A Look at Maryland’s Largest High School

Before it became the largest high school in Maryland, in terms of square footage (here’s a list of the 20 largest by enrollment), Seneca Valley High School (19401 Crystal Rock Dr. Germantown, MD) opened in its original building in 1974. The school sits on land that was once the site of a dairy farm owned by baseball player Walter Johnson. Johnson purchased the land in 1935 and lived there with his family until his death in 1946. It was Germantown’s only high school until Northwest opened in 1998.

In its first year of operation, the 1974-1975 school year, under Principal Nathan Pearson, Seneca Valley hosted students in grades seven through ten. In the following 1975-1976 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 1976-1977 school year, Seneca Valley became a senior high school, hosting grades ten through twelve, and graduating its first class in June 1977. Finally in 1988, Seneca Valley changed to its present state of full-fledged high school with grades 9-12. The original school building was demolished in 2020 and replaced with a new building on-site in 2021.

The new 452,500 SF (also listed at ~440,000 SF) Seneca Valley High School is the largest high school in the state of Maryland. The replacement school includes two main sections: a four-story classroom wing and a two-story public wing. The academic wing is organized around two large courtyards that provide natural light to interior classrooms and allows for efficient, conveniently monitored interior circulation. The public wing houses the 900-seat auditorium, gymnasium/athletic facilities, and student dining room.

The school includes a Career and Technical Education wing that provides automotive, construction, trades, architectural design, and technical drawing programs. The building incorporates sustainable features including a vegetated roof system. The campus features a multi-use athletic turf field stadium, 7 tennis courts, 4 basketball courts, and sodded baseball and softball fields.

Seneca Valley High School received an Honorable Mention for the 2022 Excellence in Construction award from the Associated Builders and Contractors of Metro Washington and Virginia and the Architectural and Interior Design Awards of Excellence, Outstanding Project award from Learning by Design in 2022.

Information/photos courtesy of Seneca Valley High School and DustinConstruction. Video below courtesy of MCPS