An all-class reunion for former Robert E. Peary High School students is being planned for Friday, September 25, at Dave & Buster’s at Rio in Gaithersburg.
Organizers are currently working with the venue and gauging interest from former students before finalizing the event. Plans could include access to the axe-throwing area, dance area and four additional bays, along with special pricing on game cards and food. Special room rates have also been arranged with the Marriott for Friday and Saturday nights. Former students are being asked to spread the word and indicate whether they would be interested in attending.
Robert E. Peary High School opened at 13300 Arctic Ave in Aspen Hill in September 1960. The school’s first graduating class was the Class of 1963, whose members entered as sophomores when Peary opened.
The school was named by sixth-grade students at Aspen Hill Elementary School during the 1959-1960 school year. Because the new high school was located on Arctic Avenue, the students researched prominent people and themes associated with the Arctic before selecting explorer Robert E. Peary. The name was used with permission from Peary’s family.
Peary’s seal featured a globe topped by Polaris, the North Star, with Commander Peary driving a team of huskies across it. The dates 1909, representing the discovery of the North Pole, and 1960, marking the school’s opening, appeared below.
Two anchors symbolizing Peary’s “iron will and determination” were dedicated by the Class of 1963 on April 6, 1963. The school later received a sledge similar to those used by Peary, presented by his children, Marie Peary Stafford and Robert E. Peary Jr., on November 23, 1964. Peary was also known for its pipe band, which originated at the school in 1961 and continued performing after the school closed.
Montgomery County Public Schools closed Peary in 1984 amid declining enrollment, with many of its students moving to Rockville High School. The building remained vacant for more than a decade before a lease agreement was reached with the Hebrew Academy of Greater Washington, now the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy, in 1996. Following renovations, the academy opened at the property in 1999 and assumed full ownership of the former Peary High School building in 2010.
A Facebook group with more than 4,000 members continues to preserve and share memories of the former Aspen Hill school.
