Lake Braddock Secondary School


Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Virginia, United States, administered by Fairfax County Public Schools, is one of three 7-12 secondary schools in Fairfax County. The other two are Hayfield SS and Robinson SS. Lake Braddock opened in 1973. Its mascot is a bruin, and the school colors are purple and gold.

History

When opened in 1973, adjacent to the namesake reservoir, Lake Braddock drew its students from nearby Robinson Secondary School to the west and West Springfield High School to the south. At first, Lake Braddock was built without walls in most of its educational areas, as it was believed by the administrators of the era that students would learn better in an open environment. When school officials realized a school without walls was distracting to teenage students, temporary walls were installed around many classrooms in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This resulted in significant climate control problems throughout the building, most of which were left unfixed until the school was renovated.
Besides the "open classroom" approach, Lake Braddock, when it opened, also employed the "Forecast Five" approach, which was a "school within a school", or teams, of 150 students assigned to five teachers. On field trips, all 150 would go. These teams were later given names and colors.

Academics and statistics

Lake Braddock Secondary School is a fully accredited secondary school based on standardized testing in Virginia. The average SAT score of a LBSS 12th grader in the 2012–2013 school year was 1674 out of 2400.

VDOE accreditation summary

The following table shows the passing rates of all Lake Braddock students in their respective years and academic subjects, as determined by the Virginia Department of Education.
Subject area2010–112011–122012–13
English979797
History989595
Mathematics959496
Science959696

Demographics

For the 2020-2021 school year, Lake Braddock's student body was 47.42 White, 20.56% Asian, 17.89% Hispanic, 7.12% African-American, and 7.01% of other races.

Athletics

Cross country

The Lake Braddock cross country teams have won the girls' state championships 14 times, in 1985–1988, 1992, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2009, 2012, 2015–2017, and 2019, and the boys' title four times, in 1987, 2014, 2015, and 2017.

Soccer

The girls' soccer team has won the state title four times, in 1989, 2003, 2006, and 2007. The boys' soccer team has won the state championship five times, in 1982, 1983, 1988, 1989, and 1995.

Football

The Bruins have a long-standing tradition of winning football tournaments since 1973. They won district championships in 1992, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018. The team has been to the Virginia State playoffs as regional champions in 1995, 2001, 2009, 2010, 2023, and 2024 and went to the state final in 2009.
In the 2007 season, the Bruins went on a seven-game winning streak after their first-week loss to Robinson. Their only other loss came to Northern Region runner-up West Springfield. The Bruins went 8-3 in the regular season in 2007 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2000. In 2009 the Bruins were the Patriot District and the Northern Region Champions and went 8-2 in the regular seasons, led by future Fordham QB and Virginia State Player of the Year Michael Nebrich. They made it to the playoffs, where they managed to beat Fairfax, defeat Robinson, redeem themselves against Woodson, and win a thrilling overtime game against Battlefield. They continued to the State Championship and were defeated by the Thomas Dale Knights, 35-21. In the first round of 2010 Division 6 playoff games, Lake Braddock easily defeated Langley, 34-10. In the second round of the 2010 Division 6 playoff games, after a stunning 17-3 first-half deficit, the Bruins overcame arch-rival Robinson with a 24-23 victory on their road to another Northern Region Championship Game, led by Michael Nebrich. Lake Braddock then advanced to the state semi-final after a 56-18 win over Chantilly High School. In an exciting rematch of the 2009 state semi-final playoff game, the Battlefield Bobcats, who had been defeated 27-24 in overtime by the Bruins the previous year, hung on to win a close 35-27 victory and advanced to win the state title.

Baseball

The Bruins captured their first Virginia state championship in 2012. This victory marked the culmination of a 26–3 season, the best in school history at the time. The team was ranked No. 42 in ESPN's FAB 50 national rankings, the only team from the Washington, D.C., metro area to make the list that year.
In 2019 Lake Braddock clinched its second state title, again finishing the season with a 26–3 record. The Bruins defeated Westfield High School 6–2 in the Class 6 championship game.

Tennis

Lake Braddock tennis team won the State tournament in 2014 over Langley High School.

Theatre

The Lake Braddock Theatre program is currently in its 52nd season. It has participated in the Cappie program since its inception in 1999, garnering 109 nominations and 26 awards. The theatre is represented in the International Thespian Society by troupe #4807, and contributes to the ITS festival in Lincoln, Nebraska every summer. LBT competes annually at the Virginia Theatre Association Conference.

Awards

LBT has won the Virginia High School League Patriot District/Conference One-Act Play Championship twelve times. Lake Braddock Theatre has advanced to the Regional level 21 times since 1996. In 2004, 2015 and 2018, LBT advanced to the State Festival in Charlottesville, Virginia. In 2018, they won the VHSL State One-Act Play Championship for Class 6A. LBT has won 26 Cappie Awards, which include Best Play, for the 2000 and 2023 productions of Dracula. The theater was invited to perform at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2003. Individual students have also received awards for their performances or technical expertise throughout the years.

Musical accomplishments

Several students from the Lake Braddock Music program have gone to conservatories and major schools of music, including four to the Juilliard School.

Bands

The Lake Braddock band program consists of five concert ensembles at the high-school level: Symphonic Band, Concert One, Concert Two, Concert Three and a specialty Jazz Band. The high school band program is conducted by Michael Luley and Brandon Gilbert. Roy Holder announced his retirement at the end of the 2010–2011 school year, after 30 consecutive years as honor band; every year since the award was created. The Symphonic Band has been awarded 38 consecutive superior ratings at the Virginia Band & Orchestra Association Festival since 1981, when the ratings system was first installed. The Lake Braddock Middle School bands consist of four concert ensembles; Wind Ensemble, Select Band, Cadet Band, and Bruin Band. These middle school bands are conducted by Krista Pezold, Michael Luley, and Brandon Gilbert.

Marching band

The Lake Braddock Marching Band of over 230 people is a subset of Lake Braddock Bands and is combined with the Color Guard, conducted by Michael Luley and assistant Brandon Gilbert. The band has played the half-time show at Bruin football games for over 16 years. The band consistently wins awards at competitions every fall and has received a rating of Superior 39 times at the VBODA Marching Festival.

Color Guard

The Color Guard generally has about 20 members. Besides performing with the marching band in the fall, the guard performs an indoor performance in the spring, calling it "Spring Guard". In recent years, the Color Guard has been a main benefactor in the school's participation in the National Color Guard Invitational in Atlanta, Georgia.

Orchestras

Eight ensembles comprise the Lake Braddock Orchestra program. The middle school groups are Primo Orchestra, Concert Orchestra, String Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra, and the high school groups are Sinfonietta Orchestra, Concert Orchestra, Intermezzo, String Ensemble, and Symphony Orchestra. The current orchestra directors are Austin Isaac and Clayton Allen.

Chorus

The Lake Braddock Chorus consisted of five different choirs until the 2017–2018 school year. The Men's Choir, Women's Vocal Ensemble and the female Freshmen in Bel Canto make up the non-auditioned choirs, and Select Women and Lake Braddock Singers make up the auditioned choirs. In 2017, Bel Canto and Women's Vocal Ensemble were combined. The Lake Braddock Singers is composed of sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses.
An a cappella group formed in 2008, inspired by the pop a cappella groups of major colleges, including JMU Madison Project and Blues Tones organizations that perform yearly for the choir program at Lake Braddock. The group was founded by students and is managed by students as well.
The choirs have won many awards, including winning several in Nashville in 2006. In 2007, the choir performed in New York City near the site of the former World Trade Center buildings. The choirs also have turned out several highly successful singers, including a quarter-finalist for American Idol, and several performers in musical theater. Every year the Lake Braddock Chorus and the Lake Braddock Theatre programs come together and produce a musical. The musical theatre has been around since 1975 and has produced shows such as Guys and Dolls; Thoroughly Modern Millie; Annie; Les Misérables; Cinderella; Annie, Get Your Gun; Hairspray; Beauty and the Beast. Rehearsals occur in the spring when the show airs to the public.
The director of the High School Chorus Program, Andrea Harmon, took over the program after former director Mary Demarco retired in the 2016–2017 school year. Harmon works with the director of the middle school Chorus Program, Mr. McClay. The Theatre program is responsible for tech in the show including the lighting, sound, and sets/set changes.