Type Public Secondary Principal Gregory Komondor Number of students 1,633 Mascot Bobcats | Established 1907 Grades 9–12 Phone +1 410-638-4600 Colors White, Blue | |
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School district Harford County Public Schools Address 100 Heighe St, Bel Air, MD 21014, USA District Harford County Public Schools Profiles | ||
Bel Air High School is a high school in Bel Air, Harford County, Maryland. The current building opened in 2009, though the school's antecedents date back to 1815.
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History
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.
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.
The past facility at 100 Heighe Street was opened in 1950, with additional renovations made in 1954, 1968 and 1983. The building had a design capacity of 1,423 students; as a result, 11 "portables" were in use to provide additional classroom space. A new building was scheduled for completion for the graduating class of 2010.
The current Bel Air High School building was built in 2009, and has a capacity of 1,668 students. Some new features of the school are its auditorium/stage, cafeteria, library, and multiple sports facilities.
Students
The student body is mainly Caucasian, with white students representing 81% of the 1,633 students, African Americans 6%, Hispanics 5%, Asians 4%, Two or More Races 4%, American Indians 0-1% and Pacific Islanders 0-1%. Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.
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: