Walter Johnson High School (also known as Walter Johnson, WJHS, or WJ) is a public high school located in the census-designated place of Bethesda, Maryland. The school was founded in 1956 and named after Walter Johnson, an American baseball player who resided in Montgomery County, Maryland. The high school was the first to be named after a player of Major League Baseball.
WJHS serves portions of Bethesda, North Bethesda, Potomac, and Rockville, as well as the towns of Garrett Park and Kensington. It is a part of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS).
Contents
History
20th century
The school first opened with grades 10-12 in 1956, and was named after a famous American baseball pitcher and politician, Walter Johnson, who lived in the area and had died 10 years prior. The school's original mascot and team name was the Spartans, as the student body chose to base their own colors and mascot on the Michigan State University Spartans. Originally, the school only educated 11th and 12th graders.
In 1963, Mighty Moo, a dairy cow named after the cows that roamed the adjacent fields of the Davis farm until the early 90s, was named the school mascot. After a 1987 consolidation with nearby Charles W. Woodward High School, Walter Johnson maintained its school colors of white and green, but adopted Woodward's mascot, "Wild Thing" the Wildcat. In 1963, a group of Seniors's painted Mighty Moo onto the school chimney where it remains to this day.
21st century
In 2024, total enrollment expanded to over 3,000 students, with over 700 in each grade. To reduce overcrowding, local school leaders scheduled the reopening of Woodward High School for August 2027. Budgeting for the construction of Woodward High School has been problematic, with up to 39 million dollars lost in funding "due to errors in calculating prevailing wage and bid award across the multiple phases of the project".
Academics
Walter Johnson High School established their APEX-Reach Signature Program in 1996. This APEX-Reach Program leads students through a more rigorous curriculum through a combination of honors and Advance Placement (AP) classes.
The school has offered Advance Placement (AP) classes since before 1996 with a total of 28 AP classes. Since the fall of 2023, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) will pay for all AP and International Baccalaureate (IB) exams that students who take these courses will take.
WJ students average a score of 1192 on the SAT, with 604 on verbal and 588 on math.
As of 2024, Walter Johnson is the 15th-ranked high school in Maryland and the 855th-ranked nationally, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Construction
In 1960, sixteen more rooms were added to the school along ten more in 1964. Construction in the mid-1970s introduced the addition to a secondary gym and theater. In the merge with the Charles W. Woodward High School, more lockers, trophy cases, and seven portable classrooms were added.
At the start of the 2001-2002 school year began construction plans to renovate the school. The construction took ten years which included 19 more classrooms, 4 more science labs, a new cafeteria, a stadium, a media center, a new gym, and a new auditorium. The renovation also includes the addition of more amenities like an art, music, and technology suite. The school's entrance was designed to have a glass ceiling decorated with 90 national flags representing the nationalities of the student population.
School Articulation Patterns
Walter Johnson serves two middle schools, each of which serve three elementary schools.
North Bethesda Middle School
Ashburton Elementary School
Kensington Parkwood Elementary School
Wyngate Elementary School
Tilden Middle School
Farmland Elementary School
Garrett Park Elementary School
Luxmanor Elementary School
Expected changes
With overcrowding at many schools in the Downcounty area, especially Walter Johnson, Woodward will be fully reopening with the goal of alleviating overcrowding at nearby schools. To address these concerns, MCPS has begun a boundary study that will affect up to eight high school service areas: Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Walter Johnson, Walt Whitman, and the five high schools within the Downcounty Consortium. The boundary changes are expected to take place at the start of the 2027-28 school year, when Northwood high school students will return to their expanded facility.
Activities
Athletics
The school offers a variety of sports with fall, winter, and springs sports. In the fall, the school offers cross country, field hockey, football, golf, pom's, soccer, and volleyball. In the winter, the school offers baseketball, bocce, indoor track, swimming, and wrestling. In the spring, the school offers baseball, lacrosse, softball, tennis, track, and volleyball.
Writing
Walter Johnson has classes to support their literature with their own newspaper, The Pitch, as well as their own literary magazine, The Spectator. Their yearbook is named The Windup.
Music
The school contains several ensembles for music like the Madrigals, Choir, Jazz Ensemble, Band, Orchestra and Wind Ensemble. These ensembles often perform for county and/or state competitions in various venues.
Walter Johnson also has their own musical productions, WJ STAGE, and along with it their own production crew.
Demographics
As of 2022-2023:
Notable alumni
Jonathan Allen, political journalist
Robb Austin, politician, Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Siribha Chudabhorn, princess of Thailand
David John Doukas, physician and medical ethicist
Anita Dunn, former advisor to President Barack Obama
Carol Dysinger, professor, filmmaker, editor, Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject winner at the 92nd Academy Awards
Jeremy Ebobisse, professional soccer player for LAFC
Georgia Engel, actress
Florent Groberg, Medal of Honor recipient
Jonathan Hadary, actor
Jeffrey C. Hall, Nobel Prize in Medicine recipient, geneticist, and chronobiologist
Colleen Haskell, actress and season one Survivor contestant
Stephen Herek, film director and Broadway producer
John Michael Higgins, actor and director
Tommy Keene, singer and songwriter
Ariana Kelly, politician, Maryland House of Delegates
Candace Kovacic-Fleischer, law professor
John Kronstadt, district judge