Richard Montgomery High School (RMHS) (#201) is a secondary public school located in Rockville, Maryland, United States.

Academics

The school houses Montgomery County's first International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB). This competitive-entry magnet program draws students from all over Montgomery County and has an IB diploma rate of 99%, the highest in the United States of its kind.^[1] The IB programme has a 10% acceptance rate for incoming freshmen. Entry is based on an entrance examination, middle school transcripts and teacher recommendations, and personal essays. Incoming freshmen who have been accepted into the IB programme are first enrolled in a special two-year program consisting of courses designed to prepare them for the more demanding IB courses they will take in their junior and senior years.^[2] The IB programme at RM sends students every year to some of the nation's top colleges and universities, including Ivy League schools, MIT, Caltech, Stanford, Duke, and the University of Chicago. The average class size is 24.8, although this number has recently been increasing, with a student to staff ratio of 14.5:1.^[3]

Richard Montgomery also offers students the Middle Years Programme (MYP) curriculum. This program is mandatory to all students who attend Julius West Middle School, which is the sole middle school that feeds into RM. The MYP program stresses "life long learning," "critical thinking," and "responsible global citizenship." It is a five-year program designed for students in grades 6–10. Upon completion, students can apply to enroll in the IB programme. Students are accepted each year through this secondary application process for the IB programme.

In 2007, Richard Montgomery was featured in Newsweek magazine as the 27th highest-rated high school in the nation.^[4] In June 2002, it won its first award in National Scholastic Championship at George Washington University. Richard Montgomery High School won the 2003 Blue Ribbon in Education Award by the United States Department of Education. RM has been identified as the number one school in the D.C. metropolitan area in the Challenge Index for Rigor. Richard Montgomery has also had multiple Marian Greenblatt Education Fund award winner teachers.^[5]

Students

Upon graduation, 79.2% of the class of 2008 planned for only post-secondary education; 14.5% planned for post-secondary education and employment; 1.1% planned to go straight into the workforce; and 1.4% planned to go into the military. There was a 92.1% attendance rate and a 2.0% dropout rate in 2002-2003.

The student body of 2014-2015 was 30% Non-Hispanic White, 25.2% Asian, 16.2% African American, 23.5% Hispanic/Latino, and 0.2% American Indian.^[6]

History and campus

Richard Montgomery High School was established in 1892, when the state Board of Education first allocated funds to local school to educate high school students. The first class graduated from Rockville High School in 1897.

A new high school was constructed and opened for use in September 1905 on East Montgomery Avenue and Monroe Street. An addition was built in 1917, expanding the school to 19 classrooms. Rockville Colored High School was opened in 1927.^[7] The school for white children was renamed Richard Montgomery High School to distinguish between the two in 1935.^[8]

The building was completed in 1942 at {{convert|49167|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}, after a fire destroyed the old high school in 1940. Additions to the school were made in 1952 at {{convert|39895|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}, 1959 at {{convert|37425|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}, in 1964 at {{convert|56703|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}, 1969 at {{convert|4000|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}, 1975 at {{convert|35890|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}, 1976 at {{convert|8300|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}, and 1988 at {{convert|1938|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}. The current campus is 26.2 acres (106,000 m²) in size.^[1][9]

In April 2008 stories appeared in the Washington Post,^[10] the Montgomery County Gazette,^[11] and the Montgomery Sentinel,^[12] alleging that the school principal, Moreno Carrasco, had been running a private business on school time and that he was using materials that appeared to be plagiarized from a seminar that he had attended at school district expense. Carrasco went on extended sick leave.

During Carrasco's absence, the RMHS newspaper, The Tide, requested that administrators approve publication of an article about the investigation into Carrasco's alleged ethics violations and business endeavors. Assistant Principal Veronica McCall denied permission for publication of the article, but was overridden by Community Superintendent Dr. Sherry Liebes after The Tide editors announced that they would go public with news of the denial.^[13] The article was finally published online on April 24, 2008.^[14]

On June 10, 2008, Montgomery County Public Schools announced that Carrasco had been named the new director of secondary leadership training. The announcement also stated that the allegations about Carrasco's involvement in private consulting were "thoroughly investigated" and "not substantiated".^[15]

On June 23, 2008, Nelson McLeod II was named the new principal of Richard Montgomery High School.^[16] He left the position in May 2014 due to a cardiac medical condition,^[17] and was replaced by Damon Monteleone in July 2014.^[18]

Reconstruction

Richard Montgomery opened a new $71 million building following the end of students' 2007 winter break. The new building features wireless internet for the teachers which has since been opened to student access, LCD projectors in every classroom, dozens of Promethean interactive whiteboards and learner response devices, a modern auditorium, and a recording and TV studio. The new facilities lack the capability to access older forms of media, such as material on VHS and photographic slides; however, teachers sometimes bring in their own video players to rectify the problem.

The school has an artificial turf stadium next to tennis courts and a track.

Athletics

The boys' cross country team have won four state championships, in 1975, 1980, 1990 and 1995.{{cn|date=November 2018}}

Activities

Richard Montgomery has its own student newspaper, The Tide,^[19] and a student literary magazine, Fine Lines. The Tide received First Place with Special Merit from the America Scholastic Press Association in 2013.^[20]

Richard Montgomery's quizbowl team (known as It's Academic) won a victory at the National Scholastics Championship in 2002.^[21] In 2006, they won the NAQT High School National Championship Tournament in Chicago, defeating State College Area High School in the final.^[22]

Richard Montgomery's International Space Settlement Design Competition team won the 2008 cycle at Houston, Texas.^[23]

Music

Ensembles such as the Madrigals, a chamber choir, and the Jazz Band often travel off campus to perform at various venues. The marching band, the Marching Rockets, is also a part of football season.

Notable alumni

• Tori Amos, singer^[24]
• Norman Bellingham, Olympic athlete
• Wolfgang Bodison, actor^[25]
• Gordon Calvin Coleman, Major League Baseball first baseman with Cleveland Indians (1959) and Cincinnati Reds (1960–1967)
• Mike Curtis, NFL Pro Bowl linebacker for Baltimore Colts (1965-75) and Washington Redskins (1977-78); Super Bowl V champion^[25]
• Zachary Pincus-Roth, author, writer, and entertainment journalist^[26]
• Jim Riggleman, Major League Baseball; interim manager of Cincinnati Reds, former manager of Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres^[27]
• Kurt Schork (1947–2000), reporter and war correspondent

References

External links

• Richard Montgomery High School's website