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Thomas S. Wootton High School

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Coordinates: 39°04′36″N 77°11′02″W / 39.07661°N 77.18376°W / 39.07661; -77.18376
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Thomas S. Wootton High School
Address
Map
2100 Wootton Parkway

Rockville
,
Montgomery
,
Maryland
20850-3037

United States
Coordinates39°04′36″N 77°11′02″W / 39.07661°N 77.18376°W / 39.07661; -77.18376
Information
TypePublic secondary
Established1970; 54 years ago (1970)
School districtMontgomery County Public Schools
NCES District ID2400480[1]
Educational authorityMaryland Department of Education
School codeMD-15-150234
CEEB code210909
NCES School ID240048000934[2]
PrincipalDouglas Nelson
Faculty111.80 (on an FTE basis)[2]
Grades9–12
GenderCoeducational
Enrollment1,911[2] (2022-2023)
 • Grade 9468
 • Grade 10477
 • Grade 11432
 • Grade 12534
Student to teacher ratio17.38:1[2]
Campus typeSmall city[2]
Color(s)Red, white and blue
   
NicknamePatriots
RivalWinston Churchill High School
USNWR ranking195[3]
NewspaperCommon Sense[4]
YearbookFife & Drum[5]
Feeder schoolsCabin John Middle School Robert Frost Middle School
Websitemontgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/woottonhs/

Thomas S. Wootton High School or Wootton High School (WHS) is a public high school in Rockville, Maryland. Its namesake is Thomas S. Wootton, the founder of Montgomery County. The school was founded in 1970 and is part of the Montgomery County Public Schools system.

Academics

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In 2019, Newsweek ranked Wootton's STEM program #160 in a nationwide survey of US high schools.[6] In 2022, U.S. News & World Report ranked Wootton #167 nationally amongst high school.[3] As of 2024, Wooton ranks 195th nationally and 4th in Maryland.[7]

Wootton students average a score of 1288 on the SAT, with 634 on verbal and 654 on math.[8]

History

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President George W. Bush speaks at Wootton.

In November 2001, President George W. Bush visited Wootton and signed the congressional bill officially recognizing "Veterans Awareness Week", which takes place the week before Veteran's Day.[9]

In 2015, school principal Michael Doran was found dead in his Bethesda, Maryland, apartment.[10] A memorial service was held at Wootton two days later.[11] In 2017, a bridge near the high school and its auditorium was named in Doran's honor.[12]

On April 18, 2024, an 18-year-old trans student by the name of Andrea Ye was arrested by the Montgomery County Police Department for shooting threats made against the school. The FBI contacted the MCPD, after which they proceeded to obtain a search warrant to investigate her home, where they discovered violent drawings and documents relating to mass violence, including a 129-page long manifesto, containing numerous threats of violence against the student population and staff of Wootton High School.[13] Authorities say that Ye, a local resident at the time, had a difficult past when she was sent to the hospital in December 2022 for similar threats as well as homicidal and suicidal thoughts, but was still preoccupied after being released the following month.[14]

Controversies

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On October 9, 2020, former football coach Christopher Papadopolous was sentenced to 18 months in jail with 5 years of probation with his addition to the Maryland sex offender registry. Papadopolous pleaded guilty to one count of sexual abuse of a minor and one count of fourth-degree sex offense. These charges stemmed from his sexual assault of several 17-year-old minors in his home in Gaithersburg.[15]

On November 2, 2021, a report of a sexual assault occurring in the school's locker room was received by Montgomery County Police. Members of the school's varsity team were allegedly involved in this incident. Several students and staff members were interviewed in an investigation with officers from the police department's Special Victims Investigation Division. However, the investigation yielded no evidence of an occurrence of a sexual assault.[16]

Its infrastructure is aging, a cause of concern for many students and teachers alike. It was found to have lead in its water, but those issues have not been fixed as of 2018.[17] However, Montgomery County Public School Student Member of the Board candidates of 2023 are promising to fix this.[18]

Areas served

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Most students attending Wootton live in Rockville, with others residing in Gaithersburg, Potomac, Travilah, and North Potomac.

Wootton feeds from two middle schools and six elementary schools:[19]

  • Cabin John Middle School
    • Cold Spring ES
    • Stone Mill ES
  • Robert Frost Middle School
    • DuFief ES
    • Fallsmead ES
    • Lakewood ES
    • Travilah ES

Future boundary changes

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Wootton is one of the schools in the scope for the new Crown High School,[20] which has an expected completion date of August 2027.[19]

Demographics

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Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity 2022–2023[2]
White Asian Black Hispanic Two or More Races American Indian/Alaska Native
711 732 224 157 80 4

During the 2022–2023 school year, the school's racial composition was 37.3% white, 38.3% Asian, 11.8% Black, and 8.2% Hispanic.[8] Multiracial students made up less than 5% of the student body, as did Native and Pacific Islander American students.[8] The overall size of the student body was 1,911.[8]

Notable alumni

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References

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  1. ^ "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for Montgomery County Public Schools". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Search for Public Schools - Thomas S. Wootton High (240048000934)". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Thomas S. Wootton High School". 2024 Best U.S. High Schools. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  4. ^ "Common Sense". Issuu.
  5. ^ "Fife & Drum 1989".
  6. ^ "The Top 500 STEM High Schools". Newsweek. November 8, 2019. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  7. ^ "Thomas S. Wootton High School". U.S. News and World Report. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d "Thomas S. Wootton High School - #234" (PDF). Montgomery County Public Schools. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  9. ^ "President George W. Bush announces his Lessons of Liberty initiative at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, MD. The initiative is an opportunity for American students to learn more about our country and its values, as well as the people that have been called upon to defend its freedom. White House photo by Tina Hager". November 1, 2001. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  10. ^ St. George, Donna (August 19, 2015). "Longtime Wootton High School principal found dead in apartment". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  11. ^ Kraut, Aaron (August 21, 2015). "Wootton Community Remembers Principal Michael Doran". Bethesda Magazine. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  12. ^ Rodgers, Bethany (March 14, 2017). "Rockville Names Bridge for Wootton High Principal Whose Death Devastated School". Bethesda Magazine. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  13. ^ Jillian Smith (18 April 2024). "Wootton High School student arrested for planning shooting said he wanted to be famous: police". WTTG-TV.
  14. ^ "Who is Andrea Ye?". Yahoo! News. 18 April 2024.
  15. ^ "Former Wooton High School coach sentenced to 18 months in prison". FOX5 DC. FOX 5 DC Digital Team. 15 July 2022.
  16. ^ Cremen, Alanea (3 November 2021). "'Serious incident' reported at Wootton High School locker room involving varsity football players". WUSA9.
  17. ^ "Lead-contaminated water fountains put students at risk". Common Sense. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  18. ^ "Policies". Sami For Smob. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  19. ^ a b Division of Capital Planning, Montgomery County Public Schools. Superintendent's Recommended FY 2025 Capital Budget and the FY 2025–2030 Capital Improvements Program - Chapter 4: Wooton Cluster. Accessed 7 June 2024
  20. ^ Division of Capital Planning, Montgomery County Public Schools. Board of Education Adopted Boundary Study Scope - to Determine the Service Area for the new Crown and Expansion of Damascus HS - March 19, 2024. Accessed 7 June 2024
  21. ^ Rasicot, Julie (21 March 2022). "Wootton High School alumni reunite on CBS comedy Ghosts". Bethesda Magazine.
  22. ^ Coll, Steve (June 10, 1990). "Growing Up Suburban". Washington Post Magazine.
  23. ^ Davis, Daryl (28 March 2017). "It was my dream to meet Chuck Berry. Then I got to perform with him for 30 years". Washington Post.
  24. ^ "Trevon Diggs". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  25. ^ "Wootton High grad Myles Frost wins Tony Award for Michael Jackson role". Bethesda Magazine. June 12, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  26. ^ Williamson, Chris (August 7, 2017). "Rockville native doing big things in the NFL". WUSA9.
  27. ^ Mullins, Luke (8 October 2019). "A Cold E-mail to Mark Cuban Helped Turn FiscalNote Into One of DC's Hottest Startups". Washingtonian.
  28. ^ Tsironis, Alex (March 15, 2018). "10 Celebrities You Didn't Know Have MoCo Ties". MoCo Show.
  29. ^ Hendrix, Steve (December 14, 2008). "For Some on Obama Team, Capital Is Close to Home". The Washington Post. pp. C01.
  30. ^ "Eric G. Luedtke, Maryland State Delegate". Maryland Manual On-Line. Maryland State Archives. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  31. ^ Rasicot, Julie (21 March 2022). "Wootton High School alumni reunite on CBS comedy Ghosts". Bethesda Magazine.
  32. ^ "Mathias Nkwenti". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  33. ^ Staff, M. C. S. (1 April 2022). "Krystian Ochman (Wootton Class of 2017) is Representing Poland at Eurovision". The MoCo Show.
  34. ^ Kottlowski, Laura (2015-04-20). "15 Celebrities Who Grew Up Here". Bethesda Magazine. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  35. ^ Engel, Margaret (May 1, 2015). "Interview: The Broadway Hit Makers from Montgomery". Bethesda Magazine.
  36. ^ Carman, Tim (August 26, 2014). "Rose's Luxury chef Aaron Silverman masters the art of serious play". The Washington Post.
  37. ^ Lefrak, Mikaela (February 22, 2018). "Rockville Native Haley Skarupa Wins Olympic Gold With U.S. Women's Ice Hockey Team". WAMU.
  38. ^ "Doomed From the Start". Washington City Paper. 6 May 2005.
  39. ^ Amanda Ruggeri (25 May 2015). "The unlikely sea turtle saviour". BBC.
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