Stephen Decatur High School (Maryland)

Stephen Decatur High School (commonly Stephen Decatur, Stephen Decatur High, SDHS) is a four-year public high school in Berlin, Worcester County, Maryland, United States. With the grades of 9–12 the school is a part of Worcester County Public Schools. It is one of four public high schools in Worcester County along with Pocomoke High School, Worcester Technical High School, and Snow Hill High School. The school was opened in 1954.

Stephen Decatur High School
Address
9913 Seahawk Road Berlin , Maryland 21811 United States
Information
Type	Public High School
Motto	"The Decatur Way . . . The Way To Grow"
Established	1954
School district	Worcester County Public Schools
Principal	Thomas Sites
Grades	9–12
Campus	27.4 acres (111,000 m2)[1]
Color(s)	Royal Blue and White
Nickname	Seahawks
Newspaper	The Hawk
Website	sdhs.worcesterk12.org

About the school

Stephen Decatur High School was named after Stephen Decatur, the naval war hero during the War of 1812 who was born in Worcester County. He was a Commodore and also fought in the Second Barbary War against pirates in the Mediterranean Sea.

The school is part of the Worcester County Public School system, which also includes three other high schools, Snow Hill High School, Pocomoke High School, and one vocational school, Worcester Technical High School.

Construction on the school began in 1952 and Stephen Decatur High School was dedicated in 1954. It was a consolidation of two old high schools, Ocean City High School in Ocean City, MD and Buckingham High School in Berlin, MD. The school originally served grades 7 through 12. The current facility has 192,335 sq ft (17,868.5 m²).^[1]

Students

The graduation rate at Stephen Decatur High School is consistently above 90 percent. In 2015 the school had a graduation rate of 93.73%.^[2]

The area of West Ocean City, Ocean Pines, and Berlin experienced significant growth in the 1990s and 2000s, and that was reflected in the student population at Stephen Decatur High School. From 895 students in 1993, the school had an enrollment of 1,436 in 2007.^[3] The growth of the area slowed around the time of the Great Recession, and as a result the student population at Stephen Decatur has remained relatively steady over the past decade.

Student population ^[4]

Year Pop. ±% 1993 895 —     1994 938 +4.8% 1995 985 +5.0% 1996 1,020 +3.6% 1997 1,076 +5.5% 1998 1,111 +3.3% 1999 1,170 +5.3% 2000 1,248 +6.7% 2001 1,251 +0.2% 2002 1,317 +5.3% 2003 1,302 −1.1%

Year Pop. ±% 2004 1,374 +5.5% 2005 1,384 +0.7% 2006 1,389 +0.4% 2007 1,436 +3.4% 2008 1,389 −3.3% 2009 1,390 +0.1% 2010 1,433 +3.1% 2011 1,436 +0.2% 2012 1,399 −2.6% 2013 1,341 −4.1% 2014 1,316 −1.9%

Year Pop. ±% 2015 1,299 −1.3% 2016 1,346 +3.6% 2017 1,351 +0.4% 2018 1,348 −0.2% 2019 1,363 +1.1% 2020 1,328 −2.6% 2021 1,369 +3.1% 2022 1,444 +5.5% 2023 1,431 −0.9%

Staff

The following people have been the principal at Stephen Decatur High School:^[5]

Wilbur A. Jones	1954–1961[6]
D. Keith Whitehurst	1961–1963[7]
William C. Tomlinson	1963–1966
Elmer Everton	1966–1968
Gladys Burbage	1968–1987
Tom Tucker	1987–1991
Anthony McNabb	1991–1994
Louis H. Taylor	1994–2012
Thomas Zimmer	2012–2018
Thomas Sites	2018–Present

Sports

State Champions

• 2024 - Football (2A)
• 2024 - Wrestling (2A)
• 2023 - Football (2A)
• 2023 - Wrestling (2A)
• 2022 - Wrestling (2A)
• 2020 - Wrestling (2A)
• 2019 - Wrestling (3A)
• 2008 - Wrestling (4A-3A)
• 2002 - Boys Soccer (2A)^[8]
• 1986 - Boys Track & Field (Class C)^[9]
• 1970 - Boys Basketball (Class B)^[10]

State Finalists

• 2025 - Girls Wrestling
• 2025 - Wrestling (2A)
• 2016 - Boys Basketball (3A)
• 2015 - Girls Lacrosse (3A-2A)
• 2011 - Boys Swimming (3A-2A-1A)^[11]
• 2006 - Girls Lacrosse (3A-2A)^[12]
• 2005 - Golf (2A-1A)
• 2001 - Boys Soccer (2A)^[8]
• 2000 - Boys Track & Field (2A)^[9]
• 1985 - Boys Track & Field (Class C)^[9]
• 1984 - Boys Track & Field (Class C)^[9]
• 1977 - Girls Basketball (Class B)^[13]
• 1971 - Boys Basketball (Class B)^[10]
• 1969 - Boys Basketball (Class B)

Robotics

• 2014 - FIRST Robotics Competition Team #4288 North Carolina Regional Champion^[14]
• 2013 - FIRST LEGO League - Salisbury Qualifiers Champion^[14]
• 2012 - FIRST LEGO League - Salisbury Qualifiers Champion^[14]
• 2012 - FIRST Robotics Competition #4288 - Battle of Baltimore^[14]

Notable alumni

• Keve Aluma, professional basketball player for the Ryukyu Golden Kings of the B.League.
• Dale R. Cathell, judge, Maryland Court of Appeals^[15]
• John Chester, co-creator of Random 1, television program on A&E
• Linda Harrison, actress
• Erica Messer, writer for The OC, Alias, and Criminal Minds
• Oliver Purnell, head basketball coach at DePaul University

See also

• Worcester County Public Schools
• List of high schools in Maryland