Gar-Field Senior High School


Gar-Field Senior High School is a senior high school in Woodbridge in unincorporated Prince William County, Virginia, USA, with students in grades 9 through 12. Established in 1953, it was originally located at 15941 Cardinal Drive until the current school opened in 1972 on 14000 Smoketown Road.
It has recently been one of the largest high schools in Virginia, with enrollment peaking at over 3,000.

History

The high school's motto is "The School of Champions" and they have been rivals with Woodbridge High School for many years.
The name Gar-Field is derived from two prominent local families, the Garbers and the Manderfields, who donated the land for the original school just off of U.S. Highway #1. The comic strip "Ber-Mander," which appears on the back page of the school newspaper, utilizes the unused portions of these names. Ber-Mander was created by artist Chris Sprouse in the early 1980s, and featured a "hippie" title character.
In the 1950s, Gar-Field was segregated, as were Virginia's other schools. However, in 1962, African-American students were enrolled without incident.
Gar-Field is one of two high schools in Prince William County that offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program and the IB Middle Years Program. It also has the only accredited daycare system of any high school in the state, with a program that allows student-parents to finish their education while learning about how to take care of their children.
Gar-Field is of similar design to that of nearby Woodbridge High School, which was also built in the mid-1970s.
In May 2007, Newsweek Magazine ranked Gar-Field 564th in the nation on its annual list of "Best High Schools in America."
In June 2007, then-principal Roger Dallek announced his retirement after over 20 years at Gar-Field. He was succeeded by Dr. Brenda L. Aiken in the 2007–2008 school year. Dr. Aiken was a former resident of New York state and served for over 20 years with the Fairfax County school system. Dr. Brenda L. Aiken died of cancer at 53 years old on Saturday May 16, 2009. Former principal Roger Dallek returned to fill the position for the remainder of the 2008–2009 school year.
Upon the start of the 2009–2010 school year, William Bixby took the position of principal until his promotion at the end of the 2013 school year. Dr. Cherif Sadki, a former vice principal, took over as principal for the 2013–2014 school year. In January 2019, Dr. Sadki announced his resignation and former principal Roger Dallek returned yet again to fill the position on an interim basis.

Graduation rates and ceremonies

Gar-Field graduates between 500 and 700 students every June, and since 2002 all graduations have taken place at the Patriot Center at nearby George Mason University in order to accommodate the large crowds. The class of 2000 was the first graduating class to have the ceremony at George Mason University.

Robotics Team

Gar-field High School's robotics team started in 2006, and that same year the team won the Virginia FTC Championship and attended the World Championships in Atlanta. The following season G-F placed second in the Virginia Championship, and in the 2008–2009 season the Varsity team, Team 33, Leviathan, went to Dallas, Texas for the VEX World Championship. They placed within the top 50 out of about 250 teams from all over the world.
During the Robotics season of 2009–2010, the Varsity Team 33, Maverick, placed 12th in Robot Skills at the 2009-2010 VEX Robotics World Championships in Dallas, TX. They also placed within the top half of their division.
In the 2010–2011 season, the Gar-Field Robotics team was represented in the Prince William County Zero Robotics Team, SuperNOVA. This team, consisting of students from Osbourn Park, Gar-Field, and Battlefield HS, placed in the Top 5 and ended up in 3rd place in the nation. Varsity FTC Team 33, Maverick was a member of the VA FIRST FTC State Championship alliance and attended the 2011 VEX World Championships at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Center in FL.
The team is also responsible for reaching out to the community and to provide mentorship to the surrounding middle schools in need of help and support, such as Beville Middle School and Woodbridge Middle School. The team also actively volunteers by running Qualifiers and the annual Roboticon for the middle school students. G-F Robotics members have also appeared in various functions in the community, such as the Annual Community Covenant in Manassas and National Young Readers' Day.

Awards

In the 2017–2018 school year, Gar-Field's student body was:
average: 971
ACT average: 20.8 composite
PSAT average: 136
International Baccalaureate Diploma Pass Rate: 86%

Notable alumni