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Bel Air High School is a
high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...
in Bel Air,
Harford County, Maryland Harford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 260,924. Its county seat is Bel Air, Harford County, Maryland, Bel Air. Harford County is included in the Wa ...
, United States. The current building opened in 2009, though the school's antecedents date back to 1815.


History

Bel Air High School began as the Harford County Academy when it was formed by an act of the
Maryland General Assembly The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives, and the lower ...
in 1811. The first school building was a stuccoed stone building built at 24 E. Pennsylvania Avenue, and the name was soon changed to the Bel Air Academy in 1815.
John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, assassinated United States president Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the p ...
attended the school in the 1850s. In 1867, while the Bel Air Academy was operating separately, a wooden one-room school house was built on Main Street, which functioned as the main public school of the county. In 1882, a brick public school was built at 45 East Gordon Street. The school was renamed the Bel Air Academy and Graded School as the old academy merged with the public school system. This building housed classes for all students above the third grade. Additions to the building were made in 1897 and 1910. This building became solely a grade school in 1924 and headquartered the Harford County Board of Education after 1951. Bel Air High School, named thus for the first time, was first formed in 1907, and classes were held at the Gordon Street building and the Pennsylvania Avenue building. The past facility at 100 Heighe Street was opened in 1950, with additional renovations made in 1954, 1968 and 1983. The building had a design capacity of 1,423 students; as a result, 11 "portables" were in use to provide additional classroom space. A new building was scheduled for completion for the graduating class of 2010. The current Bel Air High School building was built in 2009, and has a capacity of 1,668 students. Some new features of the school are its auditorium/stage, cafeteria, library, and multiple sports facilities.


Students

The student body over time: ::''Year''''Students'' ::2022–1,489 ::2018–1,544 ::2017–1,564 ::2012–1,647 ::2011–1,574 ::2010–1,431 ::2009–1,380 ::2008–1,403 ::2007–1,683 ::2005–1,636 ::2004–1,647 ::2003–1,573 ::2002–1,573 ::2001–1,587 ::2000–1,555 ::1999–1,524 ::1998–1,440 ::1997–1,383 ::1996–1,312 ::1995–1,295 ::1994–1,272 ::1993–1,238


Notable alumni

* Andrew Berry, General Manager of the
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...
*
John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, assassinated United States president Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the p ...
, Actor, assassinated President
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
* James H. Broumel (died 1948), Maryland delegate *
Richard Cassilly Richard Cassilly (December 14, 1927 – January 30, 1998) was an American operatic tenor who had a major international opera career between 1954–90. Cassilly "was a mainstay in the heldentenor repertory in opera houses around the world for 30 ...
, Metropolitan Opera NYC * William A. Clark, former Maryland Delegate (1983–1990) * Joseph H. Deckman, elected to National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1965. * Donald C. Fry, former Maryland Senator and Delegate. * William C. Greer (died 2001), Maryland delegate * James M. Harkins, former Maryland Delegate (1990-1998), Harford County Executive (1998-2005), & leader of Maryland Environmental Services (2005–present). * W. Dale Hess (1930–2016), Maryland delegate * J. Robert Hooper, Maryland State Senator (1936 - 2008) * Julienne Irwin Finalist on the NBC show
America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...
* Walter R. McComas (1879–1922), Maryland delegate and state's attorney * Winton B. Osborne (died 1998), Maryland delegate and businessman * Donna Stifler, Delegate for District 35A * Robert Shek, former college and professional lacrosse player elected to the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2016


Controversy


Scrabble Day

According to
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
, in early October 2017 a group of Bel Air High School students posed and spelt out a racial slur across their chests. The incident led to serious criticism of the school's policies and environment for education. Since the scandal broke a
Change.org Change.org is a website which allows users to create and sign petitions in an attempt to advance various social causes by raising awareness and influencing decision-makers. The site is a US-based for-profit company and claims to have 551 million ...
petition was formed calling for "Zero Tolerance for Racism in the School." The petition currently has over 20,000 signatures.


References


External links


Bel Air High School
– official website
School State performance report
{{authority control Bel Air, Maryland Harford County Public Schools Public high schools in Maryland Educational institutions established in 1811 1811 establishments in Maryland