Springbrook High School


Springbrook High School is an American public high school, located in Montgomery County, Maryland, in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. It is located within the White Oak census-designated place, and has a Silver Spring mailing address. It is between the Colesville and White Oak communities.
Springbrook is a member of Montgomery County's Northeast Consortium, composed of Springbrook, James Hubert Blake and Paint Branch high schools, allowing students from the communities of Ashton, Burnt Mills, Burtonsville, Calverton, Cloverly, Colesville, Fairland, Spencerville, southern Olney, Hillandale, and White Oak to choose between the three schools.
Springbrook was constructed in 1960 and named after the upper Northwest Branch spring-fed tributary that runs next to its property. The school was renovated in the early 1990s and reopened in 1994.
, the school holds 1,792 students. The total minority enrollment is 92%.

Rankings

As of 2019, U.S News and World Report ranks Springbrook 2,847 out of 17,245 U.S. high schools, and 64 out of 240 Maryland high schools. The ranking is based on six factors relating to performance on state assessments and preparedness for college. Springbrook is ranked 20th out of the 27 public high schools in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Springbrook draws its students from Montgomery County's Northeast Consortium, a population also served by two other public high schools, Blake and Paint Branch, which U.S News and World Report ranks 34 and 41 respectively.
As of 2019, the graduation rate is 88%, which is somewhat below the state median.

Academic programs

The International Baccalaureate curriculum is a program offering at Springbrook. It includes the Middle Years Program, featuring a Personal Project, for 9th and 10th graders, and the IB Diploma Program for 11th and 12th graders. In addition, Springbrook offers an Advanced Placement program. Students may start taking AP courses as early as their freshman year with AP U.S. History. The AP participation rate at Springbrook High is 63%. Springbrook is one of the 25 Maryland high schools that sends the most students to the University of Maryland's Clark School of Engineering, the only NEC high school included in that list.
Another Springbrook program is the Academy of Information Technology. AOIT is a four-year program which is offered to students interested in computer programming, web development, the aesthetics of designing for the web, basic engineering, microcomputer technologies and LAN Management. Upon completion of the instructional phase, juniors and seniors may be placed in paid internships with employers such as the FDA, NOAA, NASA, USDA, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, etc. The Cisco Networking Academy presents basic networking education to equip students with knowledge and skills that can be applied toward entry-level careers in IT networking and CCENT or CCNA certification. The school has 16 computer labs with 900 computers, translating into a computer for every 2.3 students. Springbrook's computer science program is among the oldest in the state and includes courses in Java and XNA, digital art, LAN management, computer maintenance, and web design.
Springbrook also houses the Justice, Law and Society Academy for the Northeast Consortium. The program is designed for students interested in exploring careers in law, law enforcement and government.
Springbrook's music program was awarded Grammy Signature School status in 2008, recognizing Springbrook as one of the top high school music programs in the nation. The music program has won a number of Superior ratings as well as first place awards in local, national and international music festivals across the nation as well as in Canada. Springbrook's performing ensembles include Symphonic Band, Jazz Band, Symphonic Band, Marching Band, as well as audition-only chamber music ensembles. Springbrook's annual Summer Instrumental Music and Jazz Camp, open to middle and high school students from throughout Montgomery County, has been a tradition since 2002. Art classes offered at Springbrook include Foundations of Art, Photography, Ceramics, Studio, 3D Art, TV Production, IB and AP Art and Digital Art.
Springbrook was home to a Navy Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps unit, however, it was disbanded in 2010 after having poor enrollment figures for several years. The remnants of the unit were consolidated into a preexisting one at neighboring Paint Branch High School.

Scholarship

Springbrook's students are drawn from a range of racial, ethnic, and economic backgrounds, with roots in 84 nations. Springbook's diversity is reflected in the school's Hall of Nations and celebrated in an annual Heritage Show which showcases student talent including dance ensembles from several cultures.
Springbook's IB, AP, and Honors programs have produced outstanding scholars. Members of Springbrook's graduating classes of 2004–2006 have gone on to attend universities including American, Amherst, Brown, Boston College, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Davidson, Duke, Georgetown, George Washington, Hampton, Johns Hopkins, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Morehouse, New York University, Northwestern, Oxford, Princeton, Rutgers, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Yale, and the Universities of Massachusetts, Chicago, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Toronto, Virginia, and Wisconsin–Madison. See complete college destinations of Springbrook classes of , , , and .
The Washington Post publishes a Challenge Index based on statistical analysis of academic rigor and achievement among high schools in the Washington metropolitan area. In the December 2006 Challenge Index, Springbrook ranked 7 out of 23 high schools in Montgomery County, and 26 among 185 high schools in the metro area; and placed well ahead of its traditional peer schools, Blair, Paint Branch, and Blake.

Annual Distinguished Student Awards

Springbrook annually bestows five Distinguished Student Awards:
Springbrook has numerous clubs and activities. The Blueprint Newspaper and the Trident Yearbook are both class offerings. Springbrook's most famous extracurricular activity, the marching band, is also offered as a class.The diverse offering of clubs includes:
Since 1964, the Blue Devils have fielded a total of 18 state championship athletic teams, including seven state football championships between 1979 and 1989. The boys basketball team was a state finalist in 2003; the field hockey team was state champion in 2003 and state finalist in 2005; and the gymnastics team won the state title in 2003. In more recent years, the girls basketball and boys cross country teams have won state regional titles, and the boys lacrosse, boys tennis, track and field, and swim and dive teams were divisional champions.
Springbrook High School's varsity boys basketball team won their third consecutive 4A state championship on March 13, 2010, a feat that had never before been achieved on the 4A level and only once on any other level.
Sports offered include:
Fall sports
Winter sports
Spring sports
As of 2019, the student to teacher ratio is 16:1. As of 2017, 83.8% of staff have over 5 years of professional experience and 54.2% of staff have more than 15 years of professional experience.

Notable teachers

Pat Yongpradit was one of 12 teachers worldwide to be awarded an Innovative Teacher Award in 2010 by Microsoft. His approach to teaching helped double the number of girls in AP computer programming.
Joyce Amatucci was named the NFL's 2000 Teacher of the Year. She was nominated by a former student, Shawn Springs, who played football for the Seattle Seahawks at the time.

Notable alumni