About Us

    Nestled in the mountains of Western Maryland and located off Interstate 68 on the outskirts of Frostburg, Maryland, Mountain Ridge High School opened its doors to students for the beginning of its third school year on August 26, 2009.  In the two years of its history, Mountain Ridge has seen 557 graduates pass through the doors of our new, state-of-the-art school into their futures.  The experiences and training they received at Mountain Ridge hopefully helped to prepare them to be successful in all they chose to pursue.  At Mountain Ridge the students are actively involved in the four A’s: Academics, Arts, Athletics and Activities.
      Academics is the first priority at Mountain Ridge.  From ninth grade to senior classes, students are advised by the guidance counselors, Mrs. Marcia Smith and Mr. Stan Eisel, about class schedules and credits needed for graduation.  Every senior also has an exit interview with Mrs. Smith to make sure everything is in order for graduation and for pursuing admittance into college and scholarships.  Honors and merit classes are provided in each content area to provide challenging curricula for students. Advanced Placement classes are also provided in Biology, Calculus, Psychology, U.S. History, Environmental Science, Human Geography, Literature and Language.   Other classes such as Consumer Education, Food Prep, Child Care, business classes and a variety of construction classes help the students develop necessary skills to be independent and productive citizens when they leave high school.  Journalism classes in yearbook and newspaper production as well as the web staff help to provide students, parents and the school community with current and relevant information on a regular basis. 
The arts are also an important part of the learning environment at Mountain Ridge and classes in art, vocal music and instrumental music are offered.  Each year students participating in the drama department present a play in the fall and a musical production in the spring.  These presentations are a collaborative effort with many other content areas in the school such as the construction classes, band, and art classes.  In addition, members of the community are actively involved in our drama productions and musical programs.    In the fall of 2009 Miracle on 34th Street was presented under the direction of Ms. Michaela Linn.  Last spring the musical Pirates of Penzance was presented receiving rave reviews.    The Mountain Ridge Marching Band under the direction of Mr. David Kauffman was the smallest marching band selected to participate in this year’s Macy Day Parade on November 26. 
Although Mountain Ridge’s athletic history has been relatively short, we have already established a winning heritage that our students and faculty are certainly proud of today.  During the fall 2009 sports season, the Mountain Ridge boys’ and girls’ soccer teams both achieved great respect in the state by making it to the semifinals for both teams.  The girls’ team was especially proud of their undefeated regular season and their regional win over Boonsboro High School.  The cross-county team was also very successful this fall and made the state finals with several students placing in the state competitions.  The volleyball team enjoyed great success during their fall season and made a bid for the playoffs as well.
However, perhaps one of the most outstanding characteristics of Mountain Ridge High School is the willingness of the students to apply the information and knowledge they have learned in their classes to improve the world around them.  Several organizations, such as the Envirothon Team and the Environmental Concerns Organization (ECO), have spent many hours outside of class working to improve the environment in our school and in our communities.  The members of the Envirothon Team meet regularly to prepare for competition at Rocky Gap in the spring against the other area high schools. There are five areas of focus for this competition: forestry, aquatics, soil, wildlife and biodiversity.  
ECO has also been very productive in implementing programs at our school and the community for environmental improvement.  Bins for plastic recycling have been set up as well as opportunities for recycling electronic devices and batteries.  Energy conservation has been encouraged in all of the classrooms in our school and paper recycling is conducted in every classroom on a regular basis. The members of this organization also planned and conducted a major tree planting project last spring to help beautify the area surrounding the school.  This group also takes an annual trip to the Chesapeake Bay to learn more about conservation and ways to improve the environment. 
Other organizations such as the National Honor Society, Students Helping Other People and Student Council have worked to support programs such as Toys for Happiness, food drives, UNICEF  Trick or Treating collection, and other community projects.  The SHOP group is also working this year to sponsor two families for Christmas to make sure these children have gifts for the holidays. 
Although Mountain Ridge High School has only been in existence for three years, there is a definite pride and honor that students feel about this unique and special place of learning.  It is shown in the way they study and prepare for the future, the way they participate and strive for excellence, and in the way they apply what they have learned to improve the world around them.  Pride surrounds Mountain Ridge High School.