Paul Laurence Dunbar High School for Health Professionals, officially referred to as Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, is a public high school in Baltimore, Maryland.HistoryIn 1918, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School opened around the corner from its present location as the Paul Laurence Dunbar Elementary School, No. 101. The original school was part of the segregated "colored schools" system, which was abolished by 1954. The present school is part of the Baltimore City Public Schools system. It was named in memory of Paul Laurence Dunbar, a famous African-American poet, who had died twelve years before the school opened. In 1925, it was renamed Dunbar Junior High School, No. 133. In 1940, Dunbar became a high school and awarded its first diploma, the second school for African-Americans in Baltimore to do so. In the summer of 2007, after thirty years of heavy use, the main high school building was emptied for renovations. Students were moved to Thomas G. Hayes Elementary School, behind Dunbar at 601 North Central Avenue. The renovations were completed in late August 2009 with costs totaling $32 million. Newly renovated features include science and robotics labs, wider interior hallways, larger windows, a new cafeteria, and a new library.AcademicsDunbar High School is a magnet school, offering biotechnology, emergency medical technology (EMT), accounting, nursing, and health care delivery systems programs. Dunbar High School has been named a Bronze Medal School by U.S. News and World Report.
