Heritage High School (Leesburg, Virginia)

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Heritage High School
Heritage High School Logo.png
Heritage High School Elevation.JPG
Address
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
520 Evergreen Mill Road, SE

Leesburg
,
Virginia
20175
Coordinates39°05′04″N 77°34′17″W / 39.0843556°N 77.5712951°W / 39.0843556; -77.5712951
Information
School typePublic High School
Founded2002
School districtLoudoun County Public Schools
PrincipalJeff Adam
Grades9–12
Enrollment1,417 (2016-17)[1]
LanguageEnglish
CampusSuburban
Color(s)Red & Black   
MascotPride
Communities servedPotomac Station
Tavistock Farms
River Creek
Village of Leesburg
Feeder schoolsCool Spring Elementary, John W. Tolbert Jr. Elementary, Frances Hazel Reid Elementary, Ball's Bluff Elementary, Fredrick Douglass Elementary, Harper Park Middle School
Rival SchoolLoudoun County High School

Riverside High School

Tuscarora High School
Athletic ConferenceDulles District
4A North Region – Conference 21B
Websitehttp://www.loudoun.k12.va.us/hhs

Heritage High School is a public secondary school located in Leesburg, Virginia, and is part of Loudoun County Public Schools. The principal is Jeff Adam. Its naming broke the previous tradition of naming high schools with two words prior to "High School" (Loudoun County High School, Broad Run High School, etc.).

Heritage is located in the southern border of Leesburg, adjacent to J. Lupton Simpson Middle School and Evergreen Mill Elementary School. It does not serve the southern Leesburg community however, due to the very densely populated eastern section of Leesburg, which Heritage currently serves, including the Sycamore Hill, Potomac Station, Tavistock Farms, Kincaid Forest, Red Rock, Spring Lakes neighborhood and River Creek communities.

History[]

Heritage opened in 2002 for the eastern Leesburg community, feeding most of its students from Stone Bridge High School and the rest from Loudoun County High School. It was originally expected that Simpson's 8th graders would feed into Heritage, but instead, boundary lines were drawn to have Harper Park Middle School feed into Heritage. The lines were drawn and are still drawn to the point where students who live in communities adjacent to Heritage do not go there for high school and instead go to Loudoun County High.

Like other new high schools that opened in Loudoun County before it, such as Stone Bridge and Potomac Falls, Heritage opened without a senior class, and juniors were allowed to choose which school they wanted to graduate from. Most Heritage students came from the Stone Bridge attendance area, and many rising juniors (Class of 2004) at Stone Bridge chose to stay there rather than go to Heritage. This was somewhat understandable because Leesburg students at Stone Bridge in the class of 2004 attended J.L. Simpson Middle School for 6th and 7th grade (1997–1999); went to a brand new Harper Park Middle School for 8th grade (1999–2000); went to a brand new Stone Bridge for their first two years of high school (2000–2002); and then were expected to go to another new school for their last two years. Constant boundary adjustments may have contributed to the large number of rising juniors who wished to remain at Stone Bridge. Consequently, the junior class at Heritage was only about 110 members, rather than about 250 if all juniors were required to go to the new school. In 2010, Heritage switch some of its students to Tuscarora High School in order to alleviate overcrowding.

Of the 312 students in the graduating class of 2006, 112 received the governor's seal on an Advanced Studies diploma, one of the highest academic honors offered by the Commonwealth of Virginia.[2] Like other Loudoun County high schools, Heritage participates in the Advanced Placement program and offers numerous AP courses.

Accreditation and test scores[]

Accreditation[]

Heritage High School is a fully accredited high school based on the Standards of Learning tests in Virginia.

SAT scores[]

The average SAT score in 2006 for Heritage was a 1,532 (518 in math; 515 in critical reading; 499 in writing).

School Year Mathematics Critical Reading Writing Total
2003–2004 485 490 n/a 975
2004–2005 527 523 n/a 1,050
2005–2006 518 515 499 1,532 (1,033 M & CR)

Enrollment history[]

School Year Number of Students
2002–2003 747
2003–2004 1,095
2004–2005 1,340
2005–2006 1,500
2006–2007 1,617
2007–2008 1,746
2008–2009 1,807
2009–2010 1,901
2010–2011 1,327
2011–2012 1,197[3]
2012–2013 1,198[4]

Athletics[]

The mascot is the Pride, in the shape of a Lion. Heritage's sports teams currently play in the Dulles District and Region II of the Virginia High School League. The Pride opened as a member of this district.

Basketball[]

The school is well known for its boys' basketball team which consistently has made it to Region II playoffs, Its 2006 team was the first undefeated team in the history of the Dulles District. The Pride boys' basketball team has won 3 consecutive Dulles District Championships: 2006, 2007, and 2008.

Soccer[]

The boys' soccer team did well in the 2006 season, shaking off the new school reputation, with the Pride's soccer team making it to the AA State Semifinals before falling 2–1 to AA Dulles District champion Potomac Falls.[5] A tenacious rivalry would develop between the two teams, who met five times that season with the Panthers going 4–0–1, including wins over the Pride in the Dulles District Tournament Finals, the Region II Finals, and the State Semifinals.

Many of Heritage's core players returned for 2007 and mounted a commendable challenge scoring 48 goals with 20 against, and an overall record of 14–4–1 and a district record of 13–3–1. They finished Second place in the Regular Season after topping Potomac Falls for a period, who had suffered a tie to Loudoun County and a tie 2–2 to the Pride. However, Potomac Falls would end any chance of Pride Silverware by beating them 0–3 in a heated game away near the end of the season. In the Dulles District Tournament, the Pride finished in Second after a heart breaking overtime loss to Loudoun County finishing 2–1; ending the campaign early.

The following 2008 season would mark the end of an era and a new beginning with, Dulles District Coach and Washington Post All-Extra Coach of the Year, Steve Williams stepping down. Betsey Munson would take the helm who had a glittering, trail of success at Clark County: 4 State Final Appearances and 2 State Championships; not including many coaching awards.[6] Her arrival was accompanied by an unknown, standout player Ivan Callejas, the last time he had played for Heritage had been a brief stint during his freshmen year, he would go on to lead the Pride in goals for the 2008 season.[7] The Pride–Panther rivalry would reach a season crescendo from a pass by Josh Thiel, assisting Callejas in the 65th minute giving the Pride a historic 1–0 victory.[8] The "Pride Shock" would mean that No. 10 in the State, Potomac Falls had lost its first regular season game in almost 3 years or more accurately, since April 19, 2005. They had only lost 3 times prior in the regular season dating from May 1, 2003.[8] Heritage would later be rank No. 10 in the State, until the group suffered their only loss of the season against Potomac Falls 3–1 away. Coach Munson's debut season title would be sealed by a Luis Rodriguez goal against future professional Calle Brown, from a Shawn Page assist in extra time giving Heritage the 2–1 victory. Luis's brace began from an assist in regular time by Nana Darko.[9][10] The Dulles District Tournament would finish in a stunning, turning point upset by Park View in a debatable round of penalties.[11] The final game for the team would be played in Regions losing 1–2 at home, despite State Champion ambitions. Nonetheless, the season marked Heritage Pride Boys' their first, ever Regular Season Title finishing 12–1–3 for the regular season and completing an overall record of 13–3–3.

Two years later in 2010, Coach Munson and a new squad would go on to make another run, finishing in Second place for the Regular Season and making it to the Post-Season Tournament Final, but this time in the AAA Cedar Run District.[12] In the Tournament Final, they narrowly missed out losing to Battlefield 1–2; Jake Flanagan scored the Pride’s lone goal unassisted.[12] Having finished Second in both competitions the Pride would advance and make an away Regional Appearance.

In 2013, Coach Munson claimed the state record for having the most wins as a female coach in Virginia High School League history for boys soccer.[13]

The 2015 season was another notable season for the Pride. The Pride defeated Park View 3–0 and became Regular District Champions for the second time from a hat-trick by Gio Vasquez against Park View.[14]

Lacrosse[]

The Heritage boys' lacrosse team did well in the 2007 and 2008 seasons, finishing 15–3 and 14–3 respectively. They were tournament champions in 2007 and regular season champions in 2008. The class of 2008 has had the strongest class in school history and graduated with the most wins in school history. The class of 2008 also had 3 members go on to play collegiately at the NCAA level.

Other Sports[]

Heritage teams did surprisingly well in the 2005–2006 year. Both the girls' and boys' track teams won their respective AA Dulles District Titles. The football team also had its first winning season in the 2005–2006 school year, with a 7–3 record, sharing the Dulles District title with Park View High School, but unable to make the playoffs because Park View had more power points in the Virginia High School League’s rating system.[15] in 2015, third year head coach Reed Prosser helped the Pride to a 6–4 record, after starting 6–0, and to a playoff appearance.

The Heritage girls' varsity swim and dive team have made a vast improvement over the season of 2014–2015. Seeing as the girls have placed first in the Conference 21 meet, taking first at regionals was an even bigger step. To finish up the season, the team placed third in the 4A Northern Virginia Annual States meet. There were also many record-breakers for swimmers on the Heritage varsity swim and dive team in the 2014–2015 season.

Arts[]

Heritage has very successful band, choral and drama programs which perform at district and regional festivals.

Band[]

The Heritage Symphonic Band During the summer of 2008 was invited by well-known composer Frank Ticheli to perform in the 200-instrumentalist world premier of his new piece "Angels in the Architecture" at the Sydney Opera House in Australia. The performance took place on July 6, 2008 at 2:30 pm in the Opera House's Concert Hall, directed by .

In addition, the band also played their own personal concert at the Opera House consisting of the songs "Into the Storm" by Robert W. Smith, "Of Dark Lords and Ancient Kings" by Roland Barrett, and an arrangement of Danse Bacchanale written by Camille Saint-Saëns and arranged by Jay Bocook.

Marching Band[]

The Pride of Heritage Marching Band competes in the 2A division of USBands. They placed 2nd in the state and 8th at nationals in 2017. The band is currently under the direction of George Herrmann. In 2018 the band placed second in the state again, while winning the overall music caption award. In 2019, the band placed 6th in the state along with also receiving the overall music award. While 2020 has been a rough year for the arts, the heritage high school marching band has kept the pride spirit going with their production of the nightmare before Christmas. As of right now, there isn’t any competitions scheduled for the 2020-2021 season.[16]

Choir[]

Heritage's Choir programs consist of:

  • Heritage Singers: An auditioned choir composed of male and female students (grades 10–12) with an advanced knowledge of music. The group performs advanced literature in a variety of styles from various periods of music history. This group is the core of the choral program, performing frequently throughout the year.
  • TWELVE: An auditioned SATB group of juniors and seniors who sing advanced literature for small ensembles. The primary emphasis is singing jazz styles, but the group also sings holiday music for various events in the community. All members of the group must be in Heritage Singers as well as TWELVE, so that performance can be the priority of this class. In addition to training these students to hear the difficult jazz chords and be able to sing them, they work to develop a quality persona on stage.
  • Women’s Chorale: An auditioned choir composed of female students (grades 9–12) with an advanced knowledge of music. The group performs advanced literature composed and arranged for female voices.
  • Treble Choir: A non-auditioned choir composed of female singers (grades 9–12). The group performs literature composed and arranged for the female voice and appropriate for their skill level.
  • Men’s Choir: A non-auditioned choir composed of male singers (grades 9–12). The group performs literature composed and arranged for the male voices and appropriate for their skill level.

Drama[]

Heritage's Drama Program presents three productions every school year: a play in the Fall/Winter, a musical around late January, and another musical in the Spring. The fall play and the spring musical show for two weekends, while the winter musical shows only one week, due to it being limited to the musical theatre classes at Heritage.

Controversy[]

Mimi Groves & Jimmy Galligan[]

In June of 2020, following the George Floyd protests and Mimi Groves posting support for the Black Lives Matter movement, a short video made by her in 2016 began circulating online. The video drew criticism as she, a white freshman student, used a racial slur while stating excitedly, "I can drive, [slur]" after getting her learner's permit. The slur was not directed at anyone specifically. The video was posted online by another classmate, Jimmy Galligan, who "wanted to get her where she would understand the severity of that word." This came shortly after Groves was accepted to the cheerleading team of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Following this controversy and a public outcry, the university removed Groves from the cheerleading team and she came under pressure to withdraw from the school altogether.[17]

In late 2020, this became a national news story and Heritage and Loudoun County Public Schools came under fire for being a "hostile learning environment" for students in minorities. Galligan also came under scrutiny for perpetuating cancel culture, with many seeing this as unfair treatment towards Groves.[18]

References[]

  1. ^ "Heritage High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  2. ^ Heritage Graduation Marks the End of a Beginning Archived 2006-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "SCHOOL BOARD ADOPTED FY 2013 – FY 2018 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM" (PDF). Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  4. ^ "Superintendent's Recommended Fiscal Year 2014–2018 Capital Improvement Program" (PDF). LCPS. Retrieved 18 November 2012.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ Lukat, Carl (2006-06-13). "Potomac Falls denies Heritage once again, 2–1". Loudoun Times-Mirror. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  6. ^ Select a School (2014-01-31). "Boys' Soccer / Coaching Staff". Lcps.org. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  7. ^ "From Loudoun Boys, the Best of the Season". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b "Transfer Is Giving Herndon a Spark". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  9. ^ "Loudoun County News, Weather and Sports from Loudoun Times-Mirror". Loudountimes.com. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  10. ^ http://47919.digitalsports.com/2008/05/page/2/
  11. ^ "Dulles District Boys Soccer Tournament Final". YouTube. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b "Heritage boys advance to district final". Loudountimes.com. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  13. ^ "Heritage coach Munson honored for record number of wins". Loudountimes.com. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  14. ^ "Heritage High School Boys Varsity Soccer Spring 2018 Game Summaries & Headline". Heritagepridesports.org. 2015-05-14. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  15. ^ Lukat, Carl (2005-11-15). "Heritage takes a lot of Pride in pigskin finale". Loudoun Times-Mirror. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  16. ^ https://www.lcps.org/domain/2578
  17. ^ "A Racial Slur, a Viral Video, and a Reckoning". nytimes.com. 2020-12-26. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  18. ^ "The New York Times Helped a Vindictive Teen Destroy a Classmate Who Uttered a Racial Slur When She Was 15". reason.com. 2020-12-28. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
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