Nearly 25 years ago, the Montgomery County Board of Education made a decision that would forever change Poolesville High School.
In late August 2001, the Board approved a resolution requiring the school to discontinue its longtime “Indians” mascot and nickname. The transition would take nearly a year to complete, with Poolesville High School officially becoming the Falcons at the start of the 2002-2003 school year.
According to Montgomery County Public Schools, the Board based its decision on its interpretation of the school system’s Human Relations policy and directed that other policies and regulations be clarified “to assure the prohibition of racial, gender, and cultural stereotypes in official school-sponsored representations, such as mascots, nicknames, and logos.”
The decision came during a broader statewide movement to retire Native American mascots. Earlier in 2001, the Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs launched an effort encouraging school districts across the state to voluntarily eliminate Native American mascots and logos, citing concerns about cultural insensitivity and harassment.
Poolesville, however, overwhelmingly wanted to keep its longtime identity. When the Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs asked the community to voluntarily change the mascot, residents voted to retain the Indians name. In a symbolic show of support, an image of an Indian was painted on the town’s water tower overlooking the football field. “We have many students in our school whose parents and grandparents went to Poolesville High School, so there’s a lot of tradition and history there,” then-Principal Mark E. Levine said at the time.
Despite the community’s vote, the Montgomery County Board of Education approved the resolution requiring the school to retire the Indians mascot and adopt a new identity.
The transition was expected to cost at least $80,000, with MCPS covering the expense. The funding helped replace uniforms, signage, logos and other school materials bearing the former mascot. One of the most significant projects involved sanding down, repainting and refinishing the gymnasium’s center court to remove the large Indians logo.
An archived Baltimore Sun article reported on the community’s reaction after the new mascot was announced. “This month, the mandate from Montgomery’s school board that Poolesville abandon its long-treasured Indian nickname finally hit home for the community and the students with the announcement of a new nickname, beginning with the 2002-2003 school year. The switch to ‘Falcons’ will cost at least $80,000.”
The newspaper also quoted Principal Levine, who acknowledged how emotional the transition had been. “It’s been a very emotional time for a lot of students and people in the community, because this is a place where you have two and three generations who are all graduates of Poolesville,” Levine said. “I think the students have shown a remarkable level of maturity, … and by next fall we’ll be ready to become the Falcons.”
With the Board’s decision final, students were tasked with selecting the school’s new identity. In December 2001, the student body voted to adopt the Falcons as Poolesville High School’s new mascot while keeping the school’s traditional black and gold colors. Over the following months, new uniforms, signage and branding replaced the former Indians imagery across campus.
When students returned for the 2002-2003 school year, Poolesville High School officially opened as the Falcons, bringing to a close one of the most memorable and widely debated mascot changes in Montgomery County Public Schools history.
