2013 will mark Perry Hall High School’s fiftieth anniversary. The original location was what is now Perry Hall Middle School. When that place became too crowded, the school system constructed the current high school down Ebenezer Road and converted the first building into a junior high school.
I am very proud to have graduated from Perry Hall High School, and am actually the first alumnus to serve on the Baltimore County Council. Today, I went back to be interviewed for a documentary that will be unveiled at a banquet in 2013.
My years at Perry Hall High School were a half a lifetime ago, not only for me but almost a half-lifetime in the history of the school. In 1987, when I entered PHHS, our community was in the middle of a housing boom. Farms were being plowed under for new housing developments, and plans were underway for new highways like Honeygo Boulevard that would shuttle cars to White Marsh Mall, then only six years old. The mall was the hangout for teenagers on Friday and Saturday nights. The closest movies were at Golden Ring Mall.
My memories of high school are of cross-country competitions and marching band trips, It’s Academic outings and Homecoming parades. Perry Hall High School has always been a big school, and its population then was about 1,800 students (500 less than today). But despite the size, there was a feeling of pride and togetherness that drew the school and community together.
Today’s principal, George Roberts, has brought back the history and traditions that were largely ignored by previous administrators. I am very happy he and Assistant Principal Steve Arnold are heading up an anniversary committee. Several events are currently being planned. If you are interested, stop by the meeting on Monday, February 27 at 6:30 p.m. in the high school library.