School Profile
At the dawn of the 21st century, John F. Kennedy High School reinvented itself as an academy high school of choice – a transformation in the foundation of public schooling. Every student at JFKHS is here because they chose to be here – through the choice process of the Down County Consortium. Once they arrive, JFK students have an array of award-winning academies and smaller learning community programs, such as the Leadership Training Institute, the Cambridge Program, the Tri-M Academy, the MediaCom Academy, and the NJROTC Program, that maximize the high school experience. Today, JFK high school’s student body is reflective of over 80 different countries of origin.
The new JFK is committed to school-wide excellence. Our students and their families understand the value of education, and hard work. According to Newsweek magazine, Kennedy students embark on a course of study that is more rigorous than 96% of the 27,000 high schools in America. Over 60% of our students are enrolled in Honors, Advanced Placement or British A Level courses. Our top graduates are among the best in the country. Almost 10% of this year’s graduating seniors were honored as members of the National Honor Society. One main goal of the JFKHS Educational Foundation is to spread this academic achievement to every Kennedy student, and we now have the people and programs in place to do it.
But our students are not wealthy. MCPS data show that almost 70% of JFK students have, or had at one time, family incomes so low that they qualified for federally-subsidized school meals. Our students and staff have been overcoming the challenges of low resources on their own for too long. It is time for the Kennedy community to step up with some real support.