Spartan Time: Spartan Time is time allotted during the school day for our students to work with teachers in a variety of ways. It provides opportunities for differentiation, remediation and enrichment during the school day. Through the effective use of Spartan Time, students are able to work closely with teachers, collaborate with their peers, and use time to make up work as necessary.
Student Intervention Programs: West Springfield High School is committed to building success for all students, and we offer a wide variety of intervention/remediation programs to build skills. English runs after-school SOL remediation sessions beginning in 2nd quarter and continuing weekly throughout the year. Several teachers host an AP boot camp that runs for three Saturday sessions in the fall and is designed to build the skills and confidence of first-time AP students. West Springfield High School also offers a unique remediation and credit recovery program in chemistry that provides an opportunity for students to recover a credit in chemistry and pass the SOL end of course exam without having to attend summer school.
Common Planning for Curriculum Teams and Team Teachers: While all curriculum teams are engaged in common planning, many of our teams and departments share a common planning period- time built into the school day for teachers to collaborate. Departments with a common planning period are Social Studies, Math, and English. Science and World Languages share common planning by subject, other departments and curriculum teams meet on select Mondays, and general education and special education teams share common planning periods.
Advanced Placement: West Springfield High School has an extensive Advanced Placement Program. This year 25 courses are being taken by 885 students, with 1859 total AP tests to be administered in the spring.
Technology Integration: WSHS faculty makes extensive use of technology to support classroom instructional programs, including but not limited to LCD projectors, Smartboards, Turning Point student response systems, Interwrite pads, and SMARTsync software. In addition, our faculty and staff use technology to facilitate instructional collaboration and meaningful analysis of student achievement data to inform instruction. Multiple stationary computer labs are supplemented by 21 wireless mobile labs and the dedicated language lab. The faculty and staff have use of video conferencing equipment to support instruction. Communication resources include the WSHS website, FCPS supported student email, 24-7, and ―Enouncements‖ from the School Counseling Staff.
World Language Instruction: WSHS offers six foreign languages, including Spanish (with Spanish for Fluent Speakers), French, German, Latin, Japanese and American Sign Language.
German Exchange Program: WSHS engages in a cultural exchange with the Heisenberg Gymnasium from Dortmund, Germany. From 2001 to the present, eight to twelve German students visit for approximately two weeks each October and spend their time living with host families, attending classes at WSHS, and visiting the DC areas in general. The German exchange program is sponsored by both high schools and the German American Partnership Program.
Career and Technical Education: Our Marketing program includes three courses that are unusual for a high school program: International, Media and Sports & Entertainment Marketing. In addition, we have a pre-school program and a nationally recognized Tech Ed program.
Applied History: The Applied History course provides interested students with the opportunity to complete a semester internship at local historical sites in order to learn the methods that historians use as well as consider issues of public memory.
Honor Societies: Sixteen honor societies operate within WSHS. Many of those offer tutorial programs that enable students who are accomplished in a particular discipline to fulfill community service requirements by assisting other students who are struggling in the same subject area.
Special Education: A full array of Special Education services is available, including but not limited for students with Learning Disabilities, Emotional Disabilities, Other Health Impairment, Intellectual Disabilities/Intellectual Disabilities Severe, Speech/Language Impairments and Autism. A full range of itinerant services are also available based on students needs.
School Counseling: The WSHS Student Counseling Department offers numerous student enrichment seminars each year. Seminars selections are determined though student responses to a yearly needs assessment which was implemented in 2008 as part of the department's accountability driven program. Seminars which remain stable are the Peer Mediation, College Partnership and First Generation College programs.
RAMP: WSHS is a Recognized American School Counselor Association Model Program (RAMP) School. The RAMP designation is awarded to schools that align with the criteria set in the ASCA National Model, recognizes schools that are committed to delivering a comprehensive, data-driven school counseling program and an exemplary education environment. WSHS joins a little over 250 school nationwide who have achieved this level of excellence.
Career Center: The WSHS Career Center program is an extensively developed program that is integrated and immersed into the school counseling program. Our students have access to the Career Center Specialist and Naviance College Success program as they pursue career development, track their four year academic and college search process.
Grant Funded Programs:
- The SAT Preparation Program to support increased participation rates and levels of achievement on a variety of standardized tests
- Alternatives to Suspension Program that is designed to give students more time in the classroom with their teachers
- Peer Mediation
- Dean of Students, focused on proactive interventions in discipline and attendance matters
Vertical Articulation: An extensive and growing program of vertical teaming is in place across both curriculum and student services and social-emotional planning, including articulation with Irving Middle School in Band, Art, World Languages, Special Education, School Counseling, and Assistant Principals.
Industry Certifications: The Business Department is a Certified Testing Center for the Microsoft Certification Test (MOS Test). This enables qualified students to become ―Microsoft Certified‖ before they enter college. Students in Early Childhood Care are also eligible for the National Occupational Competency Test (NOCTI). This test enables students to receive student-selected verified credit and a CTE seal on their high school diploma.
Student Activities: WSHS offers a full array of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities to our students. This includes a very large and flourishing Fine and Performing Arts program and plenty of opportunities for co-curricular activities such as DECA and FBLA.
Parent Involvement: The work of the faculty and staff is supported by the WSHS Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA), Spartan Booster Club, and a variety of program specific booster organizations, a Concerned Parents Group, the Parent Support Network and two Parent Liaisons (Spanish and Korean).
Facilities: WSHS enjoys unique facilities including a planetarium, turf field, state-of-the-art professional track, Japanese garden, Memorial Garden, electronic sign, international certified athletic track, and one of the largest capacity auditoriums in the county.
Senior Capstone Project: Conceived originally as TLDG project, the Senior Capstone Project is now embedded into the academic and service learning culture at West Springfield High School. All seniors participate in this project, which unites both English and Social Studies curriculum requirements into a student owned service learning project.
Wellness: In compliance with federal law 108-265, Child Nutrition and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)Reauthorization Act of 2004, the Fairfax County School Board adopted a wellness policy to promote student health and contribute to the reduction of childhood obesity. The Office of Food and
Nutrition Services in conjunction with the Office of Health and Physical Education, and other affected departments, and with input from parents and students, developed guidelines to implement the policy.