WEST POTOMAC HIGH SCHOOL

'West Potomac High School' (created by merging 'Fort Hunt High School' and 'Groveton High School') is a public secondary school in Alexandria, Virginia. It is located on 6500 Quander Road and is part of Fairfax County Public Schools.

Contents

History

Demographics

School Newspaper

Sports

History

West Potomac High School was formed by combining the student bodies and staff of Groveton and Fort Hunt High Schools in 1985. The Fairfax County School Board, citing costs and declining enrollment as causes, decided to close Fort Hunt and combine the schools on Groveton's site. Since Groveton and Fort Hunt had a traditional rivalry going back for many years, this was a highly controversial decision which prompted the School Board to rename Groveton in a mostly-successful move to defuse the controversy.
The school's facilities have been expanded since the merger, with two wings added to the main building over the intervening years.
The site of Fort Hunt High school is now Carl Sandburg Middle School. West Potomac's inaugural year was 1985-1986. These students operated under the school motto "The Tradition Begins Now" as the school performed well compared to high schools throughout the rest of the county, the motto was later changed to "Excellence is a Tradition".
There is an intense rivalry with neighboring Mount Vernon High School.

Demographics

In 2005-2006, West Potomac's student body was 48% White; 25% Black; 18% Hispanic; and 8% Asian.

School Newspaper

West Potomac High School's newspaper, the West Potomac Wire, can be found online at wpwire.com. The print version of the paper comes out every month.

Sports

In recent years, the school's Track and Field program, cross country, and also the Crew team have been very successful. In the 04-05 season, the boys track team won the Regional title. In the 05-06 season, the boys track team remained the Patriot District champions for the 5th year in a row, while the girls track team moved up to the second place standing, behind Lake Braddock Secondary School.
West Potomac won Virginia AAA football championships in 1989 and 1990. The Wolverines also won state championships in girls cross country in 1989 and 1990. In the 06-07 season, the football team broke their score record by achieving an 81-74 win in their game against West Springfield. The game went to Quadruple Overtime.