Gar-Field Senior High School is a senior high school in Woodbridge in unincorporated Prince William County, Virginia, USA, with students in grades 9 through 12. Established in 1953, it was originally located at 15941 Cardinal Drive until the current school opened in 1972 on 14000 Smoketown Road.It has recently been one of the largest high schools in Virginia, with enrollment peaking at over 3,000.HistoryThe high school's motto is "The School of Champions" and they have been rivals with Woodbridge High School for many years.The name Gar-Field is derived from two prominent local families, the Garbers and the Manderfields, who donated the land for the original school just off of U.S. Highway #1. The comic strip "Ber-Mander," which appears on the back page of the school newspaper, utilizes the unused portions of these names. Ber-Mander was created by artist Chris Sprouse (a 1984 graduate of Gar-Field) in the early 1980s, and featured a "hippie" title character.In the 1950s, Gar-Field was segregated, as were Virginia's other schools. However, in 1960, African-American students were enrolled without incident.Gar-Field is one of two high schools in Prince William County that offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program and the IB Middle Years Program (). It also has the only accredited daycare system of any high school in the state, with a program that allows student-parents to finish their education while learning about how to take care of their children.
