Early years A
reservoir named "Lake Clifton Reservoir" occupied the site and was in use until the late 1960s. The reservoir was drained and became the site for the high school's construction in 1970–71. Originally known as "Lake Clifton High School". At the time it was constructed, the school's property area of 441.11 acres (178.51 ha) made it the largest physical plant high school on the East Coast of the United States. The school was designed to hold 4,800 students. In the 1985–86 school year,
Eastern High School merged with Lake Clifton High School, and the
Baltimore City School Board changed the school's name to reflect this. In 1995, the school became a
pilot high school for the Sylvan Learning Center, reconfiguring its curriculum as a result. From 1995 to 2003, Lake Clifton Eastern consisted of six smaller learning communities: the School of the Academy of Finance and Law (formerly known as "The Academy of Finance and Law"); the School of Business and Commerce; the School of Human Services; the School of Communications and Technology; the School of Humanities and Fine and Cultural Arts; and the Ninth Grade Achievement School. The goal and mission of Lake Clifton Eastern High School was "to provide an educational program relevant to the needs of all students to prepare them for college/post secondary education, or the world of work." On Sunday, January 30, 1995, an
electrical fire caused by faulty wiring destroyed the school's original two story library, cafeteria, and administrative offices. In 1998, a one-story
state-of-the-art media center and library was built to replace the fire-damaged section, at the cost of $4 million, which would be $5,344,512.24 adjusted for inflation in 2010. With support from the
Small Schools Workshop, school faculty members and administrators met and planned new, small, learning communities to open within Lake Clifton. However, the board changed plans and decided on new uses for the campus, dividing the school population to other schools. As a result, in 2005, Lake Clifton Eastern High School ceased to exist, its campus converting into two separate, smaller schools:
Heritage High School and
Doris M. Johnson High School. A third school, City Springs Elementary/Middle Alternative Charter School was temporarily on the campus before moving to the
Belair-Edison neighborhood. The Lake Clifton Campus was then occupied by the Heritage High School and the REACH! Partnership School, which moved onto the campus in 2007, and expanded after the closure of the Doris M. Johnson High School in 2011. Faced with continuing population decline and shrinking school enrollment, the city announced plans in August 2020, to sell the property for potential redevelopment, possibly to
Morgan State University. Shooting incidents occurred on the campus on January 5, 1984, a fatal shooting on October 8, 1985, a fatal shooting on January 29, 1986 and a fatal shooting resulting in the death of a high school student occurred on January 17, 2001. ==Extracurricular activities==