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 ''Öffentlichkei ...

all-girls Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice 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 ...

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 to ...

and part of the Baltimore City Public Schools. Western High was named a "

National Blue Ribbon School The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

" 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 system, along with the

Eastern Female High School Eastern Female High School, also known as Public School No. 116, is a historic female high school located on the southeast corner of the 200 block of North Aisquith Street and Orleans Street, in the old Jonestown / Old Town neighborhoods, east of ...

. 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 ed ...

) 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 List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

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 school ...

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 Upton may refer to: Places United Kingdom England * Upton, Slough, Berkshire (in Buckinghamshire until 1974) * Upton, Buckinghamshire, a hamlet near Aylesbury * Upton, Cambridgeshire, Peterborough * Upton, Huntingdonshire, a location in Cambridge ...

. 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 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 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 Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern 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 for ...

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

and

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, 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 rang ...

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, nickel, ...

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 Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women (BLSYW, pronounced "Bliss") is a public charter middle and high school for girls in Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Maryland. It is the first public all girls' secondary school in the city that had both middle ...

(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, 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

work in grade 9– 11. 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". 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

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 Cross country or cross-country may refer to: Places * Cross Country, Baltimore, a neighborhood in northwest Baltimore, Maryland * Cross County Parkway, an east–west parkway in Westchester County, NY * Cross County Shopping Center, a mall in Yo ...

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 pe ...

, swimming,

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 ...

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 events ...

. 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 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 Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

, 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

sing the farewell song to the outgoing seniors. The seniors also wear all white on this day. ;Revel :The annual spring

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...

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 a ...

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 Florence Eilau Bamberger (October 19, 1882 – December 18, 1965) was an American Pedagogy, pedagogue, school supervisor, progressive education advocate, and author. Influenced by the ideas of John Dewey, she researched, lectured, and wrote extens ...

, 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 ''pro ...

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 "Bes ...

(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 Farai Chideya (; born July 27, 1969, in Baltimore, Maryland, United States) is an American novelist, multimedia journalist, and radio host. She produced and hosted ''Pop and Politics with Farai Chideya'', a series of radio specials on politics fo ...

, 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 wrot ...

, pianist and composer *

Liebe Sokol Diamond Liebe Sokol Diamond (January 10, 1931 – May 17, 2017) was an American pediatric orthopedic surgeon and an inductee of the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame. Biography Diamond was born in 1931 at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, the only chil ...

(1947), notable pediatric orthopedic surgeon 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 Cheryl Diane Glenn (born May 27, 1951) is an American politician. She was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, representing Maryland's 45th legislative district which is situated in northeast Baltimore. She resigned in December 2019 in ...

(1969), Maryland State Delegate, 45th District *

Gladys Goldstein Gladys Goldstein (1918 - March 13, 2010) was an American artist who lived and worked within the art community of Baltimore, Maryland. Having begun as a representational artist specializing in portraits, she achieved recognition first for abstracti ...

, artist and art instructor *

Nancy Grasmick Nancy S. Grasmick is the former Superintendent of the Maryland State Department of Education, serving from 1991 until June 30, 2011. Married to Baltimore businessman Lou Grasmick, who died in 2016, the couple also became active in various philant ...

, former Maryland State Superintendent of Schools *

Sarah T. Hughes Sarah Tilghman Hughes (August 2, 1896 – April 23, 1985) was an American lawyer and federal judge who served on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. She is best known as the judge who swore in Lyndon B. Johnson as ...

, judge who, after the assassination of

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

, swore in Lyndon B. Johnson aboard

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated 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 aircraft modified and used ...

Robin Quivers Robin Ophelia Quivers (born August 8, 1952) is an American radio personality, author, and actress, best known for being the long-running co-host of ''The Howard Stern Show''. Early life Quivers was born on August 8, 1952, in Baltimore, Maryla ...

, 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 (arts), 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 ...

, best known for being the long-running news anchor and co-host of '' The Howard Stern Show''. * Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (1988), 49th Mayor of the City of Baltimore * Nancy Grace Roman, astronomer who was one of the first female executives at

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

Amalie Rothschild Amalie Rothschild (1916–2001) was an American artist who lived and worked within the art community of Baltimore, Maryland. An accomplished painter and sculptor, she was also an art teacher, philanthropist, patron, and cultural advocate. Over ...

(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 (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 dedic ...

, founder of

Hadassah Hadassah () means myrtle in Hebrew. It is given as the Hebrew name of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. Hadassah may also refer to: * Hadassah (dancer) (1909–1992), Jerusalem-born American dancer and choreographer * Hadassah Lieberman (born 1948) ...

Notable instructors

Breezy Bishop Barbara Jude "Breezy" Bishop was born September 7, 1935. girls' basketball coach at Western Senior High School in Baltimore, Maryland. She built one of the nation's top high school programs during 24 seasons at Western. Bishop was inducted into ...

, 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 David E. Weglein (1876 – October 10, 1950) was an American educator, and superintendent of Baltimore City public schools. Biography David E. Weglein was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended high school at Baltimore City College a ...

(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