Winston Churchill High School, often referred to as WCHS, Churchill High School, CHS or Churchill, is a high school in Potomac, Maryland, United States, an unincorporated section of Montgomery County.
The school is named after Winston Churchill, a British statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during World War II. Founded in 1964 as Potomac High School, the school's name was changed to "Winston Churchill High School" a year later.
Churchill is part of the Montgomery County Public Schools system. The majority of the students come from Herbert Hoover Middle School (75%) and Cabin John Middle School (25%).
Administration
The current principal of Winston Churchill High School is John W. Taylor. Before being appointed in 2021, Taylor was the principal of Cabin John Middle School
School awards and recognition
Churchill has been ranked in the top 100 high schools in the United States for years, climbing to 42 in 2007 and 75 in 2017. Churchill earned the 2007 Maryland Blue Ribbon Award and was selected by the U.S. Department of Education as a 2007 National No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School. In 2012, Churchill was rated the best high school in Maryland and fifth among non-magnet schools nationally according to U.S. News & World Report. In 2016, the same report ranked Winston Churchill High School 94th in national ranking, 2nd in Maryland High Schools and 146th in STEM High Schools with 83.9 (out of 100) College Readiness Index. In 2017, Churchill was ranked the best high school in Maryland and 75th in the nation by U.S. News.
Departments and programs
Churchill has nine academic departments: Art, Computer Science, English, Foreign Language, Mathematics, Performing Arts, Physical Education, Science, and Social Studies.
Autism Program
The Autism Program provides a program for students with low-functioning autism. These students learn how to improve their skills at undertaking certain tasks and also learn speech.
Signature Program
The Signature Program allows students to follow one of several course paths to specialize in a particular career field. The program comprises three academies: the Academy of Math, Science, & Technology; the Academy of International Studies; and the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts.
Bridge Program
The Bridge Program provides a program for adolescents and young adults with learning/emotional disabilities. The program intends to foster academic skill development and alter behaviors that interfere with academic learning. It is supervised by an interdisciplinary team intended to meet the needs of socially vulnerable middle and high school students who may be challenged by problem-solving abstract thinking, organizing and planning, interpreting social cues, establishing relationships with peers, coping with anxiety, changes in routine, and transitioning.
Performing arts
Many theater productions are put on regularly, including a night of one act plays. The One Acts Festival is student-produced, directed, and funded by the drama club. Churchill also has a choir program. Showstoppers is a mixed-gender show choir group, while Jazz Ambassadors is a mixed-gender choir. Both groups regularly compete within Montgomery County, regionally, and nationally. Churchill also hosts an annual show choir competition.
Churchill's choral music groups are Voice of a Generation (VOAG), Jazz Ambassadors, and Showstoppers.
Voice of a Generation is a non-audition group for students who like to sing and learn about the study of music. Students learn to sight-read, read music, and improve their performance skills.
Jazz Ambassadors is a coed ensemble selected through auditions, focusing on developing vocal technique. Most songs are challenging jazz music, but this is often stretched to arrangements of different kinds of music like pop or classical.
Showstoppers is an honors show choir group of students selected through auditions who previously held choir positions at Churchill. This group features musically challenging music. Most music is popular, but any musical style, including sacred and secular works, is rehearsed and performed.
In 2007, Churchill's fall production of Singin' in the Rain was nominated for six Cappies High School Theater Awards, winning Best Orchestra (for the third consecutive year), Best Cameo Actor, and Best Cameo Actress. Only one other school received more awards.