DuVal High School

DuVal High School (DHS), is a public high school named in honor of Gabriel Duvall, a U.S. Representative from the second district of Maryland from November 11, 1794, to March 28, 1796, Chief Justice of the General Court of Maryland from 1796 to 1802, and First Comptroller of the U.S. Treasury from 1802 through 1811. Duvall was appointed to the United States Supreme Court to replace fellow Marylander Samuel Chase in 1811 and served until 1835, when he resigned due to old age. DuVal (the spelling was changed to conform with the version used by 20th century descendents of Gabriel Duvall) High School is a comprehensive public four-year high school. DuVal HS opened in 1959 to relieve over crowding from other local area high schools. The original building was a one-story, 38-classroom school, situated at what used to be the small village of Good Luck. The first mailing address of DuVal was simply: Glenn Dale and Telegraph Roads; Glenn Dale, MD. The current address is: 9880 Good Luck Road in the unincorporated town of Lanham in Prince Georges County, Maryland 20706. Ms. Alice Swift is the Principal.

Academics

DuVal High School offers a variety of academic programs and courses such as: Air Force JROTC, Art, Business Education ,English, ESOL, Family and Consumer Sciences, Foreign Language, Health, Library Media Center, Mathematics, Music, Physical Education, Project Lead the Way, Science, Social Studies, Special Education and Technology Education. DuVal High School holds the vision that all students will be productive, ethical, and responsible citizens in the twenty-first century. The mission of DuVal High School is to create an environment where all students feel confident and competent to meet the challenges of a technological society. DuVal's goal is to create and maintain an environment that will encourage all students to reach their maximum educational potential.

MOTEL

The MOTEL program (Microgravity Opportunities To Enhance Learning) is a small, short-term project designed and built by DuVal High School students, located in Lanham, Maryland. The experiment sent live roaches into space in a NASA GAS Can (Get-Away Special) aboard the shuttle.

On December 8, 1998 the roaches' habitat was deintigrated (i.e., separated) from the GAS can. The roaches were put into the can on about July 28. The program coordinators had no idea whether any of the roaches had survived. When the habitat was finally removed from the can, the students from DuVal peered inside to see if anything was alive. At least four adult roaches didn't survive. But two of the little roaches did survive. This program gained media attention from local TV stations and newspapers who were on hand to witness a memorable academic moment for the school.

Project Lead the Way

Project Lead the Way is a not-for-profit organization that promotes pre-engineering courses for middle and high school students. The “Project Lead the Way” high school pre-engineering program consists of six courses that expose students to a broad overview of the field of technology. On August 20, 2007 DuVal HS received a record $400 million in school construction funding in response to the “Project Lead the Way” program. When work was officially completed and the first day of school arrived for students Governor Martin O’Malley and then Superintendent John Deasy toured the newly constructed wing of DuVal High School and talked to students in the “Project Lead the Way” program.

The funds for DuVal High School provided a much needed two-story wing that currently house classrooms for technical education, family consumer classes, computer labs, child-development programs, special education, science, art and general education.

Notable alumni

• Karen Allen - actress
• Madieu Williams - Professional football player
• India Shelton - Model, Swagger, Actress

External links

• School Information
• School history
• School Website

Coordinates: 38°59′21.6″N 76°50′16.6″W / 38.989333°N 76.837944°W / 38.989333; -76.837944