Quince Orchard High School

Quince Orchard High School
Established	1988
Type	Public Secondary
Principal	Carole Working
Students	1749 (2008)
Grades	9–12
Location	Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA
District	Montgomery County Public Schools
Campus	Suburban
Colors	Red, Black and White
Mascot	Cougars
Yearbook	Tracks
Newspaper	The Prowler
Website	http://qohs.org/

Quince Orchard High School is a secondary school located on Quince Orchard Road in an unincorporated area of Gaithersburg in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Quince Orchard's incoming freshmen come from Lakelands Park and Ridgeview Middle School as well as Roberto Clemente Middle School magnet program. Up until the end of the 2007 school year Quince Orchard also took in freshman from Kingsview Middle School. Parts of Gaithersburg and North Potomac assigned to Quince Orchard. Quince Orchard High won 4 state championships in 2007-2008, in boys cross country running, girls soccer, American football, boys indoor track.

Academics

Starting in 2010, QOHS will also take in freshmen from Parkland Middle School or anyone who attended Parkland. According to materials from the school, Quince Orchard "encourages advanced studies in both the arts and books." To this end, 24 Advanced Placement courses are offered, ranging from the arts to world history. The school also boasts higher-than-average SAT (544 verbal, 558 math, 1102 total) and ACT (22 composite) scores, and requires 60 hours of community service for graduation. From the class of 2011 on, 75 hours will be required.

The school sent 75%+ of its 2005 graduating class to two- and four-year universities.

In 2006, Quince Orchard High School was listed in the Newsweek Magazine's top 1,300 High Schools in the U.S., as the 456th highest-rated school in the country.

Athletics

In recent years, the girls field hockey and soccer teams have enjoyed success, along with the cross county and track teams. In 2007 the girls soccer team beat the Eleanor Roosevelt Raiders in the State Semifinal on a fluke goal against a team that dominated the game in every facet, they went on to play the Leonardtown Raiders and they gave a valiant effort but fell short of a state title.

The football team, which won the state championships in 1991 and 2007, and has had successful years in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, and won the 4A (Maryland's largest classification, based on enrollment) state championship in 2007. The team will compete for the title again in the Maryland 4A state final on December 2, 2011 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

The varsity baseball team, though a perennial county powerhouse, had struggled to win a state championship until the 2005 season when they beat a tough Anne Arundel team for the state title. They followed with an undefeated season in 2006, and another trip to the state semi-final where they suffered a loss, 12-7, in 2007 to the eventual State Champions, Eleanor Roosevelt High School. In 2006, the boys cross country team and the girls field hockey team won the State Championships on November 11 and November 14.

In 2007, the boys cross-country team made it to first in state championship. The girls varsity soccer team made it to the State Championship game where they lost to Leonardtown. Varsity football capped off an undefeated 2007 season with a victory over Arundel in the Division 4A state finals scoring 29 points in the final quarter to capture a second state title. The Junior Varsity football team went 9-0,boys basketball JV Team went 20-0, field hockey team placed second in the state, and the boys indoor track team won states in Winter 2008 season. The boys outdoor track team placed second in state, setting a state record in the 4 x 800 meter relay with a time of 7:44.67.

In 2009 Both the JV and Varsity football teams went undefeated in the regular season. Quince Orchard's Varsity football squad was led by the most elite running back in Maryland, Ben Sasu, who rushed for over 1,500 yards that season. The Varsity football team entered the 3A state playoffs with a record of 10-0, looking ready to win their third state title. The Cougars defeated Tuscarora HS of Frederick, MD in the first round. However, in the quarterfinals, the Cougars were sadly defeated at their own stadium, by Linganore HS, of Bartonsville, MD, who would later win the 3A state championship over Huntingtown HS of Huntingtown, MD.

Quince Orchard's biggest rivals are Sherwood HS of Sandy Spring, MD, Damascus HS of Damascus, MD, Seneca Valley HS of Germantown, MD, and Northwest High School of Germantown,MD.

Clubs

• Shop: Students Helping other People
• Sadd: Students against destructive decisions
• Interfaith Club
• GSA: Gay Straight Alliance
• Hispanic Dance Team
• International Club
• Red Cross Club
• Secular Student Alliance
• Yearbook Club

Arts

Quince Orchard has theatre and music departments. In the spring of 2008, the Quince Orchard High School Chamber Singers performed at the Kennedy Center with the Manhattan Concert Productions.^{[citation needed]} Over the years the Theatre department has staged nearly 50 productions, including recently "Up the Down Staircase" and the musical "Grease", which was critically acclaimed by the National Theatre Critics Program.^{[citation needed]}

In addition, students produce The Prowler newspaper and the yearbook Tracks.

The QOHS Marching Band went to the inaugural USSBA National Championship and achieved a record-breaking score for Montgomery County, Maryland of 90.275. The next year, the band received their second record-breaking score for Montgomery County, Maryland of 92.325, and placed 9th out of 18 national groups. In 2008, the marching band won The USSBA Group IV Open Maryland State Championships with the show "Jekyll and Hyde."

Student diversity

For the 2005–2006 school year, Quince Orchard has a total enrollment of 1,910 students. The student body is an increasingly diverse group as more Hispanic and Asian families move into the area. During the 2005-2006 school year, the school's student body was 51.3% Caucasian, 17.6% African American, 15.7% Asian, 15.1% Hispanic and 0.3% American Indian.

Notable alumni

• Wale, rapper
• DJ Tech-Neek, BMI music producer
• Paul James, actor
• DJ Black Diamond, ASCAP music producer
• Darnell Wilson, boxer
• John Papuchis, defensive line coach, Nebraska
• Astrid Ellena, Miss Indonesia 2011 a representative of Indonesia in Miss World 2011
• Robb Hampton, Redskins Fan
• Jordan Goldberg, Co-Producer on Inception and The Dark Knight Rises, Writer of The Gun-Eaters and Batman: Gotham Knight

References

Matt Lichvar- Addie's Restaurant

External links

• Quince Orchard High School - Gaithersburg, MD
• Quince Orchard High School Alumni
• The Prowler, Quince Orchard student newspaper