South Hagerstown Media

08/21/2026

South End families, join us for dinner!

Come out Monday, August 24 from 4–7pm for a free community dinner and an evening of family fun right here in the South End! Enjoy a catered dinner to-go from Juniper Cafe at Bester Elementary School, then head over to Hager Haven and Hager Highway for mini golf, scooters, games, activities, and more.

We are excited to bring our South End neighbors together for an evening of food, fun, and community. We hope to see you there!

08/20/2026

The Class of 2030 has arrived!

08/20/2026

Tomorrow is Link Crew Day! See the post below to find where freshmen students should be picked up and dropped off if driven to school. Bus routes can be found on the WCPS website.

On Thursday, August 20, South Hagerstown High School will welcome the Class of 2030 for our annual Link Crew orientation day! This event is for students only. Adults can explore South High with their student at our open house that evening between 6pm and 7pm.

Link Crew Day is not mandatory, but it highly encouraged to help ensure our incoming freshmen have a smooth transition to high school and have a head start going into the first day of the year the following Tuesday.

Transportation is provided on Link Crew day by the bus your student will ride during the school year. Bus routes will be available on the WCPS website (https://www.wcpsmd.com) in the coming weeks. Once they are available, be sure to check the pick up time and bus stop location and arrive at the bus stop a few minutes early. Since buses will have a fraction of the students to pick up, the bus may come a little early that morning. If you are planning to drive your student to Link Crew day, please use only the Maryland Avenue entrance as labeled in the photo below. The Maryland Avenue side is used exclusively for car ride drop off and pick up. The South Potomac Street side is for bus traffic. After students arrive, Link Crew leaders (upperclassmen students) will be nearby to help them find their way to the gym.

Link Crew day will run from 9am-1pm. Lunch will be provided to students before they leave, however breakfast is not provided. Please be sure to eat breakfast before leaving in the morning.

Link Crew staff recommend freshman students leave backpacks at home and wear comfortable clothing. The day features a tour of the school, an opportunity to meet staff and learn about clubs, sports teams, programs and organizations offered at South High and participate in a number of activities throughout the day.

If you have any non-transportation questions about Link Crew day, you can contact advisors Mrs. Warrenfeltz or Mrs. Hayes during summer office hours (8am-4pm, Monday through Thursday).

Mrs. Warrenfeltz
301-766-8374 | [email protected]

Mrs. Hayes
[email protected]

08/19/2026

Today is National Aviation Day! Did you know, South High indirectly has a part in Hagerstown’s aviation history?

In the spring of 1917, Maryland Pressed Steel, whose factory was on nearby Pope Avenue in a building that still stands today, tasked Giuseppe Bellanca with designing a plane in hopes of winning a military contract during World War I. He designed the Bellanca CD and took it to Doub’s Meadows to perform test flights. The plot of farmland known as Doub’s Meadows would be developed 40 years later into what is now school campuses, beginning with South Hagerstown High School.

Bellanca demonstrated his plane in Towson in August, 1918, and developed the CD’s successor, the CE. A fuselage of the CE is on display at the Hagerstown Aviation Museum in addition to additional information about Bellanca’s test flights.

Although the war ended three months after the Towson demo leading to neither plane design winning a contract, Maryland Pressed Steel continued building planes until 1920 when a shortage of engines imported from France halted production.

Giuseppe Bellanca went on to establish Bellanca Aircraft in 1927. Although they do not currently build new planes, they do still operate a maintenance facility in Oklahoma.

This photo is of one of the test planes sitting on what is now the area of the softball field on campus. Doub’s Woods can be seen in the background. The school currently sits in the area of the cornstalks between the woods and the plane. It appears the plane is facing the direction of where School Stadium and the South End Shopping Center are.

08/17/2026

Staff are currently out in the community for our block party! Stop by one of the six locations on this flyer, have some snacks, listen to music, play games and socialize with staff! Look for the green shirts and (for most locations) a canopy!

If you don’t catch us today, we will be at the USMH Plaza in downtown Hagerstown on Friday from 1-3pm!

08/13/2026

08/12/2026

IMPORTANT CHANGE TO TODAY, AUGUST 12!!! South High Gym Coordinators apologize for this inconvenience.

08/12/2026

Today is the first day of practices and tryouts for most of our fall sports teams. All athletes are required to be registered on Arbiter and have a current physical on file before being allowed to participate. You can find links to both on the original post below.

Additionally, here is some info for two more teams that was not included in this post:

- Due to a scheduling conflict with the gym being used for the county's new teacher professional development, the start time for volleyball tryouts on Wednesday have changed. Varsity tryouts will now be from 3-4:30pm. JV tryouts will be from 4:30-6pm. Tryout times for Thursday and Friday have not been affected at this time.

• Girls Flag Football will begin practice this evening from 5:15-6:45. They will continue through Friday at the same time. Players are to meet at the practice field between the tennis courts and softball field.

• Golf will begin practice on Monday, August 17 at The Greens at Hamilton Run beginning at 4pm.

The first allowed date of tryouts and practices for fall sports is less than a week away - August 12! Here is information about most of our fall teams. Teams that are listed on Wednesday but not the rest of the week usually do not make cuts and will practice at the same time and location (ex: cross country).

Before athletes can participate, they are required to be registered for that sport on Arbiter AND must have a current physical on file. Do not wait until the last minute to have both completed! Coaches will not allow athletes to participate if required paperwork is not completed.

Register on Arbiter: https://students.arbitersports.com/programs/south-hagerstown-high-school-athletic-registration-fall-2026
Printable physical form (English):https://www.mpssaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Physical-Examination-Form_REVISED_May_2024.pdf
Printable physical form (Spanish):https://www.mpssaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Physical-Examination-Form_REVISED_May_2024_Spanish.pdf

Here are a few other notes:
- Coach Burker of South Hagerstown Cheer has asked for tryout participants to wear a white shirt, black shorts, athletic sneakers, hair up and jewelry taken out.

- Girls Soccer's Coach Gillich says all players should bring a pair of soccer cleats to tryouts. Practices are held on the field between Emma K. Doub and South High.

- Boys Soccer tryouts will begin on Thursday, August 13 at E. Russell Hicks. All athletes should arrive at least 10 minutes early for check-in and should bring plenty of water. If the heat index requires the start time to be pushed back, it will begin 30-60 minutes later depending on WCPS guidelines for the day.

- Coach Welsh of South Hagerstown Cross Country says interested athletes can stay in the loop by joining the team Remind . Practices will begin every day by meeting at the picnic tables along the tennis courts.

- Coach Helman of South Hagerstown High School Volleyball says some athletes who attend the JV tryouts may be asked to tryout with varsity after day 1.

- Golf will begin practice on Monday, August 17.

- Unified tennis will begin practice after the school year begins. Stay tuned for updates.

- Information about girls flag football was not available at the time of this post. Once the information is received, this post will be updated.

Have questions? Here are emails for our fall head coaches.

- South Hagerstown Football: Juwuane Sandridge - [email protected]

- South Hagerstown Cheer: Jazminee Burker - [email protected]

- South Hagerstown Cross Country: Mady Welsh - [email protected]

- South Hagerstown High School Volleyball: Erin Helman - [email protected]

- Boys Soccer: Ahmed Youcef - [email protected]

- Girls Soccer: Matthew Gillich - [email protected]

- Golf: Brandon March - [email protected]

- Unified tennis: Tina Raum - [email protected]

08/11/2026

We are excited to announce the fall 2026 edition of the Maryland Cracker Barrel magazine is dedicated entirely to celebrating 70 years of history at South Hagerstown High School! This project has been in the works since last summer and will begin mailing to subscribers and being sold at local businesses next week.

This issue features dozens of photographs across seven decades from the archive collection, a letter of reflection from Class of 1957 president Jim Carnes, a feature story by Class of 2018 alum and current school archive curator Brayden Leather and even recipes from current athletic director and Class of 1988 alum Dwayne Freeman and Food Network chef and Class of 2002 alum Justin Warner!

The cover is green instead of the traditional fall burnt orange and the Maryland Cracker Barrel is edited and published by Suanne Kuhn Woodring from the Class of 1964.

This edition features as much of seven decades of history as possible. This magazine is the perfect kickoff to 70th anniversary celebrations scheduled for this fall!

You can find copies for sale at these business around Washington County after they arrive next week:
• Ernst Country Market - Dam #5 Road, Clear Spring
• Shawley’s Hardware Store - Rt. 68 east in St. James at the railroad tracks
• Sunny Meadows - 7437 Sharpsburg Pike, Boonsboro
• Earl’s Market - 15755 Pennsylvania Avenue, State Line, Pa. (Just north of Fort Richie and just south of Blue Ridge Summit)
• Bonnie’s at the Red Byrd - 19409 Shepherdstown Pike, Keedysville
• Phil & Jerry’s Meats and More - 22937 Jefferson Blvd, Smithsburg
• Wilson Country Store - 14921 Rufus Wilson Rd., Clear Spring

A limited number of copies will be available for purchase at the 70th anniversary celebration on campus scheduled for Saturday, October 24 from 11am-3pm.