DuVal High School opened in 1960 to relieve overcrowding from other local area high schools. The original building was a one-story, 38-classroom school situated in the formerly small village of Good Luck, Maryland. The historic primary school serving the same community was built in 1899, expanded in 1915 but abandoned circa 1935, and became a private residence in 1938. In 1980, the village was split into the census-designated places of Goddard, Maryland and Glenn Dale, Maryland. Thus, the high school's first mailing address was simply; Glenn Dale and Telegraph Roads, Glenn Dale, MD. The current address is; 9880 Good Luck Road in the unincorporated town of Lanham, Maryland, 20706. The school name honors Gabriel Duvall , whose family formerly owned a local slave plantation. The spelling of the name now conforms with that used by his descendants. DuVal held a number of public offices, including serving as the U.S. Representative from Maryland's second district from November 11, 1794, to March 28, 1796, Chief Justice of Maryland's General Court from 1796 to 1802, and U.S. Comptroller of the Treasury from 1802 through 1811. Duvall also served on the United States Supreme Court, as associate justice from 1811 until 1835, when he resigned due to old age. In 2007, brand new Annex and Instrumental Music buildings were opened to students as an expansion to the school. DuVal is currently constructing a new Aerospace Building that will be placed next to the Cafeteria which is expected to be open in 2020.
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, Vocal and Instrumental Music, Physical Education, Aerospace, Culinary Academy, 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.
Microgravity Opportunities To Enhance Learning
Microgravity Opportunities To Enhance Learning program 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 aboard the shuttle. On December 8, 1998 the roaches' habitat was deintigrated from the GAS can. The roaches were put into the can on 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.
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 two-story wing, that houses classrooms for technical education, family consumer classes, computer labs, child-development programs, special education, science, art and general education.
