Oakton High School is a public high school in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in proximity to Vienna, Virginia, in the United States. It is part of Fairfax County Public Schools in Northern Virginia. As of the 2023–24 school year, it had 2,620 students, according to National Center for Education Statistics data."Oakton High School", National Center for Education Statistics, 2023-24
History 20th century Oakton High School was founded in 1967, in Vienna, Virginia. The original Oakton High School was located in the facility now used by Oakton Elementary School. When it opened, Oakton was the host facility for an IBM 1401, which was Fairfax County's first computer, and a computer curriculum, one of the first offered at the high school level, was available to full-time Oakton High School students and students from several other county high schools on a part-time basis. This system was retired in the early 1970s when Fairfax County installed an IBM 360 mainframe at the Annandale campus of Northern Virginia Community College.
In 1973, while W. T. Woodson High School in nearby Fairfax was being repaired after it was struck and damaged by a tornado, Woodson students attended the remainder of the school year in a split shift at Oakton High School with Oakton students attending in the morning and Woodson students attending in the afternoon.
21st century In 2009, the school suspended, and threatened to expel, a student for taking a birth control pill while on the school's premises. The incident was referenced during the August 3, 2009, episode of The Colbert Report, with the show satirically portraying the student as a "druggie".
Organization Oakton operates on a block schedule five days a week, alternating between "Burgundy" and "Gold" days.
Feeder schools Crossfield Elementary School, Hunters Woods Elementary School, Mosaic Elementary School, Navy Elementary School, Marshall Road Elementary School, Oakton Elementary School, Waples Mill Elementary School, Franklin Middle School, Luther Jackson Middle School, Thoreau Middle School, and Rachel Carson Middle School are all feeder schools into Oakton High School.
Admissions {| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align:right;" !colspan="7|Demographics |- ! !colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |2017–18 !colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |2018–19 !colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |2019–20 |- ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" | Subgroup ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" | Count ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" | % ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" | Count ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" | % ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" | Count ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" | % |- | style="text-align:left;" | All students || 2652 || 100.0% || 2750 || 100.0% || 2744 || 100.0% |- | style="text-align:left;" | Female || 1294 || 48.8% || 1322 || 48.1% || 1312 || 47.8% |- | style="text-align:left;" | Male || 1358 || 51.2% || 1428 || 51.9% || 1432 || 52.2% |- | style="text-align:left;" | American Indian || 10 || 0.4% || 5 || 0.2% || 5 || 0.2% |- | style="text-align:left;" | Asian || 779 || 29.4% || 858 || 31.2% || 887 || 32.3% |- | style="text-align:left;" | Black || 129 || 4.9% || 127 || 4.6% || 138 || 5.0% |- | style="text-align:left;" | Hispanic || 294 || 11.1% || 302 || 11.0% || 306 || 11.2% |- | style="text-align:left;" | Native Hawaiian || 6 || 0.2% || 7 || 0.3% || 6 || 0.2% |- | style="text-align:left;" | White || 1299 || 49.0% || 1300 || 47.3% || 1235 || 45.0% |- | style="text-align:left;" | Multiple races || 135 || 5.1% || 151 || 5.5% || 167 || 6.1% |- | style="text-align:left;" | Students with disabilities || 277 || 10.4% || 294 || 10.7% || 269 || 9.8% |- | style="text-align:left;" | Students without disabilities || 2375 || 89.6% || 2456 || 89.3% || 2475 || 90.2% |- | style="text-align:left;" | Economically disadvantaged || 340 || 12.8% || 405 || 14.7% || 301 || 11.0% |- | style="text-align:left;" | Not economically disadvantaged || 2312 || 87.2% || 2345 || 85.3% || 2443 || 89.0% |- | style="text-align:left;" | English learners || 308 || 11.6% || 352 || 12.8% || 290 || 10.6% |- | style="text-align:left;" | Not English learners || 2344 || 88.4% || 2398 || 87.2% || 2454 || 89.4% |- | style="text-align:left;" | Homeless || 7 || 0.3% || 3 || 0.1% || 5 || 0.2% |- | style="text-align:left;" | Military connected || 15 || 0.6% || 39 || 1.4% || 46 || 1.7% |- | style="text-align:left;" | Foster care || 2 || 0.1% || 2 || 0.1% || 1 || 0.0%
Academics Curriculum The school offers various elective courses and allows students to participate in academy courses, including courses hosted by other schools at other school sites. Elective courses include psychology, various engineering courses, journalism, video production, accounting, multivariable calculus with linear algebra, astronomy, and five foreign languages.
Oakton offers an Advanced Placement (AP) program and a large variety of AP classes in major subject areas, including English, Social Studies, Science, Foreign Languages, Math, Performing Arts, and Fine Arts. Post-AP courses, including multivariable calculus and linear algebra and computer science data structures, are available to sufficiently advanced students.
Virginia Index of Performance (VIP) awards Oakton High School is a frequent recipient of the annual Virginia Index of Performance (VIP) awards, which, since 2007, recognize advanced learning and achievement and are awarded by the Governor of Virginia and the Virginia Department of Education.
{| class="wikitable" !colspan="2"|Virginia Index of Performance Awards |- ! scope="col"| Award ! scope="col"| Year(s) earned |- | Governor's Excellence Award || 2008, 2010, 2011 |- | Board of Education Excellence Award || 2009, 2012, 2015–2019 |- | Board of Education Distinguished Achievement Award || 2014
U.S. News & World Report Best High Schools rankings In 2024, U.S. News & World Report ranked Oakton #199 nationally among U.S. public high schools. In the same report, Oakton was ranked fourth-best among Virginia high schools.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" !colspan="4"|US News & World Report Best High Schools |- ! scope="col" style="text-align: center;" | Year ! scope="col" style="text-align: center;" | National ! scope="col" style="text-align: center;" | Virginia ! scope="col" style="text-align: center;" | Reference |- | 2012 || 165 || 9 || |- | 2013 || 118 || 6 || |- | 2014 || 111 || 5 || |- | 2015 || 158 || 6 || |- | 2016 || 162 || 5 || |- | 2017 || 198 || 4 || |- | 2018 || 247 || 6 || |- | 2019 || 173 || 4 || |- | 2020 || 503 || 11 || |- | 2022 || 282 || 6 || |- |2024 |199 |4
Standardized testing Oakton High School is a fully accredited high school based on Virginia's Standards of Learning tests. The average SAT score in 2006 for Oakton High School was 1,703 (568 in Critical Reading, 578 in Math, and 557 in Writing). In 2022, SAT scores at Oakton High School were the fourth-highest out of all Fairfax County high schools, and SAT scores at Oakton High School exceeded both national and state averages.
Extracurricular activities Athletics
Oakton is a member of the VHSL Group 6A North Region and the Northern Region of the Virginia High School League. Its cross country, football, baseball, lacrosse, and men's swimming teams have won Virginia state titles. Oakton has teams for club sports, such as crew and ice hockey. The Oakton Ice Hockey Club plays in the Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League (NVSHL).
State champions and recognitions Virginia State Championships (team) Year Sport/activity1978AAA Boys Cross Country1985AAA Boys Golf1990AAA Boys Swimming and Diving1991–92AAA Theater1992Boys Lacrosse1993AAA Girls Gymnastics1996AAA Creative Writing - Folder1998AAA Creative Writing - FolderAAA Boys Cross Country1999AAA Creative Writing - Folder2000AAA Baseball2003Boys Lacrosse2004Boys Lacrosse2005AAA Boys Cross CountryAAA Football Division 6Boys Lacrosse2006Girls Lacrosse (Unclassified)2007Girls Lacrosse (Unclassified)2008Girls Lacrosse (Unclassified)AAA Boys Cross Country2010AAA Boys Swim and Dive2012AAA Girls BasketballAAA Girls Swim and DiveGirls Lacrosse (Unclassified)20136A Girls Cross Country
Virginia State Runner-Up (team) Year Sport/competition1982AAA Baseball1983AAA Boys Golf1990AAA Softball1998AAA Girls Gymnastics1999AAA Boys Soccer2001AAA Girls BasketballAAA Softball2002AAA Girls Outdoor TrackAAA Football Division 62005AAA Girls Cross Country2006AAA BaseballBoys Lacrosse (Unclassified)AAA Boys Cross Country2007AAA Boys Swimming and DivingAAA Girls Cross Country2008AAA Boys Swimming and DivingBoys Lacrosse (Unclassified)2009AAA Girls BasketballAAA Boys Cross Country2012AAA Girls Cross Country
Virginia Honor Band Year Notes1989–90First in the history of the school1992–931994–951996–96First-time repeat recognition1996–971997–981998–991999–20002000–012001–0210th year recognition2002–032003–042004–052006–072007–0815th year recognition2008–092009–102010–112011–122013–1420th year recognition2015–162016–172017–182018–19