Thomas Sprigg Wootton High School
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| Thomas Sprigg Wootton High School | |
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| Address | 2100 Wootton Parkway Rockville, Maryland 20850 |
| Contact Information | Phone: 301-279-8550 Fax: 301-279-8569 |
| Established | 1969 |
| Community | Suburban |
| Type | Public Secondary |
| Student Body | Co-Educational |
| Student to Teacher Ratio | 20.2 |
| Grades | 9 to 12 |
| Enrollment | 2538 |
| District | Montgomery County Public Schools Area Four Wootton Cluster |
| Mascot | Patriot |
| Colors | Red, White and Blue |
| Motto | Patriot Pride |
| Newspaper | Common Sense |
| Distinctions | 2002 National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence |
| School Website | Home Page |
| Administration
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Thomas Sprigg Wootton High School is a high school in Rockville, Maryland. Its namesake is Thomas Sprigg Wootton, the founder of Montgomery County. The school was founded in 1969 and is part of the Montgomery County Public Schools system. The majority of the students come from Robert Frost Middle School or Cabin John Middle School. The principal since July 2003 is Dr. Michael Doran.
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[edit] Academics
In 2005, Wootton was named the 17th best high school in the United States by Newsweek. The only school from Montgomery County to beat it was Richard Montgomery High School, which placed 11th. The rankings have come into question however because of the controversial method used to evaluate schools. "Public schools are ranked according to a ratio devised by Jay Mathews: the number of Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate tests taken by all students at a school in 2004 divided by the number of graduating seniors." This method completely disregards the scores on the test, i.e., the school ranked number one could have the lowest scores on tests in the country as long as that school takes the most tests., Near the end of 2005, the Wootton history department opened up WoottonHistory.com, a collection of AP World essays and other such information in order to help AP World History students with resources in preparation for the AP exam.
Wootton students are described as ambitious, intelligent, and competitive. The average student takes several honors/AP courses.
[edit] Extracurricular activities
[edit] Clubs
- On April 29, 2006, Wootton won 1st place for both the 1st-Year-Team and 2nd-Year-Team at the University of Maryland's 22nd Annual Chemathon. Twenty-five high schools from Maryland, Virginia, and DC participated.
- In March of 2006, the Wootton Model United Nations Club attended the Johns Hopkins Model United Nations Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. The Club members acted as delegates representing Ukraine and Iceland on various UN Committees.
- On February 26, 2005,and again on February 25, 2006, the Wootton Science Bowl team won the Maryland/Delaware Regional Science Bowl.
- At the National Science Bowl on April 30 through May 2, 2005, the Wootton Science Bowl team won fifth place out of sixty-three schools competing nationwide, all of which had won their respective regional event.
- On February 25, 2006, a team of eight Wootton students placed fourth in the B division of the Harvard-MIT Math Tournament.
- In March of 2005, the Wootton Programming Team got eighth place out of the thirty-two schools competing in the University of Maryland Computer Science Competition, in October of 2005, the programming team got second place at the Hood College Competition, and in March of 2006, the team placed fifth at the University of Maryland Computer Science Competition, winning $400.
- The Wootton High School Debate Team placed 4th place in the 2005-2006 regional tournament
- The Wootton High School Cancer Awareness Club raises awareness of the deadly disease in the school's community. They were recently invited to WHIT Washington FM 99.5 to talk about their club with show host Julian. The club plans to repeat the '05-'06 activities in '06-'07 and add several more.
- The Wootton TV / Film Club submitted a film to the Montgomery County Schools Media Festival held on April 28, 2006 at the AFI Silver Theater in Silver Spring, Maryland. The film, titled "The S.G.A.", under the direction of Eric Fleischman, a member of the TV / Film Club of 2006 starring English teacher Mr. Lightsey and Wootton Principal Dr. Doran, won 2nd place in the live action video category. Blake high school claimed 1st place in that category. The club hopes to create a film once again next year to submit to the film festival, hoping to capture first place.
- The Foundation Chicos Por Atyra raised over 600 dollars so far this year for impoverished children in Paraguay.
[edit] Performing arts
Wootton is known throughout Maryland for its theater department, once described by Principal Michael Doran as "the closest thing to Broadway for miles around." In 2003, their production of Les Miserables was lauded by critics, and leads in that show went on to attend music or theater programs at the Cincinnati Conservatory, Tisch @ NYU, the Penn State School of Music, and Musical Theatre at Emerson College among others. Other difficult shows they have recently tackled with great critical success include Songs For A New World, Seussical, On The Town, and both the male and female versions of The Odd Couple. The fall plays for the 2006-2007 school year included "Revenge of the Space Pandas" and "Children of Eden." Children of Eden was a great success, wowing and pleasing audience members. It has been said that "Children of Eden was even better than Les Mis!" [6] [7] [8] [9]
Wootton will do "Sweeney Todd" for their Spring 2007 Production
[edit] Sports
The Boys Varsity Lacrosse team won the Regional Final against Churchill 8-7 in 2006. The team also made a great showing in the state semi-final losing to Severna Park 13-7 which was the greatest showing a Montgomery County team has had against an Annapolis team. The Boys Varsity Basketball team won state championships in 1978, 1979, and 1983, and lost in the 1985 state finals. The Volleyball team made the finals in 1982, and won state titles every year from 1983 to 1989. The Golf team made the finals in 1982, and was state champions in 1983, 1996, and 1997. The 1989 football team became Maryland state runner-ups in 1990. The Wootton swim and dive team had a spectacular season with the boys undefeated and the girls with only one tie. The swim team will be moving to division one next year. In 1996 the Baseball team won the 4A Maryland State Championship. In 1998, the Girls Varsity Soccer team won the 4A Maryland State Championship. The Girls Varsity Soccer team was also a 4A state semifinalist in 1999 and 2000. In 2004 the Boys Varsity Soccer team reached the semi-finals of their regional playoff series. The 2005 Boys Varsity Soccer team finished first in their division, and were ranked as high as 6th by The Washington Post and 4th by The Examiner; but lost to Quince Orchard in the second round of the playoffs. Wootton also has a tennis team, field hockey team, golf team, ice hockey team, cheerleading, poms(dance) squad, indoor track, softball team, volleyball (girls, coed, and boys), and intramural club sports.
[edit] Cross Country
The Boys' Cross Country team made it to the state championship during the 2000 season, for the first time since winning the State Championship in 1978, and again made it there during the 2002 season. In 2003 Boys' Cross Country finished 4th at the state championship. The Girls' Cross Country team has more consistently made it to the state championship, having been there every season from 2000-2005 except 2001.
[edit] Track & Field
The old coach Mr. Bosnik left in the spring of 2005. A new coach from Bronx, New York was hired, Matt Duckery. He has brought a large number of new coaches to the team. Although hope exists that the team will be able to improve, a sign of this happening has yet to be seen. He will take over Cross Country in the fall of 2006 after Coach Wagner has retired.
[edit] Parking
During the past few years, the school has undergone a shortage of adequate parking facilities. In 2002, a "seniors only" parking rule was initiated to combat the shortage of spaces present on campus. Discounts and other incentives were given to those who carpooled or shared rides with others. Juniors are now only allowed to drive to school if they are handicapped or have an internship. Many underclassmen who previously drove to school became angry and started to park their vehicles at the Rockshire Shopping Center or on neighborhood streets beside Wootton. Security guards now patrol these areas heavily to prevent noise and traffic congestion. Underclassmen who park their cars at Rockshire Shopping Center will often be towed. During August of 2006, Montgomery County Public Schools and Rockshire Association would not allow Wootton to continue using their parking lot until insurance contracts were fulfilled. As of September 2006, parking was once again allowed for permit holders.
[edit] Notable recent events
In 2001 the band Of a Revolution (O.A.R.), which includes four alumni, performed at the James A. Coles Field before they reached the Billboard charts.
Also in 2001, President George W. Bush visited Wootton and spoke with the senior class about a Veterans Day program.
In early 2005, the Wootton cheerleading squad was caught in a scandal when pictures of cheerleaders in uniform in provocative poses made their way to pornographic sites. The story made the national media, including the Washington Post.
The Graduation ceremony for the class of 2005 featured a speech from former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. For the graduation of the class of 2006, former Congresswoman Connie Morella was the speaker.
In early 2007, two Wootton students, including 2006 graduate Rachel Lacy Crites and 16-year-old junior Rachel Samantha Smith, were found dead in Crites's car near the West Virginia border in Loudon County, Va. Their deaths were apparent suicides. WUSA article
On March 27, 2007 a Wootton senior, Dawen (David) Li was struck by a car driven by an 82-year-old woman while riding his bicycle on Travilah Road. He suffered life-threatening injuries and was transported to the hosptial, but later died of those injuries. [13]
[edit] Notable alumni
Some of Wootton's most notable alumni are four of the members of the American rock group Of a Revolution. Richard On, Benj Gershman, Marc Roberge, and Chris Culos graduated from Wootton before attending Ohio State University.
Flounder on Elliot in the Morning (DC101) attended Wootton but did not graduate.
In June 2005, Zac Cohen of the Class of 1997, competed on the reality game show Fear Factor and won first place.
Actor Thomas Jane of "The Punisher"
[edit] Notes
- ↑ http://www.chem.umd.edu/chemathon/teams06.html
- ↑ Science Bowl#Results of the National Competition
- ↑ http://www.cs.umd.edu/Outreach/hsContest05/scores.html
- ↑ http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7723397/site/newsweek/
- ↑ Best High Schools in America
- ↑ http://db.etree.org/shninfo_detail.php?shnid=10449
- ↑ http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/10/images/20011030-7.html
- ↑ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1945-2005Jan11.html
- ↑ http://gazette.net/stories/121405/gaitnew191618_31909.shtml
[edit] External links
- Wootton High School website
- Common Sense, the Wootton High School newspaper
- Thomas Sprigg Wootton High School aerial at Microsoft Terraserver
