Bell Multicultural High School is a public school located in the neighborhood of Columbia Heights in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, United States. Bell Multicultural is a part of the

District of Columbia Public Schools The District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) is the local public school system for Washington, D.C. It is distinct from the District of Columbia Public Charter Schools (DCPCS), which governs public charter schools in the city. Compositi ...

. , the principal is Maria Tukeva.Bell Multicultural Senior High School
. ''District of Columbia Public Schools''. Retrieved 2008-05-25. Michell Obama CHEC speech 2016

History

The current Bell Multicultural High School building was built in 2006 to replace the old Bell Multicultural High School. In 2016, First Lady

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...

visited the school to speak on higher education, telling students, "My story can be your story."

Academics

Students are required to take classes in either

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

with the goal of becoming proficient in that language. All students are required to take two

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere ...

classes, one in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

and one in

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

. Some students spend part of their school day taking classes at the

University of the District of Columbia The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C., United States. The only public university in the city, it traces its origins to 1851 and opened in its current form in 1 ...

in pursuit of graduating with both a high school degree and an associate degree. Bell Multicultural High School NJROTC 140927-N-CG900-007

In 2008,

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

ranked Bell Multicultural the 77th best high school in the United States, and 12th in the D.C. metropolitan area. Newsweek ranked schools by the number of

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

, and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2007 divided by the number of graduating seniors. Bell Multicultural's ratio was 3.888. It was the only District school to rank in the top 100.Pace, Gina; Brillman, Dan
The Top of the Class
''Newsweek''. 2008-05-26. In the Washington Post's 2007 Challenge Index, Bell Multicultural was ranked 13th in the region and 319th in the nation.Bell Multicultural Challenge Index Profile
. ''The Washington Post''. 2007-05-21.

Extracurriculars

Bell Multicultural High School has a Naval Junior Reserve Officer's Training Corps.

Athletics

Bell Multicultural's sports teams are called the Griffins. In 2007, Bell won the D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association volleyball championship.Stanmyre, Matthew
Bell Ends Wilson's Decade of Dominance
''The Washington Post''. 2007-11-29.

References

External links

* {{DC High Schools Public high schools in Washington, D.C. District of Columbia Public Schools