Walt Whitman High School (Maryland)


Walt Whitman High School is a public high school in Bethesda, Maryland, United States. The school is named in honor of the American poet, Walt Whitman. The school serves grades 9-12 for the Montgomery County Public Schools.

History

The school opened in the fall of 1962 with 1,418 students. Designed by local architectural firm McLeod, Ferrara & Ensign, it was built on 17 levels, with a center courtyard and a geodesic dome for its gymnasium. A Ford Foundation grant underwrote the design and construction of the dome.
In 1981, a 1,176-seat auditorium was added to the school. In 1992, the geodesic dome and all other buildings except for the auditorium were demolished and construction began on a new school building, which opened in fall 1993.

Academics

In 2019, Whitman was the top ranked high school in Maryland and #93 nationwide by the US News and World Report.

Athletics

Whitman fields sports teams in fall, winter, and spring seasons. The school competes as the Vikings and it is part of Montgomery County public school sports. The football field is named after long time principal Jerome Marco. The school has won 11 soccer state championships, including two back to back in 2018-2019.
. The girl's basketball team won the state title in 2016, which is their second overall.
The boy's team went on a miracle run in 2006 and defeated Eleanor Roosevelt 39-38 to capture the school's only state title. That season, Whitman leading scorer Michael Gruner was named co-gazette player of the year alongside NBA superstar Kevin Durant. The boys tennis team has also won state titles in 2009, 2014, and 2019.

Student activities

The Black & White is the student-run newspaper. The newspaper was inducted into the National Scholastic Press Association Hall of Fame in 1991. Whitman is also notable for having the country's only student-run psychology journal. The journal is distributed to over 1,000 psych teachers around the country.
The school has an active FIRST Robotics Competition team.

Notable alumni

John P. Evans, III, editor/author, for more than 40 years. Author/ghostwriter for several books; writer for many newspapers.