop and others. Most of the courses offered are double-blocked, meaning students take them every day. Chantilly Academy has a number of networked computers which are useful in multi-player first-person shooter video games among students and teachers, as well as for academic purposes.
The Chantilly Academy is also home to the only Air Force Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program in the county, offering courses for junior and senior students. AFJROTC students are also eligible to join the drill team.
Some students from the Academy participate as Team 612 in the annual FIRST robotics competition, an international program. In 2005 the Robotics Team constructed a robotic baby walker for a local toddler who faces disabilities. In 2006, Team 612 won the Chairman's Award in the 2006 Chesapeake Regional competition.
Demographics
In 2006-2007, Chantilly's student body was 65% White; 6% Black; 7% Hispanic; 21% Asian, and 1% Native American.
Arts & Activities
Many of the sports teams have qualified for district, regional, and/or state competitions. Chantilly has an award-winning newspaper, The Purple Tide, a nationally-renowned yearbook, The Odyssey, and an award-winning Debate and Forensics team. Various clubs and honor societies are active throughout the school year. The string orchestra has won and placed highly in competitions among some of the top high school orchestras of North America. 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.
The Chantilly High School Fine Arts department has received many awards over the years. The CHS Mighty Marching Chargers have received many rewards, including Grand Champion at the Virginia Showcase of Bands and Grand Champion for the past 3 years at the JMU Parade of Champions. The Mighty Marching Chargers were undefeated in the state of Virginia from 2000 - 2005. Chantilly's indoor drumline is arguably the most successful organization in the school, having won the Atlantic Indoor Association championships five times (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005). The indoor drumline has also won two WGI regionals (Nashville 2003 in PSA class, and Coatesville 2006 in PSO), and was ranked 15th in the world at the 2006 WGI Championships (in PSO class). The current Band Directors as of fall 2006 are Keith Taylor and Drew Ross. The indoor drumline is directed by Chris Martin and Will Riddell. Mr. Riddell also teaches and arranges music for the school's percussion ensemble. Chantilly is also noted for having an excellent show choir program, including the award winning Touch of Class. In 2006, the choir won 2nd place out of two choirs at a national show choir competition in San Antonio, TX. Also, Touch of Class and Jazz Band join together every Memorial day weekend for their hit show "Jazz and Pizazz". Choir Directors are Glenn Cockrell and Michael Fuchs.
Chantilly 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 varsity golf team has seen success in the past two years. They were Concorde District Champions in 2005 and 2006, Northern Region Champions in 2005, Northern Region Runner-up in 2006 and finished 4th and 6th in the state tournament in 2005 and 2006 respectively. Chantilly golfer Joe Monte was the Virginia AAA State Individual Champion in 2005.
Recently, the Chantilly HS football team won the VHSL Division 6 AAA Northern Region Finals against rival Westfield High School only two years after having a winless regular season. They moved on to the VHSL AAA State semifinals where they were up against opponent Varina High School, AAA Central Region champions. Chantilly defeated Varina 17-7 and moved on to the State Finals against Osbourn High School. The Chargers fell short of the championship with a 42-20 loss to Osbourn, with Eagle QB Brandon Hogan running for several crucial touchdowns. The 2006 team was led by All-Met defensive end Zach Hally, Patrick Madaj, Nate Worek, Danny Simms, Austin Morris. The team is coached by Michael Lalli.
The Theater department in Chantilly was founded by Elaine Wilson in 1978. Ed Monk is now the director of the department. He is the playwright of many of the productions at Chantilly. Shannon Katcheressian is the other theater teacher, when she came to Chantilly in 2001 she brought a new level to the department, musicals. She has also started a Theater Company 2nd Flight Productions The two of them combined have achieved to bring the drama department a numerous amount of first place wins. They have brought the department to compete in VHSL, theater sports, and Cappies. In 2006 the theater department took second place in the One-Act play: Regionals; won a number of first and second place awards in the VHSL competition, including best duo, monolouge, and readers theater. In 2007 the theater sports team won first place. Over the years at Cappies the department has won awards for Best actor/actress, best set, best lighting, best cameo actor/actress.
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).
Notable Alumni
- Bhawoh Jue ('97), NFL football player for the San Diego Chargers
- Eric Post ('97), long distance runner (formerly taught at CHS)
- Colin Vint (footballer) ('02), soccer player for SV Henstedt-Rhen [1]
- Jimmy Martin ('02), Current NFL Football player for the Minnesota Vikings. He was signed to their practice squad October 4, 2006.
- Karen Montague Reyes ('86), syndicated cartoonist and creator, "Clear Blue Water".
- Michael Helene Wilson ('99) Celebrity Hair and Makeup Artist (film and Photography), International Artistic team "TIGI Bed Head"
- Tehran Ghasri ('97), MTV Producer, current host of Satellite Syndicated Show, Nightclub owner
- YooChun Park or Micky YooChun ('?), South Korean pop singer/entertainer and member of band TVXQ