Seneca Valley High School

History

Seneca Valley High School sits on land that was once the site of a dairy farm owned by baseball player Walter Perry Johnson. Johnson purchased the land in 1935 and lived there with his family until his death in 1946.

Seneca Valley High School opened in 1974 as the first high school in Germantown and remained the only one until 1998, when Northwest High School opened. In its first year of operation, the 1974–75 school year, under Principal Nathan Pearson, Seneca Valley hosted students in grades seven through ten. In the following 1975–76 school year, the school operated grades nine through eleven, with 8th graders transferring to the newly opened Ridgeview Junior High School in Gaithersburg, Maryland. During the 1976–77 school year, Seneca Valley became a senior high school, hosting grades ten through twelve, and graduating its first class in June 1977.

In 1988, Seneca Valley changed to its present state of full-fledged high school with grades 9–12.

In 2017, construction work began for a completely new school building and campus. The original building was demolished in 2020 and replaced with a new building on-site which was completed in 2021. The new 440,000-square-foot building makes SVHS the physically largest high school in Maryland. The larger facility also changed enrollment boundaries to draw more students from the Clarksburg and Northwest High School areas, and accommodates 14 career and technical education programs (CTE) for the upcounty student population. The wellness center opening was delayed until 2022 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and became the 4th to open at a Montgomery County public high school.

Areas Served

Seneca Valley primarily serves students living in Germantown and small populations in Clarksburg and Boyds. The school feeds from three middle schools and nine elementary schools.

• Roberto Clemente MS

  • Clopper Mill ES (island only)
  • Germantown ES (northern portion)
  • S. Christa McAuliffe ES
  • Dr. Sally K. Ride ES (southern tip)

• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. MS

  • Lake Seneca ES
  • Spark M. Matsunaga ES (island only)
  • Dr. Sally K. Ride ES (except southern tip)
  • Waters Landing ES

• Neelsville MS

  • Cabin Branch ES
  • William B. Gibbs Jr. ES (except Clarksburg walkers) Elementary School Split Articulations:

• Clopper Mill ES: everything except the island articulates to Northwest HS

• Germantown ES: southern portion articulates to Northwest HS

• Ride ES: south of Middlebrook Road articultes to Clemente MS, everyone else to King MS

• Matsunaga ES: everything except the island articulates to Kingsview MS and Northwest HS

• Gibbs ES: those in the Clarksburg walk zone articulate to Rocky Hill MS and Clarksburg HS

Recent Boundary Changes

In November 2019, the board of education approved boundaries that affected the following schools within the Seneca Valley cluster:

• Southern portion of Clarksburg ES (now Cabin Branch ES) reassigned from Rocky Hill MS and Clarksburg HS to Neelsville MS and Seneca Valley HS
• Clopper Mill ES island reassigned from Northwest HS to Seneca Valley HS
• Northern portion of Germantown ES reassigned from Northwest HS to Seneca Valley HS
• Gibbs ES (except Clarksburg walkers) reassigned from Rocky Hill MS and Clarksburg HS to Neelsville MS and Seneca Valley HS
• Matsunaga ES island reassigned from Kingsview MS and Northwest HS to King MS and Seneca Valley HS

In 2022, MCPS approved boundaries in anticipatation of the opening of Cabin Branch Elementary School, which was built to alleviate overcrowding at Clarksburg Elementary School. The Cabin Branch development was reassigned from Clarksburg ES to Cabin Branch ES, while students in the southern part of rural Boyds were reassigned from Clarksburg ES to Gibbs ES. All affected students would still attend Neelsville MS and Seneca Valley HS.

Athletics

The school's colors are green and gold, and their mascot is the Screamin' Eagle. Seneca Valley's biggest athletic rivalry is with the nearby Northwest High School.

Seneca Valley's football team has won 12 state football championships, in 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2002. This is a Maryland state record which they share with Damascus High School.

Their hockey team (Upper Montgomery County Lightning) were JV state champions in 2022 and varsity county champions in 2024.

Notable alumni

• Mark Bryan (1985), lead guitarist for Hootie and the Blowfish
• Neil Fallon (1989), vocalist for Clutch
• Dean Felber (1985), bass guitarist for Hootie and the Blowfish
• Jean-Paul Gaster (1989), drummer for Clutch
• Dan Maines (1989), bass guitarist for Clutch
• Andre Smith (2006), NFL player
• Paula White (1984), televangelist and pastor, Paula White Ministries

References

References

1. "Seneca Valley High School Song".
2. (September 28, 2020). "A Look Inside the New Seneca Valley High School". MoCo360.
3. Division of Capital Planning, Montgomery County Public Schools. Superintendent's Recommended FY 2025 Capital Budget and the FY 2025–2030 CIP - [https://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP25_Chapter4SenecaValley.pdf Chapter 4: Seneca Valley Cluster]
4. "Seneca Valley High School".
5. Germantown Historical Society. "Germantown's History, A Brief Overview". Germantown Historical Society.
6. (October 7, 2015). "Germantown Community Meeting with Councilmember Craig Rice".
7. amy. (2022-04-21). "New Identity-Run Wellness Center Opens at Seneca Valley High School - Identity, Inc.".
8. Division of Capital Planning, Montgomery County Public Schools. [https://gis.mcpsmd.org/boundarystudypdfs/SVHS_BOEResolution.pdf Board of Education Resolution - November 26, 2019]. Accessed 3 June 2024
9. Division of Capital Planning, Montgomery County Public Schools. [https://gis.mcpsmd.org/boundarystudypdfs/ClarksburgES9_BOEResolution.pdf Board of Education Resolution for Clarksburg Elementary School #9 Boundaries - November 17, 2022]. Accessed 3 June 2024
10. (October 29, 2021). "Seneca Valley gets its statement win over Damascus: ‘All I have to say is we’re back’". The Washington Post.
11. (October 19, 2021). "Seneca Valley, once Maryland's premier football program, tries to recapture its glory". The Washington Post.
12. (October 29, 2021). "Seneca Valley gets its statement win over Damascus: ‘All I have to say is we’re back’". The Washington Post.
13. (July 26, 1996). "Locally Schooled Blowfish". The Washington Post.
14. (January 24, 1997). "The House That Clutch Built". Washington City Paper.
15. (November 30, 2018). "Coming Home for Good: Former NFL Player Now Patrols His Hometown Streets with MCPD". Germantown Vibe.
16. Harris, Hamil R.. (December 16, 2004). "My Story Is a Story of Restoration". The Washington Post.