Great Mills High School is a comprehensive public high school in

Great Mills, Maryland Great Mills is an unincorporated community in St. Mary's County, Maryland, United States. Great Mills High School serves the lower end of the county, including the town (census CDP) of Lexington Park. The area is site of some of the oldest agricul ...

, United States. It serves students in grades 9–12 in the mixed rural and suburban area at the confluence of the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...

Patuxent River The Patuxent River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in the state of Maryland. There are three main river drainages for central Maryland: the Potomac River to the west passing through Washington, D.C., the Patapsco River to the northeast ...

, and

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...

. It belongs to the St. Mary's County Public Schools system, and is associated with two other county high schools:

Leonardtown High School Leonardtown High School is a comprehensive public high school in Leonardtown, Maryland, United States, for students in grades 9–12. It offers college preparatory programs and programs that prepare students for business and technical occupation ...

and

Chopticon High School Chopticon High School is a public high school located in Morganza, Maryland, United States. The school serves students in grades 9–12. It offers college preparatory programs and programs that prepare students for business and technical ...

. The school is accredited by the Middle States Colleges and Secondary Schools and the

Maryland State Department of Education Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) is a division of the state government of Maryland in the United States. The agency oversees public school districts, which are 24 local school systems—one for each of Maryland's 23 counties plus one ...

. The school has an enrollment of more than 1,600, with an ethnic makeup reflecting the community: 51% Caucasian, 40% African American, 5% Asian, 4% Hispanic, 1% other. Many of the families are employed by

NAS Patuxent River Naval Air Station Patuxent River , also known as NAS Pax River, is a United States naval air station located in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Patuxent River. It is home to Headquarters, Naval Air Sys ...

, government contractors,

St. Mary's College of Maryland St. Mary's College of Maryland (SMCM) is a public liberal arts college in St. Mary's City, Maryland.Maryland State Archives, Online Manual, "St. Mary's College Of Maryland: Origin & Functions" http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/25univ/stmarys ...

, and others involved in the area's traditional agricultural and water-related businesses. Great Mills High School is among the oldest continually operating school in St. Mary's County and the State of Maryland. It was founded in 1929 as one of the original high schools in the county. The campus now encompasses several acres and has a football, soccer, and field hockey field and uses a county pool next door. The school houses a STEM program. Great Mills High School athletes are known as the Hornets. Great Mills High School Athletics belongs to the

Southern Maryland Athletic Conference The Southern Maryland Athletic Conference (SMAC) is a high school athletic league in Maryland, comprising the public secondary and high schools throughout Southern Maryland. The SMAC's membership consists of the following schools located in Calver ...

and competes in Division 3A in state competitions.

2018 shooting

On March 20, 2018, 17-year-old student Austin Rollins opened fire in a hallway at the school with a 9mm

Glock Glock is a brand of polymer-Receiver (firearms), framed, Recoil operation#Short recoil operation, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H., Glock Ges.m.b.H. The ...

handgun, fatally wounding 16-year-old student Jaelynn Willey before exchanging fire with

school resource officer The United States Department of Justice defines School Resource Officer (SRO) as "sworn law enforcement officers responsible for safety and crime prevention in schools." SROs are employed by a local police or sheriff's agency and work closely w ...

Blaine Gaskill, who had responded to the scene. Gaskill, 34, was a six-year veteran of the

St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement agency servicing St. Mary's County, Maryland, St. Mary's County, Maryland. It has a direct jurisdiction of servicing (as of 2010) a population of 105,151 people. History The ...

trained in

special weapons and tactics In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

. A 14-year-old student, Desmond Barnes, was wounded, while Rollins was shot and later died at the hospital. Authorities later determined that Rollins died from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. The perpetrator, Rollins, was previously in a relationship with Willey. The gun Rollins used was legally owned by his father, according to the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office. Willey was taken off life support on March 22, 2018, after being declared brain dead.

Notable alumni

* Clifford Dukes (class of 2000) – Arizona Rattlers defensive lineman *

Roy Dyson Royden Patrick Dyson (born November 15, 1948), is an American politician. He is a former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland. Born in Great Mills, Maryland, Dyson attended private schools and graduate ...

(class of 1966) – Maryland State Senator representing Maryland District 29: Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary's County *

Toby Morse Toby Morse (born April 8, 1970) is an American vocalist who is best known as the lead singer for punk rock band H2O. He is also one of the vocalists for hardcore punk group Hazen Street. Early life Morse was born on April 8, 1970 in Taunto ...

(class of 1988) – punk vocalist of H₂O * John F. Slade III – former member of the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...

Tubby Smith Orlando Henry "Tubby" Smith (born June 30, 1951) is an American college basketball coach. He was the men's basketball coach at High Point University, his alma mater. Smith previously served in the same role at the University of Tulsa, the Univer ...

(class of 1969) – Former head basketball coach at

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sy ...

. Former head Coach of

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

's men's basketball team. Former coach of

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

's men's basketball team * Tanya Hughes (class of 1990) - Track and Field

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

4x NCAA High Jump Champion. Member of 1992 US Olympic team in Barcelona, Spain.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 38, 14, 49.23, N, 76, 29, 19.33, W, region:US-MD, display=title Educational institutions established in 1929 Public high schools in Maryland Schools in St. Mary's County, Maryland 1929 establishments in Maryland