Oxon Hill High School

Oxon Hill High School (OHHS) is a public senior high school located in Oxon Hill, an unincorporated area in Prince George's County, Maryland, and a suburb of Washington, D.C. in the United States.

The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Prince George's County Public Schools system.

Oxon Hill is one of three schools in Prince George's county to offer the Science & Technology Program (see below), a magnet program with a highly selective admissions process. This program is a "school within a school" with approximately 125 students in each entering class. Overall, the school has approximately 2,500 students spread across the four grade levels. In recent years, the school has suffered persistent overcrowding due to its popular academic programs, extracurricular activities, and location in the burgeoning southern tier of the county.

The school mascot is a Clipper Ship, as chosen through a student contest. The school motto is Navis Semper Naviget (May The Ship Sail Forever).

History

The Oxon Hill Consolidated School, a union of five elementary schools, started in 1925.^[1] The school's first addition came in 1926, with three more in a period between 1928 and 1938 at the site which is currently Oxon Hill Elementary School on Livingston Road.

In 1948, the consolidated school ended and a grades 7 through 12 school was established in a new two-story building, which is currently the Education and Staff Development Center facing Maryland Route 210. The school operated on a split session until John Hanson Junior High School opened. With an expanding suburban population (approximately 1959) the current, larger school campus opened on Leyte Drive in the Southlawn community (SLC). (In the early 1960s the school's zoned attendance area stretched from the District of Columbia line as far south as Piscataway Creek/Bay. In the 1960s/1970s many of these neighborhoods were switched to Potomac, Crossland, and Friendly high schools after those schools were built). The school's music departments were especially noted, winning awards on local, national, and international levels. The student body was nearly all Caucasian, which gradually changed to majority African American as did the community. In the 1980s, the school was expanded by adding the magnet program's Science and Technology building.

In 1966 Oxon Hill High School, then serving as a senior high school with grades 10, 11, and 12, was selected as one of the first dozen high schools in the United States to participate in the U.S. Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFJROTC) program.

The school received some attention in the local media in 1995 after the shooting death of student Charles "Chuck" Marsh while waiting for a bus in front of the school.^[2] President Clinton alluded to the case when he made his remark about requiring school uniforms in his State of the Union address.^[3]

A complete new school facility is scheduled to open in 2014 next to the current site, with demolition of the old building in 2014.Oxon Hill High is the first PGCPS to have a turf football field.^[4]

Science and technology program

The Science and Technology Program (STP) is a highly structured, four-year academic program. Of twenty-eight possible credits, a student is required to obtain a minimum of thirteen credits in specific mathematics, pre-engineering technology, research and science courses. In grades nine and ten, the program consists of common experiences courses for all student. In grades eleven and twelve, each student must choose course work from at least one of four majore study areas. Students are expected to be enrolled in a full schedule of classes during the entire four-year program. External experiences are possible and encouraged, but must be a direct extension or enrichment of the Science and Technology Program, and have the recommendation of the Science and Technology Center Coordinator prior to approval by the principal.

The program was established in 1976, and is offered at three centers: Oxon Hill (serving the southern part of the county), Eleanor Roosevelt High School (serving the northern area of Prince George's County), and Charles Herbert Flowers High School (serving the central part of the county). Each school is a four-year comprehensive high school, as well as a Science and Technology Center. Each STP is an active member of the National Consortium of Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science and Technology (NCSSSMST).

Currently, five-hundred and twenty-five students (between the four grade levels) are enrolled in the program. This is roughly 23% of the student enrollment of about twenty-three hundred. Students have consistently performed at a high level of success on the Scholastic Achievement Tests, with many being identified as National Merit Scholars and National Achievement Finalists.

Admission to the program is highly competitive, and students represent the top 5% of the county. Each year up to 2,000 students test for the 500 to 525 seats. Students are admitted by a combination of earned grades and a two-part comprehensive examination. The average of grades in English, social studies, mathematics and science is computed per quarter at the end of each student's preceding grade level. LIkewise, the first quarter grades of his/her current grade level is put into consideration. A standardized verbal and numerical ability test will be administered as a two-part competitive examination. The rest is administered at the Science and Technology high schools, and at several area middle schools each December.

At the end of tenth grade, students choose one major study area: pre-engineering technology, biological sciences, physical sciences, or science and technology exploration (i.e. computer science). The following course requirements correspond with each area of study:

Pre-engineering technology (PET)
- One advanced technology STP course: electronics/energy systems or production/statics systems
- One drafting and design STP course: engineering or architectural drafting and design
- One specific science elective
- Mathematics through pre-calculus
- Research Practicum

Biological science
- One advanced chemistry course: AP Chemistry or Bio-Organic Chemistry
- AP Biology
- One specific science elective
- Mathematics through pre-calculus
- Research Practicum

H.S.L Physical science
- AP Chemistry
- AP Physics
- One specific science elective
- Mathematics through calculus
- Research practicum

Computer science
- Computer mathematics
- AP computer science
- One specific science elective
- Mathematics through pre-calculus
- Research practicum

Scholarship(s)

STP students at Oxon Hill have been recipients of a high number of college and/or military scholarships, grants, and awards since the inception of the program. Scholarship award opportunities for Oxon Hill High School have exceeded twenty-three million dollars ($23,000,000.00) annually. Virtually all STP students enter four-year colleges/universities immediately following graduation.

Science and technology program continuance & certification requirements

Students must progress toward, and meet, the STP certification criteria to remain in the program. Upon graduation, each student who has met the STP certification criteria is awarded the Science and Technology Program Certification of Completion.

Notable graduates

• Class of 1983 Football State Champions
• Derek Fenner, Seattle Seahawk, Los Angeles Raiders Running Back
• Ric Thomas, 1984 Washington Post Basketball 3rd Team All Met, Mcdonalds HS All American.
• O'Brien Alston, Indianapolis Colts linebacker
• Rebekkah Brunson, a professional basketball player for the WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs
• Lamar Butler, former starting guard for George Mason University during their 2005-2006 surprising season run to the Final Four
• Derrick Delmore, championship ice skater (World Junior Championships, National Collegiate Championships), Stanford graduate, and occasional pianist
• Taraji P. Henson is an Oscar nominated award winning actress and singer. She provided the vocals on the Academy Award winning Three 6 Mafia track, "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp", for the film Hustle & Flow in which she stars as Shug, as well as being nominated for a best supporting actress nomination for her work in the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as Queenie, the adopted mother of the Brad Pitt's character Benjamin.
• Emily Perez, first female minority Command Sergeant Major in the history of the United States Military Academy at West Point; she was killed in action in 2006 in Iraq.
• Michael Sweetney, a professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls
• Mechelle Lewis, member of the US track and field women's 4x100 meter relay team which participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics
• Vince and Vance Moss, renowned physicians and recipients of the Global War on Terror Achievement Medal for their efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan providing medical care to those in need. They were also featured on Oprah, Good Morning America, and many other networks.
• Meshell Ndegeocello, singer, songwriter and musician
• Archie Moore, musician, member of Velocity Girl and Black Tambourine
• Aaron D. Spears, An actor starring in Being Mary Jane and The Bold and the Beautiful
• Carol J. Lancaster, Phd. Class of 1960: Dean School of Foreign Service, Georgetown Univ.; deputy assistant secretary of state for Africa; Dep. Dir. USAID.
• Kathy Clark, Class of 1975: Co-founder and CEO of Landmark Systems Corporation (NASDAQ: LDMK), Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 1997, Chair of Northern Virginia Technology Council 1998-2000

References

External links

• Oxon Hill High School