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Digital Harbor High School
1100 Covington Street, 21230; 443.984.1256
Charter/zoned school: Citywide school
Grades served: 9–12
Application process and deadlines: School lottery
Uniform: The Digital Harbor uniform consists of khaki pants and a light blue or while polo shirt, which bears the school logo. All ninth graders must wear a light blue shirt. Uniform shirts are available through Stitchin' Embroidery LLC and at our school store.
Brief school history: The high school reform effort in the Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) began with Digital Harbor High School in 2000 when Chief Executive Officer Carmen Russo vowed to create an innovative high school for computer studies located in downtown Baltimore. Southern High School was chosen as the site of the new school for two reasons: need and location. Southern was a troubled school with a lack of focus, disorder, and a low graduation rate. Second, the building was in a prime location, overlooking the Inner Harbor in historic Federal Hill, a community undergoing revitalization.
A blue-ribbon planning committee was convened to develop plans for a total building renovation and total academic and technical program improvement. A multimillion dollar renovation project using Maryland capital improvement funds was undertaken over a five-year period. The building was transformed into a state-of-the-art learning facility for computer studies unlike any school in the state and rivaling most in the nation. Four career and technology pathways were created: Programming, Networking, Information Support & Services, and Interactive Video & Media. A rigorous academic program in English, mathematics, science, health, social studies, physical education, fine arts, and world languages was defined. Well-qualified, creative, and committed teachers and administrators were recruited. Michael Pitroff, former supervisor of technology for BCPSS, was appointed principal and under his leadership, Digital Harbor High School was born.
Digital Harbor High School is a school of choice, open to interested students from throughout Baltimore City. Students are chosen by lottery. The school opened in September 2002 with ninth grade and grew by one grade per year with the first class graduating June 2006. The class of 2008 distinguished itself with a 100% college acceptance rate and by earning over 1.7 million dollars in scholarships and awards. In June the graduation rate was 91%.
School Leadership
Principal: Brian Eyer
Mr. Eyer earned a master’s degree in education from Cleveland State University in curriculum and instruction. He taught science for seven years in Harrisburg City Schools in Pennsylvania. He was an assistant principal for seven years in Harrisburg City Schools and six in Bucks County School District in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. This is Mr. Eyer’s fourth year as principal at Digital Harbor High School. Mr. Eyer’s personal philosophy is a belief in professional learning communities, which look at problems and successes together and determine the path towards achievement for our students.
Vice Principals:
Dr. Andrea Bowden: Ninth-grade administrator
Mr. Skip Clark: Eleventh-grade administrator
Dr. Demetria Newsome: Twelfth-grade administrator
Resident Principal:
Ms. Shannon Mobley: Tenth-grade administrator
Academics
Curriculum: All students enrolled in Digital Harbor High School will receive a CTE completers certificate and a high school diploma upon successful completion of the Digital Harbor rigorous CTE/academic courses that each student is required to take. For graduation at Digital Harbor students are required to earn credit in a higher level math class, earn an extra credit in science, and pass six credit hours of a CTE pathway class. We offer AP courses and have a demanding honors program.
Supplemental instruction: We offer elective courses in music composition, art, foreign language, including Spanish and French, and journalism. Students in these classes meet every day.
ESOL (English as a second language): We provide ESOL services for our students who require this program. Our ESOL teacher is actively involved with co-planning with other teachers to accommodate the learning needs of all of our students.
Special education: Digital is a full inclusion school, and 98% of our special education population is fully included in general instruction. Our special educators work in co-planning and co-teaching to meet the needs all of our students.
Test Scores
Digital Harbor High School met Adequate Yearly Progress in all categories for the 2008 school year. More specifics on scores including the High School Assessments are available here.
Enrichment Activities
Gifted/talented programs: AP and honors programs
Tutoring: All teachers have coach class and we offer a Saturday school program
After-school clubs:
· Anime
· Architecture, Engineering, and Construction/ACE
· Art Club
· Cheerleading
· Chess Club
· Choir/Chorus
· Computer Gaming Club
· Crew Team
· Debate Team
· Digital Songwriters Guild
· Drama/Theater Club
· Environmental Club
· Equestrian Cub
· Fashion Club
· International Club
· It’s Academic
· JAVA Programming
· Literary Magazine
· Martial Arts for Males
· MESA & Mathletes
· Music Entrepreneurs
· National Honor Society
· Newspaper/Digital Desktop
· NFTE Entrepreneurship Club
· Peer Mediators
· RAMdom Access School Store
· Robotics Club
· Sailing Club
· Spirit/Mascot
· Student Government
· Yearbook (The Compass)
Teaching Staff and Classroom Management
Student-teacher ratio: 26:1
Teaching staff: The majority of the staff at Digital Harbor High School have five or more years of teaching experience, although it is a fairly young staff. The focus of instruction is through professional learning communities and all teachers are committed to the technology instruction and use technology in their classes. The faculty, from diverse backgrounds in the public and private sector, is exceptionally well educated, talented, and committed. Many have entered education from non-traditional routes and are still working on certification. Most of the technology teachers came from the computer and associated industries.
Student Population
Number of students: 860
Ethnic breakdown: 74.65% African American, 19.41% Caucasian/white, 4.53% Hispanic, 0.69% American Indian, 0.69% Asian
Percentage on free/reduced lunch: 52.4%
Percentage of ESOL students: 2.2%
Percentage with Individual Education Plans (IEP): 13.13%
More information on student demographics is available here.
Parent Involvement
Parent group name: PTSO
Parent group contact: Ms. Woodard
School philosophy on parent involvement: As a school we believe that parent involvement is important to the success of all students.
Number of active members: 20–30
Number of times group meets per year: 20
Description of activities: The athletic Booster Club was formed to help athletic program. The Parent Involvement Group was formed to help in improvement with the School Improvement Plan and Team to help with school safety and climate. The PTSO is our parent organization.
Facility Description
The beautiful building, which opened in 2002, underwent a multi-million dollar renovation to support high-tech programs. Digital Harbor is a first among Baltimore City Schools, with millions of dollars in equipment devoted to modernizing all of the classrooms and the adding of Wi-Fi and wired Internet access all over the school.
The majority of the desktop computers come from Dell with Windows XP Professional, and IBM ThinkPad laptops, although the media department has some Macintosh computers as well.
All three floors have new pathway offices designed with the school colors.