South County High School (Fairfax County, Virginia)


South County High School, opened in September 2005, is a public high school in Lorton, Virginia and is part of the Fairfax County Public Schools system. The school mascot is Stanley "Stan" the Stallion and the school colors are forest green, navy blue, and silver. Common nicknames include "SoCo", "SCHS", and "South County".

History of South County

In 2005, South County Secondary School became the first secondary school to open in Fairfax County in 32 years. The school was built on the grounds of the decommissioned District of Columbia Department of Corrections Lorton facility. With the construction of South County Middle School next to it in 2012 its designation was changed to that of a high school.

Current status

South County High School serves grades 9–12. SCHS unofficially has a rivalry with Hayfield, West Springfield, and Lake Braddock, which are other schools in FCPS. South County's main building mirrors that of Westfield High School. In 2015, after extensive fundraising efforts led by the former Director of Student Activities, Leah Conte, the natural grass playing fields were replaced with synthetic turf.

Administration

The current principal of South County High School is Gary Morris. He is responsible for liaising with the county, region, and pyramid. He is also a member of the High School Principal’s Association and the Parent Teacher Student Organization. His assistant principals are: Warren Carrington, Dana Walker, Jeremiah Caven, and Kaaren Lowder.

Demographics

In the 2017-18 school year SCHS's student body was: 50.43% male and 49.57% female. It was 41.36% White, 19.18% Asian, 19.91% Black, 13.97% Hispanic or Latino, and 5.58% other.

School safety report cardhttp://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/schlprfl/f?p=108:2:::NO::P0_CURRENT_SCHOOL_ID,P0_EDSL:420,0

Academics

South County has 206 full time staff, of which 142 are teachers. The school also has 2,142 computers to aid in teaching. SCHS is fully accredited with rates of 92 for English, 90 for History, 87 for Math, and 89 for Science in 2017-2018.

Grading scale

South County uses the FCPS grading scale.
LetterNumerical RangeQuality Points
A93 - 1004.0
A-90 - 923.7
B+87 - 893.3
B83 - 863.0
B-80 - 822.7
C+77 - 792.3
C73 - 762.0
C-70 - 721.7
D+67 - 691.3
D64 - 661.0
F0 - 630.0

Academic programs

SCHS offers the following programs:

Advanced Placement">Advanced Placement exams">Advanced Placement (AP)

South County offers Advanced Placement programs in the following subject areas:
EnglishMusicVisual ArtsMathScienceSocial StudiesWorld Languages
AP English Language and CompositionAP Music TheoryAP Studio Art: Drawing PortfolioAP StatisticsAP BiologyAP World HistoryAP French
AP English Literature and CompositionAP Studio Art: 2-D Design PortfolioAP Computer Science AAP ChemistryAP US HistoryAP Japanese
AP Studio Art: 3-D Design PortfolioAP Calculus ABAP Environmental ScienceAP GovernmentAP Latin
AP Calculus BCAP Physics 1AP Human GeographyAP Spanish
AP Physics 2AP Macro and MicroeconomicsAP Chinese
AP Physics C - MechanicsAP Psychology

Career and Transition Services

[English [language learning and teaching|English for Speakers of Other Languages]] (ESOL)

South County athletics

Fall sports

South County's Varsity Football team is highly skilled and has gone to the playoffs many times including a state championship appearance in 2011 where they lost 20-10. In their 2015 season, the Stallions made it to state semi-finals losing to Westfield 40-8. In 2019, the Stallions defeated Westfield 28-21 in the state semi-finals to advance to their second state title game in school history. They defeated the Oscar Smith Tigers 14-13 to capture their first football state title in school history.

Winter sports

The boys varsity basketball team won the 2018 VHSL 6A State Championship with a 63-47 victory over Western Branch High School. Having another remarkable season, the boys varsity basketball team went 27-3 and made it to the state finals. Due to COVID-19, the game was never played and the team was announced as 2020 VHSL 6A State Co-Champions with Centreville High School.

Spring sports

SCHS offers many different clubs and after school programs.

Clubs

Notable alumni