Compiled by Jacob Golomb ’16

1883

THE FOUNDING OF SHERWOOD:

We begin our journey in a small, wooded area in the predominantly Quaker community of Sandy Spring. Tucked within these trees was a large farm owned by Miss Mary Roberts. The Roberts’ called this the “Sherwood Farm” due to the resemblance to the Sherwood Forest in the tale of Robin Hood. The community, looking to support the welfare and education of the children, decided to start a school for the children of Sandy Spring. Roberts, owning plenty of land, sold a large portion of her farm to start the school. As part of her death wish, she asked the school be named after her beloved farm. The original school building, costing $2,300, opened as the Sherwood Academy (also known as the Sherwood Friends School) in 1883, enrolling a total of 50 students taught by two teachers. After a nationwide search, J. Llewellyn Massey, who happened to be a local teacher, was hired as the first principal of the new, private, and Quaker Sherwood Academy.

1883-1905

SHERWOOD AS A PRIVATE SCHOOL:

If you have $100 to spare, you can pay Sherwood Academy’s tuition and continue into the school. The original school satisfied the community’s needs to educate the local children. Students began at the Academy in 7th grade and continued at the school through their senior year, which at the time was 11th grade. Though the school had an obviously rural location, students did have opportunities to see nearby attractions. On one such occasion in May 1994, Mr. Harry Spofford took 33 Sherwood students on a field trip to Washington DC, where he presented them to President Grover Cleveland. The next year, enrollment at the Sherwood Academy dropped to 36, followed by an all-time low of 14 in 1896 due to so many students choosing to go to the nearby George School instead. Though small and beginning to fail, Sherwood Academy still remained a central part of the Sandy Spring community, hosting the community’s first May Day celebration on May 20, 1899 as well as Farmer’s Conventions for the community. It was also during this time that teacher Elizabeth Thom wrote Sherwood’s alma mater, “Among the Leafy Branches.”

1905

SHERWOOD BECOMES PUBLIC:

By the early 20th century, the Quaker school’s financial troubles made supporting the Sherwood Academy unrealistic. The Sandy Spring community, still traditionally Quaker, opposed the idea of making Sherwood public, but in 1905 it became apparent there was no other choice. The next year, the school was loaned to the county for a year to test the feasibility of a public school in its place. It has been public ever since.

The first year of the public Sherwood High School we know today consisted of around four staff and 100 students. Since there was only one high school in Howard County, some students from places such as Highland and the Patuxent River area attended Sherwood. A student from Highland ran to Sherwood every morning, which led to his successful running career at College Park. A child who was the only Sherwood student in his or her household came to school on horseback. Once at school, students could park their horse in the sheds in the back of the school (where they were fed corn at lunch) for an annual parking permit fee of $1. Students with siblings would typically ride to school by horse and buggy or carriage, taking up to an hour to arrive at Sherwood from Brookeville.

1905-1915

SHERWOOD HIGH SCHOOL EARLY YEARS:

After arriving to school on horseback or carriage, students went to morning exercises—a daily assembly consisting of musical performances, debates, and a roll call to which each student responded with a quote (a practice carried over from the private school). Students then would go to their individual classrooms; 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade in a small building in the back was taught by Mrs. Brooke, 4th and 5th grade in the gymnasium taught by Ms. Isobel Stabler, 9th and 10th grades in a room leftover from the Friends’ School taught by a the young, new teacher Mr. Whiteford. These teachers were paid an annual salary of only $300.

In 1909, they noticed another need for more space for the students. The construction of a larger schoolhouse began and they stored a large pile of lumber on the playground on which children would play and eat lunch. Later that year, this pile of lumber was made into a new two-story school building. When school reopened in 1910, the building was not yet ready to open, so for the first few months classes were scattered in the older schoolhouses on campus and even nearby homes in Sandy Spring. Even though the new school was built by the county, there was no road from the Turnpike (108) to the front of the school. Principal Charles G. Myers put the high school boys to work, having them construct the path from the Turnpike to the front.

1915-1940

SHERWOOD BETWEEN WARS:

The 1920s saw various modern updates and expansions to the school. A major addition was built in 1923, adding both more classrooms and a large assembly room with lights. Also introduced in 1923 was Sherwood’s first school bus. In the previous years, the county paid seniors $2.50 per student they picked up in their cars. Due to large enrollment increases, four new grammar school rooms were added in 1929, leaving the old building for the high school.

A completely new building for the elementary school was built on campus in 1935. The elementary school began the day with their own set of morning exercises, where students would sing “Among the Leafy Branches,” recite the Lord’s Prayer, and read Bible verses.

Once students reached 7th grade, they advanced to high school. Sherwood had two tracks the new high school students could choose from: commercial or academic. The commercial route was intended for students wishing to go into vocational or secretarial work, offering courses such as typing, shorthand, and home economics. The academic route, on the other hand, included courses such as English, Latin, French, Spanish, history, and sciences. Students also participated in various extracurricular activities, the biggest ones being Future Farmers of America, debate, newspaper and yearbook, glee club, and band.

As the 1930s came to an end and war clouds loomed above, many recent Sherwood graduates found themselves putting on army uniforms and, for many of these boys, meeting their deaths. During the war, current Sherwood students participated in various war-effort projects, collecting scrap metal and newspaper to support their brothers at war.