Howard High School is a public

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., ...

located in

Ellicott City, Maryland Ellicott City is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place in, and the county seat of, Howard County, Maryland, Howard County, Maryland, United States. Part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, its ...

, United States. It is part of the

Howard County Public School System The Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) is the school district that manages and runs the Public school (government funded), public schools of Howard County, Maryland. It operates under the supervision of an elected, eight-member Board of ...

, and serves families from

Ellicott City Ellicott City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in, and the county seat of, Howard County, Maryland, United States. Part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, its population was 75,947 at the 2020 census, making it the mo ...

, Elkridge,

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

and Columbia.

History

Towards the end of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

of 1929-1940, the then small Howard County government, with its Board of County Commissioners and with the advice of the equally small administration of the Howard County Public Schools system, decided in 1938 to use available designated Federal funds from the newly organized agency to fight the continuing bad economic conditions and recurring high unemployment now nine years into the downturn from the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

(W.P.A.) programs of the "

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

" policies of the

Presidency of Franklin Roosevelt For the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the United States presidential administration from 1933 to 1945, see: * Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1941) The first term of the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt began on March 4, ...

. Several of the policies begun in earnest was directing money and bus contracts to use fose close and consolidate many of the older rural one-room wood-frame construction schoolhouses and to begin consolidation / mergers using now more easily readily available gasoline powered motorized buses to transport pupils into several central modern schools of several rooms or floors of modern brick and concrete construction. Most of the county saw little school construction before because of the poor economy and earlier

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After the subsequent

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the economy roared back more prosperous and conditions improved dramatically as the millions of soldiers and sailors returned home. The Howard County School Board recommended a single central high school for all white students in the county although there has been an earlier small Ellicott City High School in the county seat town. By 1949, a bill to authorize issuing state bonds in a bank loan seemed imminent to be passed by the

General Assembly of Maryland 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 chambe ...

(state legislature) and put on the coming election ballot for approval by the voters. So plans were refined for a future requested central high school serving the first, second and sixth county districts of the eastern side. A site was picked at the family farm of retired General and former Baltimore City Police Commissioner Charles D. Gaither (1860-1947), whose grandfather, George R. Gaither, had once raised Southern cavalry troops there for the famous General

J. E. B. Stuart James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart (February 6, 1833May 12, 1864) was a Confederate cavalry general during the American Civil War. He was known to his friends as "Jeb,” from the initials of his given names. Stuart was a cavalry commander known f ...

of the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

and its

Army of Northern Virginia The Army of Northern Virginia was a field army of the Confederate States Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was also the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed agains ...

in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

(1861-1865) on that site. Bids were opened on 26 April 1951 with prices ranging for architect drawings and construction from $838,000 to $683,000. Four additional rooms for the new central high school were ordered the next year in 1952 for an additional $30,000 in expenses. 12 additional acres were also purchased from the Gaither family for $5,000, with board member Charles E. Miller contributing $2,500 for the construction of the land, construction and demolition of the "colored house and corn crib" on the property. Five names were considered in a poll for the new high school:

John Eager Howard John Eager Howard (June 4, 1752October 12, 1827) was an American soldier and politician from Maryland. He was elected as governor of the state in 1788, and served three one-year terms. He also was elected to the Continental Congress, the Congre ...

High School,

Charles Carroll of Carrollton Charles Carroll (September 19, 1737 – November 14, 1832), known as Charles Carroll of Carrollton or Charles Carroll III, was an American politician, planter, and signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He was the only Catholic signatory ...

High School,
General Gaither High School,

Edwin Warfield Edwin Warfield (May 7, 1848March 31, 1920) was an American politician and a member of the United States Democratic Party, and the List of governors of Maryland, 45th Governor of Maryland in the United States from 1904 to 1908. From 1902 to 19 ...

High School, and
Howard County High School. The school opened under the chosen name “Howard County Senior High School" in 1952. Two years later in 1954, Marie T. Gaither of the family offered 42 acres of adjoining land for $15,000 to expand the school grounds and campus which was for unexplained reasons declined by the School Board. A highlight of the Howard High commencement ceremonies at its 50th anniversary was the one once attended by

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

Justice,

Tom C. Clark Thomas Campbell Clark (September 23, 1899June 13, 1977) was an American lawyer who served as the 59th United States Attorney General, United States attorney general from 1945 to 1949 and as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United St ...

who arrived by helicopter from

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, 30 miles southwest. The population is both culturally and economically diverse with over three quarters of the graduates enrolling in post-secondary institutions.

Student population

Howard High School - Howard County Maryland

Renovation

At the opening of the 2006-2007 school year, Howard completed its renovations, which included a brand new cafeteria attached to an atrium, two new wings on opposite ends on the school, an auxiliary gym (in which the previous cafeteria was positioned), and a new track around the football field. The renovation also provided the Art and Science Department with a darkroom and several laboratories. At the end of the same school year, Howard placed a copper statue of a lion overlooking the Stadium Field.

Athletics

Howard High School has won the following state championships & athletic accomplishments: *2021 - Girls' Track and Field *2021 - Girls' Cross Country County Championships *2019 - Girls' Cross Country *2015 - Boys' Lacrosse *2007 - Girls' Cross Country *2007 - Boys' Track & Field *2006 - Boys' Track & Field *2006 - Girls' Cross County *1995 - Girls' Track & Field *1994 - Girls' Basketball *1992 - Girls' Track & Field *1989 - Boys' Soccer *1989 - Boys' Indoor Track 2A-1A *1985 - Boys' Indoor Track BC *1985 - Boys' Track & Field *1984 - Boys' Indoor Track BC *1980 - Girls' Volleyball *1974 - Football

Notable alumni

Michael Chabon Michael Chabon ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, D.C., he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, ...

, Pulitzer Prize winning author * Bryce Hall, American social media personality *

Alexis Ohanian Alexis Kerry Ohanian (; born April 24, 1983) is an American internet entrepreneur and investor. He is best known as the co-founder and former executive chairman of the social media site Reddit along with Steve Huffman and Aaron Swartz. He also ...

, co-founder of

Reddit Reddit ( ) is an American Proprietary software, proprietary social news news aggregator, aggregation and Internet forum, forum Social media, social media platform. Registered users (commonly referred to as "redditors") submit content to the ...

Benny Mardones Ruben Armand "Benny" Mardones (November 9, 1946 – June 29, 2020) was an American pop/rock singer and songwriter who was best known for his hit single " Into the Night", which hit the top 20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart twice, in 1980 ( ...

, Singer-Songwriter

References and notes

External links

Howard High School website
{{authority control Public schools in Howard County, Maryland Public high schools in Maryland Educational institutions established in 1952 1952 establishments in Maryland Brick buildings and structures in Maryland