Centennial High School (Howard County, Maryland)

Centennial High School is a secondary school in Ellicott City, Maryland, United States, that opened in 1977. The school is based in Howard County and is part of the Howard County Public School System. The school is named after its road frontage on Centennial Lane, built in 1876 as a shortcut through Denton Hammond's slave plantation Burleigh Manor between Clarksville and Ellicott City.^[2][3]

Centennial High School
Address
4300 Centennial Lane, Ellicott City, MD, 21042 United States
Coordinates	39°15′11″N 76°52′4″W
Information
Type	Public high school
Motto	Commitment to Excellence
Established	1977
Principal	Joelle Miller
Faculty	72
Enrollment	1,614[1]
Color(s)	Red  , White  , and Blue (accent)
Mascot	Eagle
Rival	Mt. Hebron High School
Newspaper	The Wingspan
Yearbook	Eyrie
Feeder schools	Burleigh Manor Middle School (Majority), Dunloggin Middle School, Ellicott Mills Middle School
Website	http://chs.hcpss.org

Turf field at Centennial High School

In 1984–85, the school was recognized as one of the top 100 high schools in the country through the USDE Secondary School Recognition Program.^[4] In 1996, Centennial High School was the first high school within Maryland to achieve the excellence standard in all categories of the Maryland State Performance Assessment Program's (MSPAP) report card.^{[citation needed]} The school maintained these standards throughout 2000 and 2001. In 2008, the school was nominated by U.S. News & World Report as a "silver medal" school, placing in the top 505 high schools nationwide.^[5] In a 2012 joint study by Newsweek and The Daily Beast, Centennial was ranked the second-best public high school in Maryland and number 111 in the nation.^[6] In 2014, Centennial was ranked as the best public school in Maryland and the United States.^[7] In 2017 the school was awarded "gold medal" by US News & World Report which ranked it as the best school nationwide.^[8]

In 2015, the Centennial men's basketball team bested Westlake for the Maryland 3A state title.^[9]

Centennial High School sign at the front entrance

The school has a maximum capacity of 1,360 students, but through the addition of nine portable classrooms currently (as of 2022) enrolls over 1,614 students. Of those in attendance, 41.7% are Asian, 38.6% are White, 8.9% are African American, 5.6% are Hispanic, 0.3% are Native American, 0.2% are Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and 5.1% are two or more races.^[1][10]

Notable alumni

• Suzanne Malveaux – CNN anchor^[11]
• Andrew Marshall – professional soccer player^[12]
• Jan W. Rivkin – economist, Harvard Business School professor^[13]
• Aaron Russell – Olympic volleyball player^[14]
• Ken Ulman – Former Howard County Executive^[15]

References and notes

1. "2017-18 School profile" (PDF). HCPSS. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
2. Federal Writers' Project (1940). Maryland, a Guide to the Old Line State. Oxford University Press. p. 330. ASIN B00CD8BQH8.
3. William Hand Browne (1956). Maryland Historical Magazine. Louis Henry Dielman Maryland Historical Society. p. 213.
4. "Schools Recognized 1982-1983 Through 1999-2002" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 30, 2014.
5. "Centennial High: Best High Schools - USNews.com". Archived from the original on April 4, 2008. Retrieved May 4, 2008.
6. "America's Best High Schools 2012". The Daily Beast. May 20, 2012. Archived from the original on May 24, 2012.
7. "America's Top Schools 2014". Newsweek. September 13, 2014. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
8. "Centennial High". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
9. "Centennial boys basketball pulls away from Westlake for first state title". The Baltimore Sun. March 14, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
10. "Centennial High School Profile 2021" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on September 6, 2015.
11. Feinberg, Lawrence (September 9, 1989). "Student's Thesis Explores Her Black Identity". The Washington Post. p. B1.
12. Baker, Kent (November 7, 2006). "No. 15 seed Towson, No. 5 Maryland get byes in NCAA soccer". The Baltimore Sun.
13. Hazel, Jim (February 2, 1984). "Budding Scientists". The Washington Post.
14. D'Ippolito, Monica (July 11, 2016). "Ellicott City's Russell preparing for Olympics with USA Volleyball". The Baltimore Sun.
15. Nitkin, Karen (April 8, 2007). "Meet the Ulmans". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved January 29, 2019.

External links

• Centennial High School website
• Centennial High School Sporting Records
• Centennial High School Facebook