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The Bel Air High School
Established	1907
Type	Public Secondary
Principal	Joseph L. Voskuhl
Students	1,683
Grades	9–12
Location	Bel Air, Maryland,, USA
District	Harford County Public Schools
Campus	Urban
Colors	Blue and White
Mascot	Bobcat
Newspaper	The Belairian
Website	belairhs.org

Bel Air High School is a high school in Bel Air, Harford County, Maryland. The current building opened in 1950, though the school's antecedents date back to 1815.^[1] Students exceed the national averages on ACT and SAT achievement tests and its art and journalism program has been nationally recognized.

Contents 1 About the School 2 Faculty 3 Students 4 Academics 5 Extracurricular activities 5.1 Clubs 5.1.1 Teams 5.1.2 Publicatations 5.1.3 Fine arts groups 5.1.4 Honor societies and selective groups 5.1.5 Community service groups 5.1.6 Events planning groups 5.1.7 Other clubs 5.2 Sports 5.2.1 Boys 5.2.2 Girls 6 Notable alumni 7 References 8 External links

Bel Air High School began as the Harford County Academy when it was formed by an act of the Maryland General Assembly in 1811. The first school building was a stuccoed stone building built at 24 E. Pennsylvania Avenue, and the name was soon changed to the Bel Air Academy in 1815. John Wilkes Booth attended the school in the 1850s.^[2]

In 1867, while the Bel Air Academy was operating separately, a wooden one-room school house was built on Main Street, which functioned as the main public school of the county.

In 1882, a brick public school was built at 45 East Gordon Street. The school was renamed the Bel Air Academy and Graded School as the old academy merged with the public school system. This building housed classes for all students above the third grade. Additions to the building were made in 1897 and 1910. This building became solely a grade school in 1924 and headquartered the Harford County Board of Education after 1951.

Bel Air High School, named thus for the first time, was first formed in 1907, and classes were held at the Gordon Street building and the Pennsylvania Avenue building.^[3]

The current facilities at 100 Heighe Street were opened in 1950, with additional renovations made in 1954, 1968 and 1983. The current school building has a design capacity of 1,423 students; as a result, 11 "portables" are in use to provide additional classroom space. A new building is scheduled for completion for the graduating class of 2010.

As of January, 2007, Bel Air High School has 100 faculty members, resulting in a student-teacher ratio of 16.3 to 1. There are 94 classroom teachers, resulting in an average class size of 23.9 students. The faculty is for the most part relatively new to teaching, with almost 50% of the faculty having fewer than five years of experience. Forty-seven percent (47%) of the faculty have bachelors' degrees, 52% have masters' degrees, and 1% has a Ph.D.^[4] Of the Bel Air High School classes attended by students in 2006, 11.7% were taught by teachers the state of Maryland categorized as "not highly qualified," compared to the Maryland statewide average of 12.5% in low-poverty areas.^[5]

The student body is mainly caucasian, with white students representing 90% of the 1,683 students, blacks 4.5%, Asians 3.0%, Hispanics 2.0%, and American Indians 0.5%.

As the suburban population of the Baltimore area has grown significantly during the past two decades, the total student enrollment of the school is steadily rising and has now outgrown its campus:

year        students

2006   –    1,683

2005   –    1,636

2004   –    1,647

2003   –    1,573

2002   –    1,573

2001   –    1,587

2000   –    1,555

1999   –    1,524

1998   –    1,440

1997   –    1,383

1996   –    1,312

1995   –    1,295

1994   –    1,272

1993   –    1,238

At graduation, 83% of students plan to attend college, 3% plan vocational education and 12% plan to enter the work force or military.

Bel Air High School offers Advanced Placement Classes in Art, English, Languages, Mathematics, Music, Science, and Social Studies for almost one-third of its students. Of those taking the AP tests, the success rate is 70%.

• Academic Team
• Chess Club
• Destination Imagination
• Envirothon Team
• Forensics Team
• Maryland Math League
• Mock Trial Team

• Bellarion, student newspaper
• Reverie, literary magazine
• El Adios, yearbook

• Wind Band
• Concert Band
• Jazz Band
• Jazz Ensemble
• Freshman Band
• Bel Air Drama Company
• Flag Squad
• Orchestra
• Counterpoints, a cappella choir
• Pop Choir
• Freshman Chorus
• Women's Chorus

• Art National Honor Society
• French Honor Society
• National Honor Society
• German Honor Society
• Spanish Honor Society
• Varsity Club
• International Thespian Society Troupe #5193

• Mentoring Program
• Peer Helpers
• Peer Mediation

• Freshman Class Activities
• Junior Class Activities
• Prom
• Rose Arches Club
• Student Government Association

• Anime Club
• Art Club
• Bay and Ecology Club
• Diversity Club
• Environmental Club
• French Club
• Future Business Leaders of America
• Future Teachers of America
• Games
• History Club
• Spanish Club
• Students Against Animal Mistreatment
• Students Taking a Responsible Stand
• Y-WiSE (Young Women in Science and Engineering)
• German Club

• Baseball (1996 state & regional champion)
• Basketball
• Cross Country (1973 state champion, 1991 regional champion, 2003 county & regional champion, 2003 4th in state, 2006 2nd in state)
• Football (2004 regional champion, State semifinals)
• Golf
• Lacrosse
• Soccer (1995, 1996 regional champion)
• Swimming
• Track and Field (1960 state champion, 1995 regional champion)
• Volleyball (2006 Harford County Tournament Champions)
• Wrestling (1973 state & regional champion)

• Basketball
• Cheerleading
• Cross Country
• Field Hockey (1977 state champion, 1990, 1993, 1994 regional champion)
• Golf
• Lacrosse
• Soccer (1996, 1998, 2000 regional champion)
• Softball (1976, 1977, 1978 state champion, 1994 regional champion)
• Swimming
• Tennis (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 regional champion)
• Track and Field
• Volleyball (1999 regional champion)

• John Wilkes Booth, actor, assassin of President Abraham Lincoln.
• Martha Mae Sterbak Breedlove (Class of 1956), national equestrian champion [4]
• Joseph H. Deckman, elected to National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1965.^[6]
• Donald C. Fry, former Maryland Senator and Delegate.
• Shane Justis, baseball player for Inland Empire 66's
• James M. Harkins, former Maryland Delegate (1990-1998), Harford County Executive (1998-2005), & leader of Maryland Environmental Services (2005 - present).
• J. Robert Hooper, Maryland State Senator (b. 1936)
• Billie Nelson, (Class of 1997), defensive player for Baltimore Blast.
• Harris St. A. O'Neill - judge, District Court District 9^[7]
• Donna Stifler, Delegate for District 35A
• Blaze Foster, Actor

1. ^ Harford County Public Schools[1]
2. ^ Booth Family Historic Sites, Historical Society of Harford County (Md.), March, 2002
3. ^ The Historic Board of Education Building, ibid.
4. ^ Harford County Public Schools, January, 2007
5. ^ "2006 Maryland Report Card", Maryland State Board of Education – "Highly qualified" teachers are defined as having:
   (1) Bachelor's degrees or higher; (2) full state certification; and (3) demonstrated content knowledge in the subjects taught.
6. ^ Lacrosse Hall of Fame [2]
7. ^ Maryland Archives[3]

• Bel Air High School – official website
• Bel Air High Foundation
• Bel Air High School profile from Harford County Public Schools (PDF)
• State performance report

v • d • e Harford County Public High Schools
Aberdeen High School Bel Air High School C. Milton Wright High School Edgewood High School Fallston High School Harford Technical High School Havre De Grace High School Joppatowne High School North Harford High School Patterson Mill High School