Monticello High School (Virginia)

Monticello High School
Address
1400 Independence Way Charlottesville, VA 22902  United States
Information
School type	Public high school
Established	1998
Principal	Jesse Turner
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	1,089[1] (2008-09)
Schedule type	Four-by-Four Hybrid
Campus	Suburban
Color(s)	Black and Gold
Athletics conference	Jefferson District VHSL Group 3A West Region
Mascot	Mustang
Feeder schools	Walton Middle School Burley Middle School
Website	School website

Monticello High School (MHS) is a suburban public high school located in Albemarle County, Virginia, United States outside Charlottesville. Opened in 1998, it is one of three traditional comprehensive high schools in the Albemarle County Public Schools System. The school is named after Monticello, the nearby estate of President Thomas Jefferson

With an enrollment of 1,168 students in grades 9 through 12, Monticello receives students from Walton and Burley Middle Schools, which cover the southern and eastern portions of the county. The school colors are black and gold, and the mascot is a Mustang. The school's fight song uses the tune of The Victors.

Effective in the 2010-11 school year, together with Albemarle County's other comprehensive high schools, MHS will operate on a Four-by-Four Hybrid schedule, with most one-credit courses offered every day for an 85-minute block during one semester. AP courses and some electives will meet yearlong on alternating days. The bell schedule is posted online:

Administration

Dr. Jesse Turner was selected as Monticello High School's fifth principal in May 2012.

Principals

• Irving C. Jones (Aug. 1998 - Oct. 2002)
• Sherrard "Steele" Howen (Oct. 2002 - June 2003)
• John W. "Billy" Haun (July 2003 - June 2009)
• Catherine Worley (July 2009 - June 2012)
• Jesse Turner (July 2012 - )

Current administration

• Dr. Jesse Turner, Principal
• Reed Gillespie, Associate Principal
• Hank Atkins, Assistant Principal
• Ashby Johnson, Assistant Principal
• Irvin Johnson, Director of Guidance
• Matthew Pearman, Director of Athletics

Accolades and academics

In the spring of 2006, biology teacher Jeremy Dove was recognized with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. MHS has a reputation as Albemarle County's "green school," as it was built to be energy-efficient and environmentally friendly, with skylights, a natural biofilter in the parking lot, and an on-campus artificial wetland.

Monticello High School is fully accredited by the Virginia State Board of Education and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The school offers over 19 Advanced Placement courses, including: English 11 and 12, European History, US History, US Government, World History, Human Geography, Biology II, French V, Spanish V, German V, Psychology, Statistics, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Physics II, Chemistry II, Environmental Science, and Studio Art.

MHS uses Albemarle County's standard grading scale, according to which: A=90-100, B=89-80, C=79-70, D=69-60 and F =59 and below. A weighed average is used to determine class rank, although no valedictorian or salutatorian is named at graduation.

School newspaper

Since Monticello High School opened in 1998, the students have published a monthly newspaper, the hoofprint.

Athletics

Monticello High School offers 25 interscholastic sports as well as theatre, scholastic bowl, forensics and debate programs. Below you will find a list with current head coaches.

Since it opened in 1998, Monticello has been a member of the Jefferson District, which includes seven other area high schools in Region II of the Virginia High School League's AA classification (A-AAA scale). In football, the school has shifted between Divisions 3 and 4 of Class AA. For the 2009-2011 two season cycle, MHS competes in Division 3.

Athletics Director Matthew Pearman has been at MHS since October 2014, following the resignation of former AD Fitzgerald Barnes who had been at MHS since the school opened. Barnes resigned in September 2014, after admitting to being involved with David Deane, the Vice President of Downtown Athletic, and Charles Phillips, the Vice President of Sales for Team Distributor, a sports apparel retailer in Maryland, in a scheme to fix bids on athletic apparel purchased for Monticello High School.

The Mustangs won at least 8 games each football season from 2002-2008. In 2003, Monticello advanced to the Division 3 state championship and lost to Gretna High School. The Mustangs returned to the Division 3 State Championship in 2007 and defeated Richlands High School 36-22, clinching the first state championship for any Charlottesville-area high school football team. In the following 2008 season, Coach Bicknell's team claimed back-to-back Region II Championships, but the season ended abruptly after a controversial 4th Quarter penalty in a Division 3 state semifinal game at James Monroe High School.

On-campus facilities include a multi-purpose stadium with track, softball and baseball fields, a cross country running trail, multiple practice fields, two gymnasiums and weight rooms. The school's boys and girls tennis teams use the courts at adjacent Piedmont Virginia Community College. As of August 2009, Mustang Stadium features an All Turf Playing Field. Construction began in June 2009 after several years of planning and fundraising.

Since 2002, Mustang Stadium has also served as the venue for the Jefferson Classic, a high school marching band contest held the first Saturday in October and sponsored by the Monticello Bands and Music Boosters.

Notable alumni

• Mike Brown – Wide Receiver, formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars

Jillian Jacobson, The Muse Blog Fashion Blogger Extraordinaire

External links

• http://www2.k12albemarle.org/school/mohs/ - Official School Website
• http://www.monticellomustangs.org - Monticello Athletics website
• http://www.avenue.org/mhsmb - MHS Music Boosters
• http://www.principals.org/s_nassp/index.asp - National Association of Secondary School Principals

Coordinates: 37°59′56.5″N 78°29′21″W / 37.999028°N 78.48917°W / 37.999028; -78.48917