The address of Robert E. Peary High School was 13300 Arctic Ave., Aspen Hill, MD. Due mostly to dwindling enrollment, it closed in 1984 after opening in the 1960s. Its memories are preserved via a Facebook page with more than 4,000 members.
The sixth graders at Aspen Hill Elementary School gave the school its name during the 1959–1960 academic year. The students looked into well-known people and topics related to the Arctic because the high school was situated on Arctic Avenue. With approval from Robert E. Peary’s family, they decided to name it after the well-known Arctic explorer. In September 1960, Peary High School formally opened for business. The Class of 1963, who enrolled as sophomores when the school initially opened, was the inaugural graduating class.
The school’s seal showed Commander Peary leading a group of huskies around the world on a globe topped by Polaris, the North Star. The years 1909 (when the North Pole was discovered) and 1960 (when schools opened) were listed beneath them. Marie Peary Stafford and Robert E. Peary, Jr., Peary’s daughter and son, gave the school a sledge (like the ones Peary used) on November 23, 1964. On April 6, 1963, the Senior Class of 1963 dedicated two anchors that represented Admiral Peary’s unwavering resolve and will.
Additionally, the school had a pipe band that started at Peary in 1961 and kept playing even after the school closed. In 1984, Peary High School was closed by Montgomery County due to dwindling enrollment. Some of its pupils were accepted into other schools that were already in existence, most notably Rockville High School, when it closed.
The structure remained empty and dilapidated for more than ten years following the school’s closure in 1984. A lease with the Hebrew Academy of Greater Washington (formerly the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy) was negotiated in 1996. After renovations, the Berman Hebrew Academy debuted in the fall of 1999. In 2010, it fully took over the former Robert E. Peary High School.
The 50th reunion of Peary High School is quickly coming and will begin on Friday, June 27 with an icebreaker at Stained Glass Pub in Silver Spring at 6:00 pm after a golf outing at Hampshire Greens Golf Course at 8:30 am. Rabbi Uri Topolosky will lead a tour of the former Peary High School on Saturday, June 28 from noon to 1 pm at the Berman Hebrew Academy in Rockville. From 6:00 to 10:00 p.m., the program will conclude with celebrations at the Argyle Country Club.
