Digital Harbor High School is a

magnet A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nicke ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

located in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...

, United States. Occupying the campus of the former Southern High School, it is currently one of two secondary schools and a

comprehensive high school Comprehensive high schools are the most popular form of public high schools around the world, designed to provide a well-rounded education to its students, as opposed to the practice in some places in which examinations are used to sort students in ...

that specializes in

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology syste ...

of Baltimore.

History

The vision for Digital Harbor High School started in 2000 when then-Baltimore schools chief Carmen V. Russo wanted to create a high school for computer studies in downtown Baltimore. Southern High School was the chosen site for the new school because it had suffered low graduation rates and disorder in recent years. Its prime location near

Inner Harbor The Inner Harbor is a historic seaport, tourist attraction, and landmark of the city of Baltimore, Maryland. It was described by the Urban Land Institute in 2009 as "the model for post-industrial waterfront redevelopment around the world". Th ...

in the gentrifying Federal Hill neighborhood made it an attractive choice for a magnet school drawing students from citywide. A planning committee convened and a multimillion-dollar renovation project was undertaken over a five-year period. The building was completely transformed, with approximately $50 million spent to renovate the campus, with $6 million allocated toward

and audio visual equipment. The school was partially designed by the original principal, Michael Pitroff (2002-2005), who is said to be the "Father of Digital Harbor." In 2005, he was reassigned to be the Technology Department Head for the Baltimore school system. The pupil transition from the old Southern High School began in 2002 with the entering 9th graders inaugurating the new school. With the graduation of Southern High School's last Class of 2005, all grade levels for Digital Harbor High School were phased in and another school, the National Academy Foundation School, was also housed on its first floor.

Academics

The academic focus of the school has been on

computers A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These prog ...

and information technology. Digital Harbor's school compass logo represents the curriculum is divided into four separated into 6 separate areas of study ("pathways") for students to choose from: *Interactive Media Production (IMP) *IT Networking Academy (Cisco) *Database Academy (Oracle) *Information Support and Services (ISS) *Geographic Information Systems (GIS) & Remote Sensing (RI) *Computer Science The students must meet not only the BCPSS requirements for graduation, but must also fulfill the requirements for their particular "pathway" as well. Currently, Digital Harbor is one of the most technologically advanced schools in the city. During the 2013–2014 school year, the school's population increased to 1409 students.

Facilities and policies

Digital Harbor is a first among Baltimore City Schools, with millions of dollars in equipment devoted to modernizing all of the classrooms and the adding of

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves ...

and wired internet access all over the school. The majority of the

desktop computer A desktop computer (often abbreviated desktop) is a personal computer designed for regular use at a single location on or near a desk due to its size and power requirements. The most common configuration has a case that houses the power supply ...

s come from

Dell Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...

with Windows XP Professional, and IBM

Thinkpad ThinkPad is a line of business-oriented laptop computers and tablets designed, developed and marketed by Lenovo, and formerly by IBM until 2005, when IBM's PC business was acquired by Lenovo. ThinkPads have a distinct black, boxy design la ...

laptops A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...

, although the media pathway has

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

as well for use of particular students. All four floors have pathway offices designed with the school colors.

School uniform

The school currently has a

school uniform A school uniform is a uniform worn by students primarily for a school or otherwise an educational institution.They are common in primary and secondary schools in various countries. An example of a uniform would be requiring button-down shirts ...

dress code which includes khaki pants, a polo shirt or oxford shirt in Columbia blue or white as well as a polo shirt or oxford shirt in black exclusively for registered seniors; and the school sweatshirt or sweater with the

compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wo ...

or in black. For the 2011–2012 school year the school introduced a royal blue polo shirt for the incoming ninth graders

Sports

The Rams compete in Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association Class 3A. As of the 2013–2014 school year, varsity and

junior varsity Junior varsity (often called "JV") players are the members of a team who are not the main players in a competition (such as any football, basketball, or baseball game), usually at the high school level–– and formerly at the collegiate level ...

level sports include: *

Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

*Boys'

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

*Boys'

Lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

*Boys'

Track and Field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

Dance Team A dance squad or dance team, sometimes called a pom squad or song team, is a team of participants that participates in competitive dance. A dance squad can also include: a jazz squad, ballet squad, or any kind of religion dance squad. Dance squads ...

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

*Girls' Basketball *Girls' Lacrosse *Girls' Track and Field *

Softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

Wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat s ...

*In 2004, the Rams track team won the Class 2A-1A Central region title, Class 1A South Regional crown and the state title. *The varsity softball team was undefeated in the same year and placed first in the city. *The football team has also been on the rise since its inception, which is reflective in their season records: **2004: 2 W - 7 L **2005: 3 W - 7 L **2006: 5 W - 5 L **2007: 8 W - 3 L (City Champions) **2007: 10W - 0 L (JV City Champions) Win over City College *From 2007 to 2013, the Rams baseball team went undefeated in the city and won the Baltimore City Championship. This stopped in the 2014 season when the team lost to

Academy for College and Career Exploration Academy for College and Career Exploration (ACCE) is a public secondary school located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The school opened in the city in fall 2004 under the guidance of being an "innovation" school by Johns Hopkins John ...

*Winter of 2008, the boys' indoor track team finished first in the state. *In March 2009 both the Rams boys' and girls' basketball teams won the state 1A championship in basketball.

Clubs

Digital Harbor offers a variety of clubs for students. Clubs currently offered at Digital Harbor include: *City Life, a Youth for Christ club *Equestrian Club *Band *Chess Club *Inner-city Outings Club *International Club *Anime Graphics *Architecture, Engineering, and Construction/ACE *Literary Magazine *Art Club *MESA *Cheerleaders *Music Entrepreneurs *National Honor Society *Choir *Peer Mediators *Crew (Rowing) *Quiz Bowl *Computer Gaming *Student Government *Dance Club *Robotics Club *Drama Club *Sailing Club *Debate Team *Songwriters *Environmental Club *Yearbook/ The Compass *Newspaper/Digital Desktop *Fashion Club

Notable alumni

Al Kaline Albert William Kaline ( ; December 19, 1934 – April 6, 2020), nicknamed "Mr. Tiger", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers. For most of his career, Kali ...

, member of

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

* Brian "Axl Rotten" Knighton,

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

Gervonta Davis Gervonta Davis ( ; born November 7, 1994) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the WBA (Regular) lightweight title since 2019; the IBF super featherweight title in 2017; ...

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

, WBA

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

and WBA

Light welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

champion * Ian Thomas,

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

Achievements

The school was honored by

M&T Bank M&T Bank Corporation (Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company) is an American bank holding company headquartered in Buffalo, New York. It operates 1680 branches in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts ...

with a $5,000 loan to start a school store, which sells several school oriented memorabilia (cups, mugs, School Uniforms, wristbands etc.); and also sells snacks, drinks, and school supplies. The store was given the loan based on a presentation given by a group of students in the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) program. The bank has even donated a school mascot uniform to the school named Nifty (after the NFTE program).Five teenage entrepreneurs convince M&T bankers to loan them $5,000
-''Daily Record'', Jan 31, 2006 by Kathleen Johnston Jarboe

References

External links

*
Digital Harbor High School AllianceDigital Harbor High School - Maryland Report Card
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 2002 Public schools in Baltimore Public high schools in Maryland Magnet schools in Maryland 2002 establishments in Maryland Federal Hill, Baltimore