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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Winston Churchill High School (Potomac, Maryland)
Winston Churchill High School, often referred to as WCHS, Churchill High School, CHS or Churchill, is a public high school in Potomac, Maryland, United States, an unincorporated section of Montgomery County. It is the only public high school in Potomac.

The school is named after Winston Churchill, a British statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during World War II. Founded in 1964 as Potomac High School, the school's name was changed to "Winston Churchill High School" a year later.

Churchill belongs to the Montgomery County Public Schools system. Most of its students live in Potomac with a small portion in Bethesda.

History

Winston Churchill High School was established in 1964 as Potomac High School. The school was renamed to honor Sir Winston Churchill the following year.

From 1999 to 2002, Churchill underwent renovations to modernize and revitalize the facilities. There was a formal rededication ceremony on April 21, 2002. Along with the opening of the new facility, the school's auditorium was renamed to the Dr. Gertrude G. Bish Auditorium, to honor the first principal of Churchill High School when it opened in 1964. She was the first woman high school principal in Montgomery County.

In January 2010, a criminal investigation exposed a grade-changing scandal at Churchill. 46 students' grades were modified after 8 students hacked the school's grade system. The incident was treated by the police as a criminal investigation.

In 2016, controversy spiked in Montgomery County around racial incidents at Churchill. In November, two students put a sign reading "whites only" on a bathroom door, later telling authorities that they found the sign and wanted to see people's reaction. A month later, a few students allegedly entered a meeting of the school's Republican club, called the members racist, and wrote "Black Lives Matter" on the classroom whiteboard. In response, a club member supposedly said "White Lives Matter" directed to the non-club members. A Montgomery County Republican leader was hurt by this and told school district leaders after being informed by a parent. Chair of the education committee of the Montgomery County Republican Central Committee, Richard Jurgena was worried for the state of the club and called for a "complete, rapid and nonpartisan" investigation.

In 2017, after a basketball game between Winston Churchill High School and Walter Johnson High School, Walter Johnson High School students defaced Winston Churchill High School property with vulgar graffiti. This caused $100,000 in damage.

On October 13, 2021, a female Churchill student was assaulted by a 17-year old student from Walt Whitman High School. This incident occurred at the Churchill bus loop in the morning where the assailant brandished a knife and attacked the victim. The assailant subsequently fled the scene only to be later identified and taken into custody. The victim sustained minor injuries and "enhanced monitoring" was supposedly implemented during future dismissals.

In May 2022, a student made threats of violence against the school on social media. These included mentions of bringing guns and explosives on school property and murder threats in retaliation for being mistreated at the school. The student was out of state at the time, however, and was prohibited from returning to Churchill for the remainder of the school year.

On February 13th, 2023, Principal John Taylor sent out a message regarding a recent incident that occurred at the school. Racist graffiti in a boys bathroom at the school was noticed by a student and reported to school official, which prompted the removal of the graffiti and an investigation which has since gone unresolved.

Areas Served

Churchill students come from two feeder middle schools and five elementary schools:

  • Cabin John Middle School
    • Bells Mill Elementary School
    • Seven Locks Elementary School
  • Herbert Hoover Middle School
    • Beverly Farms Elementary School
    • Potomac Elementary School
    • Wayside Elementary School

School awards and academics

Churchill has been ranked in the top 100 high schools in the United States for years, climbing to 42 in 2007 and 75 in 2017. Churchill earned the 2007 Maryland Blue Ribbon Award and was selected by the U.S. Department of Education as a 2007 National No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School. In 2012, Churchill was rated the best high school in Maryland and fifth among non-magnet schools nationally according to U.S. News & World Report. In 2016, the same report ranked Winston Churchill High School 94th in national ranking, 2nd in Maryland High Schools and 146th in STEM High Schools with 83.9 (out of 100) College Readiness Index. In 2017, Churchill was ranked the best high school in Maryland and 75th in the nation by U.S. News. As of 2024, Churchill has fallen to the 5th-ranked high school in Maryland and the 295th-ranked nationally, according to U.S News and World Report.

Churchill students average a score of 1299 on the SAT, with 640 on verbal and 659 on math.

Departments and programs

Churchill has nine academic departments: Art, Computer Science, English, Foreign Language, Mathematics, Performing Arts, Physical Education, Science, and Social Studies.

Autism Program

The Autism Program provides a program for students with low-functioning autism. These students learn how to improve their skills at undertaking certain tasks and also learn speech.

Signature Program

The Signature Program allows students to follow one of several course paths to specialize in a particular career field. The program comprises three academies: the Academy of Math, Science, & Technology; the Academy of International Studies; and the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts.

Bridge Program

The Bridge Program provides a program for adolescents and young adults with learning/emotional disabilities. The program intends to foster academic skill development and alter behaviors that interfere with academic learning. It is supervised by an interdisciplinary team intended to meet the needs of socially vulnerable middle and high school students who may be challenged by problem-solving abstract thinking, organizing and planning, interpreting social cues, establishing relationships with peers, coping with anxiety, changes in routine, and transitioning.

Performing arts

Many theater productions are put on regularly, including a night of one act plays. The One Acts Festival is student-produced, directed, and funded by the drama club. Churchill also has a choir program. Showstoppers is a mixed-gender show choir group, while Jazz Ambassadors is a mixed-gender choir. Both groups regularly compete within Montgomery County, regionally, and nationally. Churchill also hosts an annual show choir competition.

Churchill's choral music groups are Voice of a Generation (VOAG), Jazz Ambassadors, and Showstoppers.

Voice of a Generation is a non-audition group for students who like to sing and learn about the study of music. Students learn to sight-read, read music, and improve their performance skills.

Jazz Ambassadors is a coed ensemble selected through auditions, focusing on developing vocal technique. Most songs are challenging jazz music, but this is often stretched to arrangements of different kinds of music like pop or classical.

Showstoppers is an honors show choir group of students selected through auditions who previously held choir positions at Churchill. This group features musically challenging music. Most music is popular, but any musical style, including sacred and secular works, is rehearsed and performed.

In 2007, Churchill's fall production of Singin' in the Rain was nominated for six Cappies High School Theater Awards, winning Best Orchestra (for the third consecutive year), Best Cameo Actor, and Best Cameo Actress. Only one other school received more awards.

In 2009, Churchill's fall production of Rent: School Edition was nominated for four Cappies High School Theater Awards: Best Male Vocalist, Best Female Vocalist, Best Orchestra, and Best Song. Churchill won awards for Best Female Vocalist as well as Best Orchestra.

Many students form bands, typically of a rock variety, and the school occasionally facilitates this by sponsoring a battle of the bands or band performance. The school has sponsored day-long concerts on school grounds; the Merritthon, a fundraising event for Leukemia research, occurred annually from 2002 to 2004.

In 2009, the instrumental music program won four awards at the Windy City Classic, including Best Symphonic Band, Best Orchestra, Best Classical Soloist, and Best Overall Program. The jazz band received second place in that category. All three groups received a gold rating.

Publications

Churchill produces three publications, all of which have won awards: its newspaper, The Churchill Observer; its yearbook, Finest Hours; and its literary magazine, Erehwon.

Athletics

Winston Churchill High School offers the following sports:

State championships

Team State championships
Season Sport Number of championships Year
Fall Cross country, boys' 4 1968, 1975, 1977, 1978
Cross country, girls' 2 1979, 1991
Football 2 1976, 1977
Field hockey 2 1978, 1983
Golf 15 1976, 1987, 1988, 1995, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2019
Soccer, boys' 7 1980, 1985, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2002, 2009
Winter Basketball, girls' 2 2002, 2003
Basketball, boys' 1 1978
Ice hockey 8 2006, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022
Indoor track, boys' 2 1976, 2011
Swimming and diving, girls' 3 2009, 2012, 2015
Swimming and diving, boys' 2 2018, 2019, 2022
Spring Baseball 1 1979
Outdoor track, boys' 1 1976
Wiffleball 5 1969, 1978, 1980, 2011, 2012
Ultimate frisbee 1 2013
Lacrosse, boys' 1 2022
Total 47

Notable alumni

References

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