Suitland High School


Suitland High School is a public magnet high school located in the Suitland census-designated place in unincorporated Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, near Forestville. It is a part of Prince George's County Public Schools.
It is long regarded for its Visual and Performing Arts magnet program. Suitland hosts the most specialized programs of instruction in the county, which includes the Center for Visual and Performing Arts magnet program, an International Baccalaureate magnet program, the signature program, the signature program, and the . Suitland also hosted a third magnet program, the University High School, until this was eliminated throughout the school system in 2006.
Suitland High School is a unique campus within the school system, being divided into four facilities, with three separate physical buildings which together comprise the Suitland High School complex. The main building houses the majority of the school's academic classes. Directly ahead of the main building is the Annabelle Ferguson Auditorium. Directly behind the main building is the Visual and Performing Arts Annex, which is a former junior high school. Attached to the main building is the Jesse J. Warr Vocational Center, an addition which houses the school's Technical Academy, a vocational program offering different areas of training for eleventh and twelfth graders seeking career and technical education for entrance into the working world upon graduation from high school.
The school serves: all of Suitland CDP, a section of the City of District Heights, a section of the town of Capitol Heights, all of Coral Hills CDP, portions of Forestville CDP, and a portion of Silver Hill CDP.

History

Dr. Joe Hairston was principal from the school's inception as a magnet school in 1987 until the mid-1990s, when he left to be Superintendent of the Clayton County Board of Education in Jonesboro, Georgia, and later, Superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools for 12 years.
Mark Fossett was principal for more than a decade. Nate Newman was principal from 2012–2017. Dr. Angelique Acevedo-Barron has been co-principal since 2016. Durnig SY 2017–2018, Assistant Principal Danny Miller will became co-principal due to Nate Newman becoming principal of Green Valley Academy.
In 2009 Sheryll Cashin said in The Failures of Integration: How Race and Class are Undermining the American Dream that Suitland High was one of several mostly black, mostly middle class PG County public high schools that was "decidedly underachieving: fewer than half of the seniors at these schools went on to attend four-year colleges in recent years."
Beginning with the 2016–2017 school year, students previously attending the closed Forestville High School began attending Suitland High. This was done so Suitland High School could get more funding from Maryland state agencies.
The approximate student enrollment as of March 2017 stands at about 2,157 students in grades nine through twelve.
Suitland High has a mandatory uniform policy.

Academics

Center for the Visual and Performing Arts magnet program

The Center for the Visual and Performing Arts is a rigorous four-year arts program that offers artistically talented high school students from all over Prince George's County educational opportunities designed to prepare them artistically for college, professional study, or career options in the arts. Strong association with the arts in the Washington, DC area offers distinct advantages. Students study with professional artists, dancers, actors, musicians, singers, directors, and producers. Students explore and eventually major in music, dance, theater, and visual arts.
The Center has been in existence at Suitland High School since 1986 and functions as a school-within-a-school. Each year, graduating students earn millions in scholarship awards and attend some of the most prestigious conservatories, colleges, and universities in the country.
Frequent collaborations with local arts institutions such as the University of Maryland, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Clarice Smith Center, and the Washington Performing Arts Society provide students with opportunities to meet and learn from many of today's successful artists.
Admission into the VPA magnet program is through audition only.
Suitland High School offers the 950-seat Annabelle E. Ferguson Auditorium, an experimental theater, and a fully equipped dance studio.

International Baccalaureate magnet program

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Program is an academically challenging and balanced course of study that prepares students for success in college and life beyond. Its mission is to develop inquiring, knowledgeable, and caring young people who help to create a better, more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.
Benefits of the IB Diploma Program include:
The Technical Academy Programs provide students with technical skills and knowledge that add value to their academic education. The programs are designed to prepare students with post-secondary options in their chosen career fields. The programs are organized into Maryland Career Clusters. These clusters are driven by what students need to know in order to graduate fully prepared for post-secondary education and a career. Students will be prepared for a high-skill, high-wage, high-demand career in this 21st century global economy.
The academy currently offers seventeen programs, many of which lead to professional certifications and/or licensures. The programs are offered in nine high schools and serves the entire county. All of the schools serve students in grades 11 and 12.
The Technical Academy teaching pedagogy utilizes both theory and practical experiences. The Foundation of Automotive and Construction Technology for Students is one of the Academy partners responsible for the student-built house project and the Student Auto Group Enterprise. This project provides practical hands-on experience which enables students to build a house from start to finish, and provides the auto students the opportunity to learn the operations of the auto repair and sales industries. Students wishing to participate in the Technical Academy Program must go through the application process. Students are selected based on their career interest, academic achievement and attendance.

Technical Academy program offerings

Architecture and Design
Business and Finance
Consumer Services, Hospitality, and Tourism
Health and Bio-Sciences
Homeland Security and Military Science
Transportation Technologies