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Poolesville High School

Coordinates: 39°8′36″N 77°25′6″W / 39.14333°N 77.41833°W / 39.14333; -77.41833
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Poolesville High School
Address
Map
17501 W Willard Rd

Poolesville
,
Maryland
20837

United States
Coordinates39°8′36″N 77°25′6″W / 39.14333°N 77.41833°W / 39.14333; -77.41833
Information
TypePublic magnet high school
Established1911; 113 years ago (1911)
School districtMontgomery County Public Schools
CEEB code210825
NCES School ID240048000897[1]
PrincipalMark Carothers
Faculty71.02 FTE (2022-23)[1]
Grades9–12
GenderCoeducational
Enrollment1,309 (2022-23)[1]
Student to teacher ratio18.43:1[1]
Campus typeFringe town[1]
Color(s)  Black
  Vegas gold
Athletics conferenceAA
MascotFalcons
USNWR ranking140[2]
NewspaperThe Poolesville Pulse
YearbookThe Echo
Websitemontgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/poolesvillehs

Poolesville High School is a public magnet high school located in Poolesville, Maryland, United States. It is part of the Montgomery County Public Schools system. It is the only all-magnet high school in Montgomery County, although Montgomery Blair High School also has a magnet program.

Rankings and Scores

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In 2024, U.S. News & World Report ranked Poolesville as the #3 high school in Maryland and #172 nationwide.[3]

Poolesville students average a score of 1328 on the SAT, averaging 664 on the verbal section and 665 on the math section.[4]

History

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The core of the building was built in 1911 as an elementary school,[5] and as of 1912 the school was the only consolidated (middle and high school) in Montgomery County.[6] Poolesville's first graduates were seven students in 1920.[7]

Poolesville High School circa 1912

The current school building dates back to 1953,[5] but has had over 22 additions made since then,[8] with the last major revision happening in 1978.[5][9] The building housed Poolesville's middle school and high school up until 1997 when John Poole Middle School was built.[5]

By 2013, Poolesville residents were campaigning for a reconstruction of the school building, due to issues such as overcrowding, poor infrastructure and design, fumes from asbestos in the walls, and overall delapidation. The major renovation was included in MCPS' 2013-2018 Capital Improvement Program, until it was shelved in 2017 following county budget cuts, to the frustration of Poolesville parents and students.[10][11] Campaigns for a renovation continued until the Board of Education eventually planned and funded the project again in 2021.[9] Construction started in 2022 and is expected to finish by the start of the 2024-25 academic year. Once complete, the new high school building will be about 234,000 square feet and will have an increased capacity of 1,508 students from the current 1,170.[12]

Mascot

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From its inception until 2002, the school's mascot was an Indian, and its logo was the profile of an Indian warrior in a full headdress.[13] In 2001, amid some controversy, the school's students and Poolesville Community voted on whether to keep the mascot or to change it to a falcon. Although the students and community elected to keep the Indian as the mascot, at the beginning of the 2001–2002 school year, the Montgomery County Board of Education, under pressure from the Maryland Bureau of Indian Affairs, overruled the vote,[14] paying the school $80,000 to change its mascot.[14] Beginning in the 2002–2003 school year, the students voted to change the school's mascot to a falcon.

Admissions

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Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity 2022–2023[1]
White Asian Hispanic Black Two or More Races American Indian/Alaska Native
527 476 139 93 69 3
Year Enrollment Native American/
Alaskan Native 		% Asian/
Pacific Islander 		% African
American 		% Non-Hispanic
White 		% Hispanic %
2021-22 1,272 2 0.2 462 36.3 76 6.0 539 42.4 123 9.7
2020-21 1,236 <5 34.9 5.9 44.6 9.1
2019-20 1,205 <5 32.9 5.6 48.2 7.8
2018-19 1,185 <5 31.5 5.7 48.9 8.2
2017-18 1,183 <5 30.0 5.5 50.8 7.7
2016-17 1,180 <5 30.1 <5 51.4 7.6
2015-16 1,205 <5 28.5 5.1 51.5 8.0
2014-15 1,223 <5 25.8 5.7 54.5 6.9
2013-14 1,202 <5 25.6 5.2 56.1 7.3
2012–13 1,235 3 0.2 286 23.1 62 5 717 58 99 8
2011-12 1,194 <5 23.1 5.4 59.5 7.2
2010-11 1,170 0.2 23.2 4.8 60.0 7.4
2009–10 1,150 6 0.5 243 21.1 70 6.1 768 66.8 63 5.5
2008–09 1,049 8 0.8 186 17.7 60 5.7 750 71.5 45 4.3
2007–08 1,012 8 0.8 127 12.6 50 4.9 790 78.0 37 3.7
2006–07 939 5 0.1 69 7.34 54 5.8 777 82.7 34 3.6
2005–06 861 3 0.2 32 3.44 46 5.3 757 87.9 23 2.7
2004–05 825 4 0.4 35 3.34 35 4.2 728 88.2 23 2.8
2003–04 776 3 0.1 35 3.21 29 3.7 696 89.7 13 1.7
2002–03 753 3 0.2 28 2.98 23 3.1 682 90.6 17 2.3

Curriculum

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Starting in the 2006–2007 school year, honor students in northern Montgomery County ("upcounty") have the opportunity to become a part of one of three magnet programs called "houses": Global Ecology; Humanities; or Science, Math, and Computer Science. Students test into high school during their last year of middle school, and if accepted and enrolled, they are "certificate" students and are required to take the standard courses for their specific program. As Poolesville is considered a whole magnet high school, resident students (if they do not apply and join one of the other programs) automatically become part of a fourth program called the Independent Studies program or ISP but are "non-certificate" and can choose to take specialized courses. The Independent Studies Program is specifically for Poolesville resident students only and cannot be applied for by out-of-district students.

Poolesville was ranked Washington Post's #1 Most Challenging High School in Maryland in 2016,[15] U.S. News' #1 Best High School in Maryland,[16] and Newsweek's #1 Top High School in Maryland in 2015.[17] The school's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) program was ranked #121 in Newsweek's 2019 nationwide survey of US high schools.[18]

Areas Served

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While most of Poolesville's students come from outside of Poolesville, there is a local student population which comes from one middle school, John Poole MS, and two elementary schools, Monocacy and Poolesville ES.[12]

Athletics

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Poolesville fields teams in the following sports:

Notable alumni

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Search for Public Schools - Poolesville High (240048000897)". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  2. ^ "Poolesville High School". 2023-2024 Best U.S. High Schools. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Poolesville High School". U.S. News and World Report. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  4. ^ Montgomery County Public Schools. Schools at a Glance - Poolesville High School. Accessed 7 June 2024
  5. ^ a b c d "Town of Poolesville Comprehensive Master Plan" (PDF). December 5, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-03-02.
  6. ^ Wilson, Warren H.; Taft, Anna B. (1912). A Rural Survey in Maryland, made by the Department of Church and Country Life of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the USA. p. 68. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  7. ^ Jewell, E. Guy (1976). From One Room to Open Space: A History of Montgomery County Schools from 1732 to 1965. Rockville, Maryland: Montgomery County Public Schools.
  8. ^ Lindsay, Jordan (2019-10-21). "Poolesville Residents Express Need for New High School Facility". MyMCMedia. Poolesville. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  9. ^ a b Pollak, Suzanne (2021-02-08). "Board of Education Approves Major Building Plans at Burnt Mills Elementary, Poolesville High". MyMCMedia. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  10. ^ Coffin, Cori (November 30, 2017). "Parents frustrated after school district scraps much-needed repairs at Poolesville High School". Fox 5 DC. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  11. ^ Lewis, Kevin (November 20, 2017). "Parents begging MCPS Board of Education for new Poolesville High School". WJLA. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  12. ^ a b Division of Capital Planning, Montgomery County Public Schools. Superintendent's Recommended FY 2025 Capital Budget and the FY 2025–2030 Capital Improvements Program - Chapter 4: Poolesville Cluster. Accessed 4 June 2024
  13. ^ Libit, Howard (2001-12-27). "In effort to save 'Indians,' Poolesville hasn't given in". Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on 2021-06-21. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  14. ^ a b Kehnemui, Sharon (2015-03-25). "Decision to Ban Indian Mascot Angers Maryland Town". Fox News. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
  15. ^ "Maryland Schools - The Washington Post". apps.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2017-02-28.
  16. ^ "Maryland Best High Schools". Archived from the original on 22 April 2020.
  17. ^ "America's Top High Schools 2015". Newsweek. 2015-08-19. Retrieved 2017-02-28.
  18. ^ "The Top 500 STEM High Schools". Newsweek. November 8, 2019. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  19. ^ Heim, Joe. "This white nationalist who shoved a Trump protester may be the next David Duke". The Washington Post. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  20. ^ Eberly, Tim (January 21, 2001). "Poolesville Sizes 'Em Up". The Washington Post. in the past 30 years, only one former student, 1985 graduate Irvin Smith, has earned a full athletic scholarship to a major Division I college (Smith started at defensive back at Maryland).
  21. ^ "Filip Burnett - 2018 Men's Soccer Roster". Saint Francis University Athletics. Archived from the original on 2024-05-02. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
  22. ^ Henrique, Pedro. "Fillip Burnett Commits to Maryland Bobcats for 2024 Season". BSA Press Release. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  23. ^ Ousley, Parkes. "Cloud9 Blaber: "I don't take my time with Svenskeren for granted... That's when I learned the most."". Inven Global. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
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