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The original school building was located on Winters Lane. This building was improved from a wooden building in 1898. Approximately 200 students in grades 1-9 attended this building. The building contained a small library and twelve classrooms. Overcrowding was a serious issue. Originally it was heated by coal and students would complain that they had to open the windows in the winter to let out the smoke from the furnace. |
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This is the oldest photograph of a CHS sports team. Because the
school lacked both a gym and outside playground , there is no record that
this team ever played a team from another high school.
The earliest recorded game between CHS and another school according to The Argus is when CHS's baseball team defeated Mount Saint Joseph's team in 1908. |
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First Graduating Class, 1905 In 1903, CHS decided to add a tenth grade to the school so it could meet the new state requirements for high schools. In June of 1905, five students met these requirements and received diplomas in a ceremony which took place at St. Timothy's Church. Katherine Ball, standing in the back row on the far right, was the first student to receive a CHS diploma. She later married Frederick Grim and worked in Grim's Bakery on Frederick Road for many years. |
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During this time period female students wore white dresses during the graduation ceremonies. The unofficial school uniform for female students during this time was an outfit simply called the 'midi'. Boys frequently wore knickers. |
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Edward G. Comegys Catonsville High School's first principal was Edward G. Comegys who served until Christmas, 1912. |
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No photographs exist of the interior of the Winters Lane school while it was CHS. This is a photograph of the interior of a classroom at nearby Relay School in 1910 which depicts a classroom that was probably typical of what a classroom at CHS Winters Lane looked like. |
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In 1910 , CHS moved from its cramped quarters on Winters Lane to a $40,000 state of the art building on Frederick Avenue, just east of Bloomsbury Avenue. The building contained a gymnasium, physics classroom, and outdoor fields including a large track. |
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Classroom After the state mandated that boys be taught manual arts , the new school designed a special classroom for just that purpose. |
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New Yearbook In 1914, the June Bug replaced the Blue & Gold as CHS’s yearbook. The Blue & Gold was a literary publication which was published twice a year. Hazel Coe, by virtue of her last name, was the first CHS student to be depicted in a yearbook. The following poem appeared next to her picture: A shining star in every class, Is little Hazel Coe, But in the art of history She couldn’t know no moe.
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First State Championship This is the first CHS sports team to win a state championship. Our 1918 soccer team defeated Salisbury 4 to 1 to capture the state crown.
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The Class of 1918 |
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Bloomsbury Road In 1925 the high school moved to the Bloomsbury Avenue location after the Board of Education purchased the property from the Catonsville Country Club. Students were immediately impressed with the wide hallways and bright classrooms.
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The Casino One of the unique features of the new school on Bloomsbury Avenue was a building called the ‘casino’ which remained from the Country Club. On the top floor were the rooms which served as the principal’s residence. The bottom floor housed the cafeteria.
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Charlotte Armstrong Charlotte Armstrong was the first student to graduate off the stage at the new Bloomsbury school in June, 1925. She remembers making her white graduation dress in Home Economics class for the ceremony. When CHS held it Centennial Celebration in October,2003, she was the oldest graduate in attendance. The photo on the far left is taken from the 1925 yearbook. |
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Girl's Win First County Championship Rebecca Rich, holding the ball, captained the girls’ basketball team all the way to the county championship.
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The 1927 Orchestra |
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The First School Newspaper The first school newspaper, the Catonian, came into existence in 1929.
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First Basketball State Championship This is Frank Strude. Frank set a state record when he scored 28 points to lead Catonsville to its first state basketball championship.
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First Lacrosse Team, 1929 |
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William “Pete” Boggs, a long time physical education teacher at
CHS, is credited with designing the school shield introduced in 1929. On
the shield the chevron is divided into three parts, which represent
intellect, physical well being, and social contacts. The four stars
represent the four years of high school; the roses represent friendship;
the arrows represent the teaching staff and the gryphon, a medieval
dragon, is symbolic of wisdom.
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Wings Added In 1930 two wings were added to the Bloomsbury Avenue school that increased the number of classrooms for CHS’s growing population. |
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The Dance Orchestra The Dance Orchestra would play every Friday at noon on the floor of
the gym. Most of the time the
girls danced and the guys watched.
The group usually contained six members, three of whom played the
saxophone.
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First Field Hockey Team |
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First Student Council, 1931 |
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The Triangle Club, 1931 Almost the forefather of the National Honor Society, this organization was open to membership of boys who were expected to perform service for the betterment of the school. This group might host a dinner for students to raise money for a worthwhile cause or charity. |
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The Drama Club Begins, 1931 |
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The Double Octet, 1931 This intramural group was made up of 16 singers- four altos. bass, tenors and sopranos. |
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Classroom Scene Emory Horvaith uses the chalkboard to explain how plants get their food. Chalkboard sketches were an important way to transmit information . |
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Gun Club The 1940’s saw a marked increase in the number of clubs that were available for students to join. At one point there was well over fifty of them. the Gun Club that seemed to be popular with boys
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The Ultimate Sacrifice Forty five students from CHS gave their lives in World War II and were memorialized on the plaque “Roll of Honor” which hung at the Bloomsbury school. Today a memorial to these students can be found in the front lobby of our main building.
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Dance Lessons |
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Report Card , 1944 William Wolfel's report card from 1944. Students were given checks instead of letter grade. At the bottom of the report card William wrote that he was interested in a career as a medical doctor. He continued his study after CHS and eventually became a doctor.
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Dismissal at 3 p.m. |
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Graduation Tickets In 1949 the graduation ceremony was held at the Lyric Theatre in downtown Baltimore.
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Construction Begins After purchasing the Lurman estate, construction began on the new school building in 1953. |
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New School Opens September, 1954 |
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New Nickname! The first use of the term "Comets" to describe CHS sports teams came during the 1954-55 basketball season. Before this the Catonsville sports teams were referred to as the Catonites! |
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The first African American students arrived at CHS
during the 1955-56 school year as sophomores. These students came to CHS
from Banneker School off Winters Lane. Mary Louise Anderson become first African American to graduate from
CHS in 1957. Brenda Brown, Barbara Fields, and Marion Jones also graduated that
year.
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Chewing Gum Bust |
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Automotive Shop |
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The Dairy Cottage was a favorite place for CHS students to hangout. |
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The Bunny Hop |
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Flash Beginning in the late fifties and continuing on and off through the seventies it was customary for one person to act as a mascot for CHS at various sporting events. Harry Culbertson was the first to play this role. Here he is shown with the cheerleading squad.
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Overcrowding The early sixties
marked a time of tremendous overcrowding at CHS. The school was stretched
beyond its limits as tried to accommodate the “Baby Boom” generation. One
step the school took was to go on shifts.
Homerooms were held in the auditorium and study halls were placed in the cafeteria to deal with the large number of students.
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The Marching Band After receiving their new uniforms in the early sixties. The
marching played at school assemblies, pep rallies and home basketball
games. In 1960 they performed for Eleanor Roosevelt at the United Nations
Festival. And in the
seventies , played with the Colts at Memorial Stadium during halftime.
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Language Labs
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Football Returns, 1966 After an absence of
several years as a county sport, varsity football returned to CHS in 1966.
This is our first team which broke even with 2 wins and 2 losses that
first year.
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Fashion Statement 1969 marked a
turning point in female fashions at CHS. For the first time girls were
allowed to wear pants to school. Sandy Tacka is shown modeling her outfit
in the Spring of that year. Soon afterwards in the early 70’s social
studies teacher Margaret Brauer became the first female staff member to
wear pants.
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Spirit Week |
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Senior Day |
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Girls' Lacrosse,
1971
The girl’s lacrosse team made its first appearance at CHS and finished out the season with a 2 and 4 record. Cathy Moylan scored 22 of the Comettes 42 goals during the season
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The seventies marked a time where more advanced courses were added
to the curriculum. AP Calculus began in 1970. Many departments added
electives .
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In 1976 the Ellipsis replaced the Gargoyle as the
school’s literary magazine.
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Howard "Buck " Griffin Teacher & Coach 1932-1976 One of the truly legendary figures in CHS sports, baseball coach
Buck Griffin retired after teaching forty-four years at Catonsville. he
began his teaching and coaching career here at CHS after playing
professionally for the Boston Red Sox for one year. Following that year he
took his father’s advice to get a better paying job and thus he became a
science teacher. Apparently teachers made higher salaries than
professional baseball players. At one point in his coaching career, Coach
Griffin’s teams won eleven straight county championships and seventeen
titles overall . During the
summers, he operated a restaurant in Ocean City which was later purchased
by Phillips. Boys from the high school often were able to get summer jobs
at the ocean in his restaurant. During his time as coach he sent more than
a dozen players on to play major league baseball.
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Senior Outing, 1974 |
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In 1974 the yearbook mentions the “It’s Academic” team for the first time. In their first match the team placed second ,losing to Western by just one question. The team reached the regional finals in 2004.
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In 1971
Western Vocational Technical Center opened on nearby Kenwood Avenue. This
gave CHS students an opportunity to gain skills, work experience and
knowledge required for employment in a professional field. Students could
take courses in automotive services, cosmetology and data
processing.
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Girls cross country made its first appearance in 1976 and did quite well. They scored first in both the county and district championships and placed fourth in the state
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Ninth Grade Added To CHS As Baltimore County began its switch from junior high school to middle school , groups of ninth graders began to appear at CHS . This is a photo of a group of freshman from Arbutus who were the first to arrive in 1982.
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Volleyball Dynasty Beginning in 1980 the CHS volleyball team won its first of five consecutive state volleyball championships. That is a state record. CHS also won state championships in 1986 and 1987 for a total of 7 championships in eight years. |
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Girl's Soccer
Begins
Fielding a team of girls most of whom had never played before, the inaugural girl’s soccer team kicked its way to a 2 and 3 record in 1985 |
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Coed Gym Classes began in the 1980's |
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1st Night Game, 1985
Catonsville vs. Lansdowne at Towson State University. |
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Functional Tests One of the major innovations of the eighties was the state’s requirement that students pass a battery of functional tests in order to graduate from high school. The first of the tests to be administered was the Functional Writing Test in 1984. This was followed the next year by the Functional Citizenship Test and finally by the Functional Math Test in 1986. The content and teaching methods for these subjects were adjusted to better prepare our students to pass the test. |
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The Ultimate Comet served as the school's mascot in the early nineties. |
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Japan Trip, 1991 In November of 1991, three CHS students accompanied by two teachers traveled with a group of Marylanders to Japan. The purpose of the trip was to begin our relationship with our sister school, Iwato High School. The students stayed with their host families the first week and then viewed sites such as Mount Fugi and the Hiroshima Peace Park the second week. The following year the Japanese students visited Catonsville. As a remembrance they were given a memorial quilt which reflected student activities at CHS. In March 2004, Iwato students will again visit CHS as the exchange relationship continues into the 21st century.
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The Steel Drum Band made its original appearance during the 1991-92
school year. The original band is shown here in the inset. Over the years
both the band and its reputation has grown in size. Today the band is
recognized as the “goodwill ambassadors” of CHS and performs many Concerts
a year.
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Seven Sets of Siblings, 1994
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The first annual Edible Art Show appeared in 1995 and it has been a
tradition at CHS ever since. Participants in the show are encouraged to
make entries which are not only pleasing to look at but also pleasing to
the taste palette. Over sixty students, faculty and parents participated
in that first contest. Cafeteria manager Margaret Brinkley and student Vi
Luu took top awards. Here is an entry from the 2002 show which has long
since been digested.
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The first game played in Comet Park under the lights was the Boy’s Lacrosse team contest against Pikesville. The boys beat Pikesville 15-8.
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Valentine's Day Dance, 1996 |
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Last CHS State Championship Team Girl's Lacrosse, 1996 |
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Community Service Hours In 1997, the state instituted a graduation requirement that students perform 75 hours of community service. Some students decided to ‘get their hours’ by performing service within the school. Others decided to earn their hours by volunteering at places such as local churches, hospitals or even a craft fair. On the right are students who are serving food at their temple to fulfill their requirement.
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The Addition In August 1999 the four-story,
73,000 square foot Science and Technology Building includes an
18,000-volume media/computer center, eleven science classrooms, five
technical arts labs, and state-of-the art computer system. Construction
began March 9, 1998 on the 8 million dollar structure that houses approximately sixty percent of the
student body at any one time. The building opened August 26, 1999. The
lowest level also houses a fitness center.
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Renovation Also in 1999, funding became available to bring electrical and mechanical upgrades to the 1954 building. Data, voice, video networking as well as new lighting and ventilation systems were added. Renovations caused different parts of the main building to be closed off for periods of time. Students and staff members came to find creative methods to handle the disruptions that became everyday occurrences as stairways were closed and classrooms were moved. After the work was completed the main building would boast new electrical service, new ventilation units, new fore and sprinkler systems, a refurbished gym and modern data, voice and video networking.
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Three Generations of Comets Here, Jen Shelander (’01) center, poses with her mom Kathy on the left, (‘71) and her grandmother Ruth (’49). All attended Catonsville High School. |
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To boost school
spirit and recognize student achievement , the “Student of the Month “
program was initiated. Teachers nominate deserving students for the award
monthly. Student receive a certificate and pin which recognizes their
achievement. The criteria for the selection is left entirely up to the
teacher.
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The new building
had access to the Internet with over 400 computers capable of going
online. Each teacher was
given a computer workstation and the software which would help make
instruction more effective. Video stacks brought broadcasting capabilities
to each classroom.
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In 2004 Social Studies Department Chairperson Geri Hastings was selected as the National Council of Social Studies Secondary Teacher of the Year. She gave a presentation at the organization's national conference entitled, " If It Doesn't Kill You It Will Make You Stronger" which is a phrase a student used to describe her course. |
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Approximately 24,000 students have now graduated from Catonsville High School. |
