Clarksburg High School

Clarksburg High School is a public high school located at 22500 Wims Road in Clarksburg, Maryland, United States. It is part of the Montgomery County Public Schools system, Maryland's largest public school system. Its students mainly come from Rocky Hill Middle School and Hallie Wells Middle School. History The building that currently houses Clarksburg High School originally housed Rocky Hill Middle School until 2004, when a new building for the latter was inaugurated a short distance from it. Campus Increasing enrollment forced Clarksburg to install four portable classrooms for the 2008–09 school year. The first four portables were located on a parking lot outside of the main gymnasium, near the back athletic fields. Four more portables were installed for the 2010–11 school year. These classrooms were installed atop two blacktop areas paved for basketball near the student parking lot (on the opposite side of the school as the initial relocatable classrooms). The social studies department currently occupies these portable classrooms. During the 2011–12 school year, Clarksburg was forced to install two more portables, overtaking yet another blacktop area. A new wing was built and completed prior to the 2014–15 school year. The lower floor of this wing is used by foreign language courses, while the top floor hosts science classes. As of the 2023-24 school year, Clarksburg has 14 portables. Student The student body of the 2025-2026 school year was 14.2% non-Hispanic White, 24.3% Asian, 28.4% African American, 27.1% Hispanic/Latino, less than 5% American Indian, less than 5% Pacific Islander, and 5.2% mixed race. Graduation Clarksburg High School seniors have graduated at the Knott Auditorium on the campus of Mount Saint Mary's University since the school's opening. The class of 2025 graduated at the Chesapeake Employer's Arena on the campus of The University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Areas served Clarksburg High School mostly serves students in Clarksburg and Germantown, with some from Damascus and Boyds. It's fed by two middle schools and eight elementary schools: Rocky Hill MS Clarksburg ES Captain James E. Daly ES Fox Chapel ES William B. Gibbs ES Little Bennett ES Hallie Wells MS Cedar Grove ES Snowden Farm ES Wilson Wims ES Elementary School Split Articulations: Gibbs ES: students outside the Clarksburg HS walk zone articulate to Neelsville MS and Seneca Valley HS Cedar Grove ES: students outside the west central portion articulate to Damascus HS Snowden Farm ES: students in the eastern portion articulate to Damascus HS Recent boundary changes In November 2019, the board of education approved boundaries that affected the following schools within the Clarksburg cluster: Southern portion of Clarksburg ES (now Cabin Branch ES) reassigned from Rocky Hill MS and Clarksburg HS to Neelsville MS and Seneca Valley HS Gibbs ES (except Clarksburg walkers) reassigned from Rocky Hill MS and Clarksburg HS to Neelsville MS and Seneca Valley HS Daly ES from Neelsville MS to Rocky Hill MS Fox Chapel ES from Neelsville MS to Rocky Hill MS Effectively, Neelsville MS from Clarksburg HS to Seneca Valley HS Programs APPS program One of Clarksburg's programs is the four-year Advanced Placement Power Scholars program (APPS). Students can apply for the program during eighth or ninth grade. Modeled after Walter Johnson High School's APEX Program, the APPS program requires its members to take a number of rigorous Advanced Placement classes. By the end of a member's senior year, they will have taken at least 6 AP classes, and will have taken the classes' respective exams distributed by the College Board. The sponsor of the group is Signature Program Coordinator Sarah Costlow. APPS students take AP NSL Government their freshman year, AP US History their sophomore year, and more AP classes their junior and senior years. Many take AP English Language and Composition and AP World History as juniors. P-TECH program The Pathways in Network and Information Technology Program (P-TECH) is a dual enrollment program that enables participating students to earn both a MCPS high school diploma and an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree from Montgomery College for free while in high school. Both degrees must be completed within six years. The AAS degree will ensure that students will meet industry expectations and gain technical skills and workplace competencies as well as industry certifications. Certifications will be earned in microcomputer technician and network administration in either Microsoft or Cisco or in wireless technologies. Additionally, the program will afford participating students mentoring and a paid summer employment opportunity within the technical industry in Montgomery County. To ensure that all participating students meet the challenges of this program, students participate in a bridge program every summer including the summer before they enter grade 9, but excluding the summer of their paid work experience assignments. Completion of this program guarantees students "first in-line" status for consideration of job opportunities with the program's IT business partners. CHStage CHStage is the award-winning drama department at Clarksburg High School. Two shows, at least one a musical, are produced each year and have included Tarzan, Once Upon a Mattress, The Little Princess, In The Heights, and The Little Mermaid. InvenTeam The Clarksburg High School InvenTeam is one of 16 high school teams in the nation to receive grant funding from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The team presented its TorchCord invention at the March Madness for the Mind event in the National Museum of American History, part of the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance's 13th annual meeting in Washington, DC. The team also traveled to MIT for the Lemelson-MIT EurekaFest event in 2009, having created a pressure-sensitive illuminated computer cable. Sarah Debelius Costlow, the Signature Program Coordinator, and Paul Koda, a science teacher, sponsored the team. Marching Band The Clarksburg High School Marching Band, nicknamed "The Spirit of Clarksburg," is a competitive corps-style marching ensemble, led by band instructor Charles Orifici. Notable accomplishments of The Spirit of Clarksburg include performances in Shanghai, China, performing in the Shanghai Tourism Festival Parade at the beginning of the 2009–2010 school year, as well as in the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in Washington, D.C., in 2012. They also annually attend the locally televised Montgomery County Thanksgiving Parade in Silver Spring, MD every November. The Spirit of Clarksburg marching band became the 2019 Tournament of Bands Region 5 Class 3A Champions on October 19, 2019, with their program "Rise of the Phoenix". In the State Finals of the 2019 MMBA (Maryland Marching Band Association) season at Towson University, they placed 5th place against various other bands in the 3A Class. Additionally, in the 2022 competitive season, The Spirit of Clarksburg received 1st place in MMBA state finales at Towson University. The Clarksburg High School Marching Band also participates in many different events throughout the school and local community. They perform during school pep rallies and during football games at Coyote Canyon, in the stands as well as during half-time. In events such as CSA/Middle School Band Night, the Spirit of Clarksburg works to extend outreach to and inspire students from feeder middle schools, like Rocky Hill or Hallie Wells Middle Schools. The Clarksburg High School Marching Band also includes the Clarksburg Majorettes, who performs alongside the band at football games and competitions. Choir The Clarksburg High School Choir Program consists of four choirs led by Matthew Tilkens, formerly by Amy Vanek. During Vanek's time at the school, the choir was able to world premiere a song composed by Chandrika Tandon at the 2024 World Culture Festival, along with the choir program of Walt Whitman High School. Since the 2024-2025 school year, Tilkens has headed the choir department. Under his leadership, the choir was able to world premiere another song, this time by Aaron Gage, a local composer. Athletics Soccer The boys' soccer team, coached by Jeremiah Spoales, won the state championship for the 2009 season. The girls' soccer team is coached by English teacher Christina Mann, a former Montgomery County standout soccer player who played Division I NCAA women's soccer at North Carolina State University. Track and field The 2006–2007 outdoor track and field team had a very successful season, with the boys ending with four wins and one loss for the regular season and the girls' team ending their regular season with three wins and two losses. It also sent many athletes to the Maryland State Championships, despite the lack of a senior class. The 2007–2008 outdoor track and field team had another very successful season with the boys ending with six wins and no losses for the regular season and the girls' team ending their regular season with six wins and no losses. The 2008-2009 boys' indoor track team finished second in both the Montgomery County Championship and the 2A Region Championship. The 2008–2009 outdoor track team ended the year with an undefeated 6–0 record once again. Both the boys and the girls won the division. In the County Championship, the boys placed second while the girls placed third. The boys won the 2A West Region while the girls placed second. In the state competition, the boys finished first and became the school's first-ever state championship team. The 2010-2011 girls' indoor track team took third at the county championship, and second at the 3A West championship. The 2010-2011 girls took second at the 3A West Championship while the boys finished third. The 2014-15 girls' indoor track team took first place in the county, 4A West championship, and 4A State championship meets. The 2015 girls' outdoor track took also took first place in the county, 4A West championship, and 4A State championship meets. External links Official website The school paper's website References