Jamestown High School (Virginia)

Jamestown High School
Jamestown High School
Address
	3751 John Tyler Highway; Williamsburg, Virginia 23185; United States
Information
Type	Public
Founded	1997
School district	Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools
Principal	Howard Townsend
Staff	77.29 (FTE)
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	1,236 (2021–22)
Language	English
Campus	Suburban
Color(s)	Green, black, and white;
Athletics conference	Class 2 Region A, Bay Rivers District
Team name	Eagles
Website	wjccschools.org/jhs/

Jamestown High School is a public secondary school at 3751 John Tyler Highway in James City County, Virginia, just outside Williamsburg, Virginia. The school opened in 1997, becoming the second of three high schools in the county. It is part of Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools.

History

Jamestown High School opened in 1997, with the first student body consisting of Lafayette High School students and various local middle school graduates. Its name derives from the nearby Jamestown Settlement. In 2007 Jamestown High School was replaced as the newest school within the district by Warhill High School, which was built to relieve overcrowding. Some students from Jamestown, Lafayette High School and local middle schools made up the first student body there.

Academics

Jamestown High School is fully accredited by the Virginia State Board of Education^[2] and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.^[3] It offers 23 Advanced Placement classes: Biology, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Chemistry, Computer Science A, Economics, English Language, English Literature, Environmental Science, European History, French, German, Human Geography, Latin, Music Theory, Physics I, Physics II, Psychology, Spanish, Statistics, Studio Art, US Government & Politics, and US History. Students may also take additional AP classes online via Virtual Virginia.^[4]

Jamestown offers enrollment at The New Horizons Governor's School for Science and Technology. The Governor's School is a two-year, half-day program for 11th and 12th graders. Admission to the program is highly competitive. Students select either the engineering strand, the biological science strand, or the scientific programming strand.

Jamestown also participates in the AVID program to facilitate preparation for college.

Culture

Negative

In 1999, the school received various bomb threats after the Columbine High School shootings. This has not occurred in recent years. In 2007 a student was apprehended with a small handgun, apparently in an attempt to scare another student into returning a PSP that was stolen from him.

In 2016, a bus driver and bus aid, husband and wife, were accused of physically and verbally abusing a special needs student. The couple was charged with assault and battery, with the driver also being charged with felony abduction.^[5]

An incident occurred in 2019 when, after receiving a tip about a student posting on Snapchat that she intended to sell medications, police found a student in possession of more than 500 pills that were not prescribed to her.^[6]

After a 2023 student aptitude test it was determined that 23% of the student population was either illiterate or reading below a 5th grade reading level.

Positive

In 2022, sophomores in an AP Human Geography class went on a 104-mile journey to raise money for an organization that gives food to people in need. The class usually requires students to complete a project to raise money locally or on a larger scale. This would be the first time students had done something this big. They would bike from Williamsburg to Richmond and back again on an eleven-hour journey to raise money. They projected to only raise enough money for four goats. However, they raised a total of $1,450 and were able to buy twenty-one goats.^[7]

Campus

The first floor contains classrooms for fine arts, technology (split into engineering, graphics and Cooperative Business Education), math and science. The special education classrooms are also on this level. The second floor has the library (or media center) and classrooms for math, social studies, English and foreign languages (along with English as a Second Language (ESL)).

West of the main building, five trailers that acted as 10 classrooms and could hold around a total of 250 students were brought in to relieve overcrowding. In spite of the reduction in enrollment due to the construction of Warhill High School, two of the trailers have become a permanent part of the campus. The school is surrounded by wooded and swamp areas.

Enrollment

School Year	Number of Students
1997–1998	820
1998–1999	1,101
1999–2000	1,169
2000–2001	1,162
2001–2002	1,256
2002–2003	1,256
2003–2004	1,331
2004–2005	1,451
2005–2006	1,524
2006–2007	1,590*
2007–2008	1,342
2008–2009	1,261
2009–2010	1,232
2010–2011	1,217
2011–2012	1,186
2012–2013	1,211
2013–2014
2014–2015
2015–2016
2016–2017	1,313^[8]
2017–2018	1,350^[9]
2018–2019
2019–2020
2021–2022	1,236^[10]
2022–2023	1,229^[11]

[*] A new high school opened this year. Students were redistricted.

[*] There was also an unfortunate series of car accidents.

Teacher statistics

Full-time- 74 (2012-2013)
Student/Teacher Ratio= 4:1 ^[12]

Demographics

As of the 2012-2013 school year, Jamestown High School's student body is 74% (898) White; 11.5% (139) Black; 7% (90) Hispanic; 3% (31) Asian; and 1% (3) Native American.

Athletics

Jamestown is known as being underdeveloped in athletics compared to contemporaries Lafayette High School and Walsingham Academy. The school's mascot is an eagle and its sports teams currently play in Class 4 Region A of the Bay Rivers District of the Virginia High School League. Jamestown has won 23 state titles, which include six AA girls' tennis Dynasty state titles from 2000–2002, 2004–2006; five boys' swimming state titles in 2001 and 2006–2008 and 2016; seven AA girls' swimming titles from 2000 to 2002 as well as 2013 to 2017; five AA boys' soccer titles in 2001, 2008, 2012, 2015, and 2023; one AA girls' soccer title in 1999; six AA golf titles in 1999, 2013, and 2014,2015, 2016, and 2018; one girls' field hockey title in 2001; one AA boys' cross country title in 2001; one boys' tennis title in 2010; and one AA girls' basketball title in 2006, as well as one in 2021. Jamestown also had their first female football player during the 2000–2001 season.

Theatre

The Jamestown High School Theatre Department formed in September 1997. Traditionally it produces three shows every year. There is a fall one-act, a fall play and a spring musical. Jamestown has competed in the Virginia High School League (VHSL) One-Act competitions at the district, regional, and state level. Its production of Degas C'est Moi won all three VHSL Championships.

Music

Jamestown has several musical groups, including a symphonic band and wind ensemble, a marching band and mixed, jazz and chamber choirs.

Band

The band has won a superior rating every year after its founding year and has traveled to numerous destinations across the US for competition.^{[citation needed]}

Marching band

The marching band is by far the largest musical group at Jamestown. The instrumentation consists of woodwinds, brass, a drum line and a pit (usually keyboard instruments and auxiliary instruments). There is also a color guard that twirls colorful flags, dance, and use other visuals as the school board does not allow the use of rifles or sabers in performances. The band uses a technique very similar to modern style drum and bugle corps.

Clubs and extracurricular activities

Jamestown has several different clubs and groups. In order for the group to be part of the school, it must first have at least one sponsor and it must have approval by the principal.

Here is a list of all of the clubs and organizations, as listed on the school's website: Academic Team, AFS Intercultural Programs, Art Club, Color Guard (part of the marching band), Dance Team, DECA, Eagle Eye Newspaper, Ecology Club, Envirothon Club, French Club, Freshman Class, Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), German Club, It's Academic, Jamestown Robotics Club, Junior Class, Key Club, Lacrosse (at JHS lacrosse is considered a club, not a sport), Latin Club, Ascent, Math League, Model United Nations (Model U.N.), National Honor Society (NHS), Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA), Peer Mediation, Peer Partners, Science Club, Senior Class, Sophomore Class, Spanish Club, Spanish National Honor Society, Students Academic Recognition (STAR), Student Cooperative Association (SCA), Theatre Programs, Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (VICA), and Yearbook.