Walt Whitman High School is a public high school in Bethesda, Maryland, United States. It honors American poet Walt Whitman. The school serves grades 9-12 for the Montgomery County Public Schools. In 2022, U.S. News & World Report ranked the school as the best high school in Maryland, #104 nationwide, and #1 in Montgomery County Public Schools High Schools. History The school opened in the fall of 1962 with 1,418 students. Designed by local architectural firm McLeod, Ferrara & Ensign, it was built on 17 levels, with a central courtyard and a geodesic dome for its gymnasium. A Ford Foundation grant underwrote the design and construction of the dome. In 1981, the school added a 1,176-seat auditorium. In 1992, the school demolished the geodesic dome and all other buildings except the auditorium, and constructed a new school building, which opened in the fall of 1993. In 2021, the school completed a addition, including 18 new classrooms, which opened in the fall of 2021. Extracurricular activities The school has an active FIRST Robotics Competition team. Publications The Black & White is the school's student-run newspaper. The National Scholastic Press Association Hall of Fame inducted the paper in 1991. Whitman is also notable for having the country's only student-run psychology journal. The journal circulates to over 1,000 psych teachers around the country. Athletics Whitman fields sports teams in the fall, winter, and spring. The school competes as the Vikings and is part of Montgomery County public school sports. The football field is named after long-time principal Jerome Marco. The school has won 11 soccer state championships, including two back-to-back titles in 2018-2019. In 2021, the girls' soccer team won the state championship. In 2006, the boys' team defeated Eleanor Roosevelt 39-38 to win the school's only state title. That season, Whitman leading scorer Michael Gruner was named co-gazette player of the year alongside NBA superstar Kevin Durant. The boys' tennis team has also won state titles in 2009, 2014, and 2019. The girls' basketball team won the state title in 2016, their second overall. Notable alumni Yasmeen Abutaleb, journalist and New York Times best-selling author Chris Anderson, journalist Chris Bliss, juggler/comedian Andrea Carroll, operatic soprano Alex Chappell, journalist Kahane Cooperman, filmmaker Anthony Dilweg, National Football League (NFL) quarterback David Dobkin, director Michael Dunn, NFL offensive lineman Susan Dynner, filmmaker Michael Eisen, biologist Andrew Feinberg, journalist Debra Granik, filmmaker Mark Halperin, journalist Pamela