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Western High School is the oldest
public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...
all-girls
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 ...
remaining in the United States. It is the third-oldest public high school in the state of
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean ...
and part of the
Baltimore City Public Schools Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS), also referred to as Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) or City Schools, is a public school district in the city of Baltimore, state of Maryland, United States. It serves the youth of Baltimore ...
. Western High was named a " National Blue Ribbon School" of Excellence by the
U.S. Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...
in 2009 and a "Silver Medal High School" by the news magazine '' U.S. News & World Report'' in 2012.


History

The Western Female High School was founded in 1844 as one of two "twin sisters" secondary schools for young ladies in the then 15-year-old
Baltimore City Public Schools Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS), also referred to as Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) or City Schools, is a public school district in the city of Baltimore, state of Maryland, United States. It serves the youth of Baltimore ...
system, along with the Eastern Female High School. Earlier in 1829, the first four "grammar" schools (today's
elementary schools A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
) were established by the newly organized B.C.P.S., two for boys and two for girls, one in each of the four quadrants of the smaller densely populated city that was
Baltimore 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 was ...
then. On November 1, 1844, the Western High School officially opened its doors for the first time in the old Armitage Hall located at 100 North Paca Street on the western side of downtown Baltimore, between West Fayette and Lexington Streets. In those two small rented rooms, Robert Kerr, the first principal and sole teacher, welcomed thirty-six young women. Thus began the unique legacy of Western, a pioneer in women's education, along with its companion Eastern High, in the United States. Before the two female high schools were established (as described in the literature of the day, two separate institutions were established in order not to pose an unusual hardship on the young ladies traveling distances through the town), there had been no opportunity for Baltimore girls to get an education beyond the
grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary sch ...
level. By 1896, a half-century later and several relocations later, W.F.H.S. moved to a new, more expensive building specifically constructed for the girls' high school on Lafayette and McCulloh Streets in the northwestern residential neighborhood of Upton. By this time, the girls had opportunities to take clerical courses. After several other moves, in 1928 the school moved to twin 'H' shaped structure of red brick and limestone trim in an English Tudor / Elizabethan / Jacobethan architecture on Gwynns Falls Parkway, opposite financier George Brown's estate "Mondawmin" which was replaced by one of the earliest enclosed malls in 1956), which was the duplicate of a similar new building for sister Eastern High in 1938 on 33rd Street and Loch Raven Boulevard. In 1954, the year of the racial integration of the Baltimore City Public Schools, the Gwynns Falls site became the home of Frederick Douglass High School, and WHS moved on again. For the next thirteen years WHS was on the southwest corner of North Howard and West Centre Street in the former Baltimore City College building of 1895–1928, which had housed the Boys Vocational High School until 1954 when it merged with Samuel Gompers Vocational High School to form
Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School (commonly referred to as "Mervo" or "MerVo-Tech") is a public high school in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is one of the two premiere vocational-technical high schools of the city, the other b ...
in a new brick building and campus in 1955 on Hillen Road, facing Lake Montebello in the northeast city. Western's years at the old City College building were crowded and difficult with an additional annex building and no surrounding campus in its near downtown and Mount Vernon-Belvedere neighborhood location. Finally a new modern Western High finally opened in its current location at 4600 Falls Road at the northwest corner with West Cold Spring Lane (just east of the stream
Jones Falls The Jones Falls is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 stream in Maryland. It is impounded to create Lake Roland before running through the city of Baltim ...
which divides the city) in September 1967, sharing a joint, huge, modern campus with the then all-male Baltimore Polytechnic Institute to the west, the city's premier mathematics/
science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...
/ technology and
engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
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 ...
public high school, previously founded 1883 on little Courtland Street as the Baltimore Manual Training School, and renamed a decade later. The new "Poly-Western Complex", on the drawing boards for five years, was one of the most expensive and largest high school campuses constructed in America up to that time. For most of its history, Western has been a citywide "magnet program", officially designated as such in 1975. Students must apply and meet certain entrance criteria. Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women (BLSYW), established in 2009, initially occupied the third floor of Western but moved into its own building in the former
Young Women's Christian Association The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...
(
YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...
downtown center at the northeast corner of Park Avenue and West Franklin Street in the following year. The people of Western High School opposed the idea of BLSYW being housed in that building. The current principal of Western High School is Michelle White.


Academics

Western High offers three academic programs/curriculums: the "Accelerated College Preparatory" ("A Course"), "College Preparatory", and the "Teacher Academy". Western's most rigorous academic program is the "Advanced College Preparatory" Program, ("The 'A' Course"), which was established in 1933 by a joint agreement between Western and the then also all-female Goucher College (formerly located on the 2400 block of St. Paul Street in the
Charles Village Charles Village is a neighborhood located in the north-central area of Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It is a diverse, eclectic, international, largely middle-class area with many single-family homes that is in proximity to many of Baltimore's cultural ...
neighborhood in northern Baltimore City and relocated in the 1950s to the northeast of
Towson Towson () is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltim ...
, the county seat of suburban
Baltimore County Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland and is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area. Baltimore County (which partially surrounds, though does not include, the independent City of ...
). Within the "Accelerated College Preparatory" program, students can finish four years of
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 ...
work in grade 911. During their 12th-grade year they are able to pursue advanced placement or college-level courses. Students who graduate from "The 'A' Course" may enter college or university with "
advanced standing Transfer credit, credit transfer, or advanced standing are the terms used by colleges and universities for the procedure of granting credit to a student for educational experiences or courses undertaken at another institution. This is a subset o ...
". This rigorous college preparatory program allows students to take honors courses in subjects in which they demonstrate strength. The classes of 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 had a 100% four-year college acceptance rate. The W.H.S.'s "Teacher Academy" offers four classes that prepare students for a career in education. Western also annually produces championship athletic teams and prize-winning performing arts students and sponsors more than 40 different type of clubs, organizations, service groups and publications. In 2012, the news magazine '' U.S. News & World Report'' ranked Western High School as 912th nationally and 44th in
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean ...
as a "Silver Medal High School".


Athletics

Western High school's athletics program (''the Doves'') fields teams in
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
, cross-country,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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 extensively ...
, dance,
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 c ...
,
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 Summ ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
and
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 even ...
. The Western Doves girls' basketball team won the Maryland public secondary school championships in 1994 and 1995. They were runners-up in the state contests in 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2010. They won 35 or more District IX Baltimore City Championships and have been to State Finals a record 14 times (the most in Maryland history). The Western track and field team are perennial champions, winning multiple city, regional and state championships. They won 29 Baltimore City Indoor/Outdoor Track Championships, 1995-2007(I) 1990–2005, 2007(O), 27 3A/4A North Regional Indoor/Outdoor Track Championships, 1995-2006(I) 1990–2004, 2006(O) and three 3A/4A Maryland State Outdoor Track Championships, 2002, 2005–2006. They were four times the 3A/4A Maryland State Outdoor Track Championship runner-ups: 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004. In 2009 outdoor track season, the Doves took cities, regionals and states, becoming the 2009 Outdoor Track State Champs.


Activities


Traditions

;Big Sister, Little Sister Program :This is an informal program when the juniors of the new school year pick little sisters from the incoming freshmen. With the incoming class of 2009, the "official" program went on hiatus until the school year of 2010–2011. ;Freshman Day :The
freshmen A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...
have an outdoor
picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors ( ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event such as preceding ...
. ;Sophomore Parent-Daughter Tea :Parents of sophomores join their daughters for a tea in appreciation of the hard work their parents have done for them. ;Junior Day :An assembly is held in honor of the juniors, who wear their class colors on this day. ;Senior Inaugural :The new seniors are welcomed into the school. Traditionally the seniors wear all white and get the rest of the day off after the assembly. ;Senior Farewell :The entire school says goodbye to the old seniors. The juniors sing the farewell song to the outgoing seniors. The seniors also wear all white on this day. ;Revel :The annual spring fair Western has four sets of traditional class colors. Each class inherits their class colors as freshmen. The colors are: :* Purple and gold :* Maroon and gold :* Blue and gold :* Black and gold


Graduation

Western High School's
graduation Graduation is the awarding of a diploma to a student by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it. The date of the graduation ceremony is often called graduation day. The graduation ceremony is al ...
is traditionally held on a Saturday in even years and on a Sunday in odd years, in June. This is because it shares an athletic complex (namely the football field) with its brother school, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. The girls wear white, ankle-length dresses and carry red roses during the commencement ceremony. It is also customary to release white doves, Western's mascot.


Notable alumnae

* Rosalie Silber Abrams, Maryland politician * Florence E. Bamberger, American
pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...
, school supervisor, and
progressive education Progressive education, or protractivism, is a pedagogical movement that began in the late 19th century and has persisted in various forms to the present. In Europe, progressive education took the form of the New Education Movement. The term ''pr ...
advocate *
Trazana Beverley Trazana Beverley is an American stage and film actress as well as a lecturer in acting. She received a BFA in Acting from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She was the first African-American actress to receive a Tony Award for "Be ...
(1963), actress, 1977 Tony Award winner *
Jill P. Carter Jill Priscilla Carter (born June 18, 1964) is an American attorney and politician who represents Maryland's 41st legislative district of Baltimore City in the Maryland State Senate. She previously represented the same district in the Maryland H ...
, Maryland state delegate, 41st District * Farai Chideya, author and journalist *
Marilyn Crispell Marilyn Crispell (born March 30, 1947) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Scott Yanow described her as "a powerful player... who has her own way of using space... She is near the top of her field." Jon Pareles of The New York Times w ...
, pianist and composer * Liebe Sokol Diamond (1947), notable
pediatric Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...
orthopedic surgeon Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...
and inductee of the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame * Tamara Dobson (1965), actress, best known for her role as "Cleopatra Jones" *
Mildred Dunnock Mildred Dorothy Dunnock (January 25, 1901 – July 5, 1991) was an American stage and screen actress. She was twice nominated for an Academy Award: first ''Death of a Salesman'' in 1951, then ''Baby Doll'' in 1956. Early life Born in Baltimore ...
actress * Lisa A. Gladden (1982), member of the
Maryland State Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single- ...
, 41st District * Cheryl Glenn (1969), Maryland State Delegate, 45th District * Gladys Goldstein, artist and art instructor * Nancy Grasmick, former Maryland State Superintendent of Schools * Sarah T. Hughes, judge who, after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, swore in
Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
aboard
Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated Aviation call signs, call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircr ...
* Robin Quivers, American radio personality,
author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
, and
actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...
, best known for being the long-running news anchor and co-host of ''
The Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 ...
''. *
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake (born March 17, 1970) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 50th Mayor of Baltimore from 2010 to 2016, the second woman to hold that office. She has also served as secretary of the Democratic Nationa ...
(1988), 49th Mayor of the City of Baltimore * Nancy Grace Roman, astronomer who was one of the first female executives at NASA * Amalie Rothschild (1932) artist * Elissa Silverman, at-large member of the
Council of the District of Columbia The Council of the District of Columbia is the legislative branch of the local government of the District of Columbia, the capital of the United States. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the district is not part of any U.S. state ...
*
Anna Deavere Smith Anna Deavere Smith is an American actress, playwright, and professor. She is known for her roles as National Security Advisor Dr. Nancy McNally in ''The West Wing'' (2000–06), hospital administrator Gloria Akalitus in the Showtime series ''N ...
(1967), actress, professor, writer *
Henrietta Szold Henrietta Szold ( , ; December 21, 1860 – February 13, 1945) was a U.S. Jewish Zionist leader and founder of Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America. In 1942, she co-founded Ihud, a political party in Mandatory Palestine ded ...
, founder of Hadassah


Notable instructors

* Breezy Bishop, girls' basketball coach at Western for 24 seasons; inducted into the
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's bask ...
in 2000. * Catherine Anne Cesnik (1942-1969), Catholic religious sister who was murdered


Principals

* David E. Weglein (1876–1950), appointed 1906


References


External links

*
2016 Maryland Report Card: Baltimore City – Western High (0407)
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1844 Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools Public schools in Baltimore Public high schools in Maryland Girls' schools in Maryland Magnet schools in Maryland 1844 establishments in Maryland