Langley High School (Fairfax County, Virginia)


Langley High School is a high school within the Fairfax County Public Schools system in Northern Virginia. It is located in McLean, a census-designated place in northern Fairfax County. The campus is located less than a mile west of the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters.

History

"Langley High School" was established in 1965. The name 'Langley' came from Thomas Lee in honor of Langley Manor, which was part of the home estate in Shropshire, England. Langley means 'long open meadow'. Thomas Lee was one of the first to envision the Thirteen Colonies as a separate nation whose capital should be on the Potomac between Great Falls and Little Falls. Keeping these things in mind the school steering committee chose the nickname 'Saxons' and the school's colors of forest green and old gold with white as a trim color in keeping with the traditional theme. "

Demographics

The student body was 69.50% White, 20.87% Asian, 4.59% Hispanic, 1.18% Black, and 3.86% Other during the 2012–13 academic school year. In the 2011–12 school year, Langley High School's student body was 71.15% White, 19.20% Asian, 4.60% Hispanic, 1.70% Black and 3.35% Other.
Langley’s boundaries extend west of State Route 123 and north of both State Route 7 and State Route 267 from McLean to Great Falls, ending at the Loudoun County line. Small parts of Vienna, Reston, and Herndon along the south side of Route 7 are also within the school’s attendance area.
Until 1994, areas west of Springvale Road in Great Falls were within the Herndon High School boundaries. After leaving Forestville Elementary School, students attended Herndon Middle and Herndon High School. When Buzz Aldrin Elementary School was preparing to open, Langley High School was then under-enrolled, and some residents from the Forestville attendance area requested reassignment of their neighborhoods from the Herndon High to the Langley High School pyramid. As a result, school officials shifted Langley’s boundary line west from Springvale Road to the Loudoun County border.
During the Fairfax County School Board elections in 2011, then School Board Chairman, Jane Strauss, took credit for having "prevented changes to the Langley High School boundaries" for 18 years and for having "fought off" attempts to redistrict "current neighborhoods out of Langley".

Academics

The LHS academic program follows standard Virginia guidelines, requiring 24 credits for graduation. Additionally provided at Langley is the Advanced Placement program. Langley offers one of the most comprehensive AP programs available, featuring more than 20 AP level classes in every discipline. Significant courses include the school's Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra classes, as well as the only Russian courses offered in a Fairfax County Public High School outside of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Langley also used to contain a unique humanities department for the high school level. Students would enroll in paired English and History classes, where the curriculum paralleled one another. The humanities department was split for the 2012–2013 school year in favor of optional tied classes.
Langley High School is ranked as one of the top high schools in the United States and in the state of Virginia. In 2019, U.S. News and World Report listed LHS as the second best high school in Virginia, with Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology ranked as the first. Langley was ranked 98 in the United States in 2015.

Extracurricular activities

Relay For Life of Langley-McLean

Since 2013, Langley High School has been host to the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life of Langley-McLean, an overnight fundraising event that has raised over $170,000 for the ACS since its 2013 Inaugural Event held on Saturday, April 27, 2013. The event is one of only two student-led Relay For Life fundraisers held in Virginia and received the American Cancer Society's "Youth Event of the Year" Award in the South Atlantic Region for their 2013 event. In 2014 & 2015, Relay For Life of Langley-McLean partnered with McLean High School, in hopes of expanding and increasing the event's reach in the local community.
The 2014 Relay For Life of Langley-McLean was held on Saturday, April 26 at 6:00 PM to Sunday, April 27 at 6:00 AM and succeeded in raising $110,366.78 for the American Cancer Society. The 2015 event was held on May 16, 2015, and raised over $112,000.

Model United Nations

The team from Langley High School's Model United Nations was nationally ranked as a Top-15 high school MUN team by the Model UN consulting organization Best Delegate in the 2013–2014 school year.
Since then, Langley High School has won Best Large at national conferences hosted across the East Coast. In 2017 Langley's MUN team won Best Large Delegation at the circuit's conference, ILMUNC XXXIII.
In 2014, the club hosted its own inaugural high school Model UN conference, the Virginia Invitational Model United Nations Conference I, attracting over 700 delegates.
School YearBest Large Delegation at:Outstanding Large Delegation at:
2019-2020VAMUN, WMHSMUN, ILMUNC, ODUMUNC, GFMUNC, TAEMUN, CHMUNMcMUN
2017-2018TechMUN, VAMUN, GFMUNC, ILMUNCDUMUNC, CHMUN, McMUNC
2016-2017McMUN, VAMUN, TAEMUN, CHMUN, GFMUNC, ILMUNC, DUMUNC--
2015-2016VAMUN, TAEMUN, CHMUN, ILMUNC, DUMUNC*, TechMUN--
2014-2016WMHSMUN, TechMUN, CHMUN, PWMUNVAMUN, ILMUNC
2013-2014WMHSMUN, TechMUN, DUMUNC, CHMUN, PWMUNVAMUN, OPMUN

South Asian Student Association

Langley High School's South Asian Student Association is one of the most active cultural clubs of its kind in Northern Virginia. The club annually hosts Langley's renown, "International Night," providing students with the opportunity to experience various cultures from all around the world without traveling overseas to do so. Performances vary from ethnic instrumental solos, salsa, Bollywood Dances, Egyptian belly dancing, Chinese festive ribbon performances, skits by Langley's ESOL, Poi, singing, a cultural fashion show, and much more, showcasing a wide diversity of art, music and culture.
During March 2014 the club brought together six schools across Northern Virginia to celebrate Holi, a popular festival in India. In June 2014, Langley SASA hosted its first District-Wide charity event "Bollywood Bash," integrating dozens of South Asian clubs across counties in Northern Virginia and kindled a boom of cultural awareness and respect, empowering the hidden minorities and giving them an identity. The club met their fundraising goal of $1,500 that night assuming its image and prestigious reputation as the first high school cultural club in Virginia to accomplish such a feat. CORD, the organization the association is raising money for, is to help redevelop rural India by promoting literacy and strengthening local government. SASA, as one of the most active clubs at Langley, holds monthly club events ranging from Bollywood movies, charities, dinners, dances, and more.

Student publications

Langley's award-winning student newsmagazine, , is released once a month. Student journalists write, edit and revise all articles. The newspaper reporting, typesetting, layout, photography and computer graphics designs are also done by the journalism classes at Langley, headed by the Editor-in-Chief.
Additionally, The Saxon Scope publishes a catalogue of student produced literature and artwork in an annual magazine titled “Kaleidoscope.”

Music Department

Langley's music department consists of award-winning band, choral, and orchestral programs.
The band program consists of six bands: Percussion Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Wind Symphony, Marching Band, and Jazz Band. Langley also has a marching band that performs at home football games, as well as state marching band competitions, which is accompanied by the award-winning Color Guard team. The Langley Band performed in Spain in 2014, Chicago in 2015, and Los Angeles in 2016. The Wind Symphony performed in Indianapolis in 2017 in the prestigious Music For All National Festival. In 2018, they traveled to Italy, performing in cathedrals in Rome and Florence.
The choral program consists of five choirs: Treble, Women's Select, Concert, Chamber, and Madrigals. Langley Choirs have competed in competitions in Prague, Salzburg, and domestically in Orlando and San Diego.
The orchestral program consists of five orchestras: Freshman, Sophomore, Symphonic, Sinfonietta, and Philharmonic.

Science Fair

Langley High School actively participates in science fair events. Each year, first and second-place winners from the school-hosted science fair are selected to attend the Fairfax County Science and Engineering Fair. The Fairfax County Science and Engineering Fair is an Intel International Science and Engineering Fair affiliated fair, sending around 10 projects each year to the international fair. Notable winners from the past have included:
Langley's fashion department sponsors an annual fashion show that is held in Langley's auditorium.
Langley's Science Olympiad team consistently receives accolades at the state and national level. In 2015, they beat out their rival the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology at the Virginia state tournament to secure a spot at the national tournament.

Athletics

Langley plays in the AAA Liberty District of the Northern Region. The Langley sports teams are all referred to as the "Saxons", and their primary sports rival is McLean High School. Students from both schools often vandalize their rival’s boulder before big athletic events such as the football and basketball games. The Girls' Swim and Dive Team won districts in 05-06. The football team won the Northern Region and went to the state finals in 1993. The boys' wrestling team won the Liberty District Tournament the last 11 years straight. In addition, they were Northern Region champions in 2007. The girls' volleyball team, for the first time ever, went to the 2007 final round at the state championship tournament but was unable to pull out a victory over the previous year's state champions, Deep Run High School. In 2009, Langley's AAA boys' lacrosse team, coached by Earl Brewer, won the state championship, defeating Chantilly High School in overtime 4–3. They repeated as AAA State Champions in 2010 with a 12–5 victory over the Loudoun Valley Vikings and again, in 2011 with a 17–8 win over the Chantilly Chargers again.
The Boys' Swim and Dive Team won the VHSL State Championships in 2017–2018, their first State Victory in Langley history.
The Girls' Tennis won districts in 2010, finished Northern Region runner-up, and reached the state semifinals. They avenged themselves by winning the Northern Region title the following year, then going undefeated in 2012 to sweep the district, regional, and state titles. Langley High School Boys' Soccer team won its first Virginia State Championship Coached by Bo Amato, a former Manchester United academy player. Attributed to the highly competitive nature of 6A Boys' High School soccer in Virginia, at the end of the 2014–2015 soccer year, Langley's boys' varsity team held the rank of No. 4 in the country by soccer publication TopDrawerSoccer.com. Bo Amato earned his 100th win this season and the team finished 20–1–1 with its only lost to local rival McLean High School.
Langley High School's mascot is the Saxon, in honor of McLean, VA's predominantly Scottish heritage. Conversely, their sports rival, McLean High School's mascot is the Highlander. The mascot was given the name "Otto" in 2010, named after Otto the Great.

State championships

Langley has won 41 AAA state championships, which are:
Langley has received two sportsmanship awards, one in AAA girls soccer in 2001 and one in AAA girls volleyball in 2007. In addition, Langley won first place in the Wachovia Cup standings in 1991–1992 for athletics.

United States Congressional Baseball Game

In 1977 the Congressional Baseball Game was forced to play the annual game on Langley High School's baseball field due to two previous rain outs on Memorial Stadium.

Saxon Stage

is the theatre department for Langley High School in McLean, Virginia, chaired by Theatre Arts instructor, Valerie Karasek. Currently, the department produces two mainstage productions per year, including one play and one musical.

Saxon Studio

With the announcement of the 2019-2020 season, Karasek also announced the creation of Saxon Studio, a theatre company that stages completely student-produced performances in the winter. Saxon Studio productions are produced through Langley's combined Theatre Arts 3 and Theatre Arts 4 class. On February 14, 2020, Saxon Studio put on its first production, Almost, Maine, directed by Mary Kurbanov. On February 21 of the same year, Saxon Studio performed Love/Sick, directed by Hannah Cameron-Cadenazzi.

VHSL One-Act Play Competition

Saxon Stage is a regular Class 6 competitor in the Virginia High School League One-Act Play Competition.
For the first time in Saxon Stage's history, Langley High School became the VHSL Liberty Conference 6A one-act competition champions in January 2014 when they won first place with its production of Fearful Symmetry. The production later went on to win third place in the Region 6A North Competition, making it the highest-ranked student-directed production of the competition.
In March 2019, Langley High School won first placed at the VHSL Class 6 State Competition with its production of Peter Tolan's comedic Pillowtalk. The two actors received Outstanding Actor commendations at the state level.
In February 2020, A Jury of Her Peers placed third in the Region 6 North Competition after winning first place at the sectional competition one month prior.

List of Productions

*Indicates Cappies Program entry
1Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Cappies

Langley High School participates in the National Capital Area division of the Cappies Critics and Awards Program for High School Theatre, "a year-long program for theatre and journalism students through which students attend and discuss each other's shows, write reviews for publication, and at the end of the season decide who of their colleague student performers and technicians should be honored for awards."
Below is a list of all Cappie Awards and nominations received by Saxon Stage since 2012.

List of Cappie Awards and Nominations

Notable alumni