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Montgomery Blair High School (MBHS) is a public high school located in
Four Corners, Maryland Four Corners is a neighborhood and census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Many residents consider the neighborhood a part of Silver Spring, to whose CDP it belonged until 2010. It had a population of 8,316 ...
, United States, operated by
Montgomery County Public Schools Montgomery County Public Schools may refer to: *Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland) *Montgomery County Public Schools (Virginia) Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is the school district serving Montgomery County, Virginia. Schools P ...
. The school's total enrollment of 3,600 makes it the largest public high school in
Montgomery County Montgomery County may refer to: Australia * The former name of Montgomery Land District, Tasmania United Kingdom * The historic county of Montgomeryshire, Wales, also called County of Montgomery United States * Montgomery County, Alabama * Mon ...
, as well as Maryland as a whole. The school was named after Montgomery Blair, a lawyer who represented Dred Scott in his
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
case Case or CASE may refer to: Containers * Case (goods), a package of related merchandise * Cartridge case or casing, a firearm cartridge component * Bookcase, a piece of furniture used to store books * Briefcase or attaché case, a narrow box to c ...
, and later served as Postmaster General under President Abraham Lincoln. After opening in 1925 as Takoma Park–Silver Spring High School, the Blair name was adopted in 1935 when the school moved to a location overlooking Sligo Creek at 313 Wayne Avenue. In 1998, the campus moved again two miles (3 km) north to the Kay Tract, a long-vacant site adjacent to the Capital Beltway, and the old building was repurposed to house
Silver Spring International Middle School Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is a public school district that serves Montgomery County, Maryland. With 210 schools, it is the largest school district in the state of Maryland. For the 2022–2023 school year, the district has 13,994 ...
and Sligo Creek Elementary School. About 20% of the student body is part of one of two magnet programs: the Science, Math, and Computer Science Magnet, and the Communication Arts Program (CAP), which draw students from both the Silver Spring area and across
Montgomery County Montgomery County may refer to: Australia * The former name of Montgomery Land District, Tasmania United Kingdom * The historic county of Montgomeryshire, Wales, also called County of Montgomery United States * Montgomery County, Alabama * Mon ...
. It is a member of the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science and Technology (NCSSSMST). Prior to the
2010 U.S. Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...
the school was within the Silver Spring census-designated place, but as of 2015 it now resides in the newly-designated
Four Corners The Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area ...
CDP.2010 Census Block Map: Four Corners CDP, MD

Archive
.
U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
. Retrieved on June 22, 2015.


History


Philadelphia–Chicago campus era (1925–1935)

Montgomery Blair High School, then known as Takoma–Silver Spring High School, became the first high school to serve Silver Spring, Maryland when it opened in 1925 with 86 students. The campus was located at the corner of Philadelphia Avenue and Chicago Avenue in suburban Takoma Park, Maryland. By the end of the 1920s the school had expanded to host students in eighth and ninth grades, who attended the school's
junior high school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...
, as well as tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades, who attended the school's senior high school. As Silver Spring and Takoma Park continued to rapidly grow, the school eventually encompassed all levels from kindergarten to twelfth grade. By 1934, the school was over-capacity with a total enrollment of 450 students, and so, in September 1935, the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades relocated to a new high school named Montgomery Blair Senior High School, also known as the Wayne Avenue Campus. During the transition period, students, teachers, and administrators had to commute between the two campuses and created the annual yearbook, Silverlogue.


Wayne Avenue campus era (1935–1998)

When Montgomery Blair High School's Wayne Avenue campus opened in March 1935, it was the sixth high school in
Montgomery County Montgomery County may refer to: Australia * The former name of Montgomery Land District, Tasmania United Kingdom * The historic county of Montgomeryshire, Wales, also called County of Montgomery United States * Montgomery County, Alabama * Mon ...
, and the first in the lower county. One of several Montgomery County schools designed during that period by Howard Wright Cutler, the facility then consisted only of the C building, overlooking Sligo Creek. In 1936, the Auxiliary Gymnasium was added, followed by the B building in 1940, and the D building in 1942. MBHS's first football team was founded in 1944, and the War Memorial Stadium opened in 1947. In 1950, the A building was constructed, containing the Blair Library/Media Center. With the addition of the Main Gymnasium/Fieldhouse in 1954, MBHS possessed one of the finest basketball and football facilities in the county. The E building was added in 1959 as an administrative section, followed by the 1969 opening of the 1200-seat auditorium, named for long-time teacher and librarian, Elizabeth Stickley. The most recent addition was the automotive shop building in 1973. During World War II, students from the University of Maryland taught several classes, and in some cases, able senior students taught sophomore classes. The Blair Library created the "Senior Corner" to honor those who had not returned from war. Life Magazine featured the school's Victory Corps close order drill team. Prior to the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, Blair was an all-white school. In 1955, the school began to integrate along with the rest of Montgomery County. With Silver Spring's growth, Blair's enrollment jumped from 600 students in 1946, to 1900 by 1956, peaking at 2900 in 1965 before being reduced from 1700 to 1400 after re-zoning in 1982. Enrollment was around 1800 when the Science, Mathematics, and Computer Science Magnet program brought 80 new students in the fall of 1985. The Communication Arts Program (CAP) followed in 1987, founded by Alicia Coleman, brought 75 new students. Overcrowding became an issue for Montgomery Blair High School, as portable buildings covered what was once open land and enrollment exceeded the building's capacity of 2,000. In 1994, it was decided that the school should relocate to an empty tract of land to the north. Construction began on the Kay Tract in the mid-nineties and the Four Corners campus opened in the fall of 1998. After the move, Blair's Wayne Avenue campus converted into a combination elementary/middle school; currently Sligo Creek Elementary School and
Silver Spring International Middle School Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is a public school district that serves Montgomery County, Maryland. With 210 schools, it is the largest school district in the state of Maryland. For the 2022–2023 school year, the district has 13,994 ...
each take up half the campus. The Elizabeth Stickley Auditorium, however, was not included in the conversion plans, and has remained closed since 1997. Nevertheless, the auditorium has received a significant amount of attention throughout the region as it has fallen into disrepair. Several local politicians and leaders, including former Maryland state senator
Ida Ruben Ida G. Ruben (born January 7, 1929) is an American politician who served in the Maryland House of Delegates from the 20th district from 1975 to 1987 and in the Maryland Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Se ...
, current U.S. representative Jamie Raskin and former U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski, have endorsed projects to restore the auditorium to its former condition.


Four Corners campus era (1998–present)

Montgomery Blair High School remained at the Wayne Avenue campus for over six decades until its 1998 move to the current Four Corners campus at the intersection of University Boulevard, Colesville Road, and the Capital Beltway. When it opened, the new facilities were the largest in the county, spanning a region, which was nearly twice as large as the old Wayne Avenue site. During the early to mid 2000s, the school population spiked to its highest in history at approximately 3,400 students, rivaling that of some community colleges. Although enrollment has since receded to about 2,900 students, the school still has the largest student population in the county. The 2008 year marked a technological breakthrough for MBHS, as interactive digital Promethean boards were installed in many classrooms.


Notable events

In April 1992, Montgomery Blair High School was the first high school in the nation to initiate and sponsor a display of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. More than 5,000 children, their families, teachers and friends came to see the Quilt. It has been a popular stop for many politicians because of the school's diversity, strong academic programs, and proximity to the nation's capital. On February 5, 1998, President Bill Clinton and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair stopped at Montgomery Blair High School during a state visit. On March 7, 2003, United States Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge and Secretary of Education Rod Paige visited Blair. On June 23, 2005, President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
visited the school to discuss his plan to partially privatize Social Security. Students were not permitted to attend. Bush's presence at the school drew approximately 400 protesters, who, despite the last-minute announcement of the visit, questioned both his proposed policies and the fact that this town hall-style meeting was not open to the general public. The demonstration included community members, students and union members. The police tried to move the demonstration to a park more than a block away, but protesters pointed out that there was no reason they couldn't continue their peaceful protest on the public sidewalk outside the fence around the school. During the 2010–2011 school year, NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar spoke to a packed auditorium of students about his upcoming film and about his life and struggle to become the basketball player he became. Abdul-Jabbar then spoke privately with both the varsity and junior varsity basketball teams before posing for photos and signing a few autographs. On June 1, 2016, Secretary of State John Kerry visited Blair to discuss ocean conservation. On February 26, 2018,
U.S. Congressmen The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
Jamie Raskin and Ted Deutch brought survivors of the
Stoneman Douglas High School shooting On February 14, 2018, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Miami suburban town of Parkland, Florida, murdering 17 people and injuring 17 others. Cruz, a former student at t ...
to Blair to meet with Blair students.


Campus

The current campus of Montgomery Blair High School covers forty-two acres between the Capital Beltway, U.S. Route 29, and
Maryland Route 193 Maryland Route 193 (MD 193) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known for most of its length as University Boulevard and Greenbelt Road, the state highway runs from MD 185 in Kensington east to MD 202 north of Upper Marlboro. ...
in Silver Spring's
Four Corners The Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area ...
neighborhood. The school contains of space and was originally designed for 2,830 students. Eight years after its completion, the school was more than 500 students over capacity, with a population of about 3,400. As a result, the school at one point had eight auxiliary
portable classroom A portable classroom (also known as a demountable or relocatable classroom, portables, bungalows), is a type of portable building installed at a school to temporarily and quickly provide additional classroom space where there is a shortage of ...
s. Population has decreased slightly due to the opening of other schools and the
Downcounty Consortium The Downcounty Consortium (DCC) is a group of five high schools in part of Montgomery County, Maryland, USA. The high schools are Albert Einstein High School, John F. Kennedy High School, Montgomery Blair High School, Wheaton High School and Nort ...
, and as a result 2 portables were removed at the beginning of the 2006–2007 school year. As of April 2010, the enrollment at Blair is 2,788, and the portable classrooms have been removed. Blair remains the county's largest school. The school has baseball and softball fields to the east of the main building as well as ''Blazer Stadium'' which serves as the home of the school's
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
, soccer, field hockey, and lacrosse teams. There are three courtyards located throughout the main building. A
greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...
and accompanying patio is located on the second floor on the west side of the main building for the use of horticulture classes. The school building contains a 750-seat auditorium. The main hallway of the school, 'Blair Boulevard" displays flags from many countries, representing its extremely diverse student body. In the school year of 2017–2018, Montgomery County Public School's Department of Facilities Management added four new portables to the school's campus, due to the large spike in enrollment. In 2022, Blair is expected to undergo construction for a new gym, a larger Student Activity Center and 18 new classrooms.


Academics

In 2021, MBHS was ranked 49th within Maryland and 2269th nationally by U.S. News & World Report. The school has an
Honors Program Honors colleges and honors programs are special accommodation constituent programs at public and private universities – and also public two-year institutions of higher learning – that include, among other things, supplemental or alternative ...
and an Advanced Placement Program. The school is one of the few US high schools to have a
.edu The domain name .edu is a sponsored top-level domain (sTLD) in the Domain Name System of the Internet. The domain was implemented in 1985 for the purpose of creating a domain name hierarchy for organizations with a focus on education, even abl ...
domain name, with its internet connection having gone live in the late 1980s. MBHS is home to two separately-run student news publications: ''Silver Chips'' is the school's print newspaper that is self-funded, and ''Silver Chips Online'' is an exclusively online publication which received the National Scholastic Press Association Online Pacemaker Award in 2004, 2005 and 2006. The editors-in-chief of Silver Chips for the 2020-2021 school year are Oliver Goldman, Tony González, Renata Muñoz, and Anika Seth. Blair is also home to ''Silver Quill'', a literary arts magazine. ''Silver Quill'' is distributed with the school yearbook at the end of the school year.


Science, Mathematics, and Computer Science Magnet program

In 1985,
Montgomery County Public Schools Montgomery County Public Schools may refer to: *Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland) *Montgomery County Public Schools (Virginia) Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is the school district serving Montgomery County, Virginia. Schools P ...
opened its first Science, Mathematics, and Computer Science Magnet program at Blair. At the time, Blair had the highest minority population among the high schools in the county and the lowest standardized test scores. The school board conducted a survey to decide that a specialized science magnet program would attract high-achieving white and Asian students to Blair. Although there was criticism of the program from some parents and students, the leaders of the PTA and the principal supported the program, noting that by 1989 more families were staying in the neighborhood to attend Blair and fewer students were seeking to transfer out. In 1993, the Superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools told the ''New York Times'': "I have never seen a high school's image turn around so quickly." Since its inception, the Magnet has offered accelerated, interdisciplinary courses in science, mathematics, and computer science. The Magnet offers dozens of electives, including
Quantum Physics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, qua ...
,
Complex Analysis Complex analysis, traditionally known as the theory of functions of a complex variable, is the branch of mathematical analysis that investigates Function (mathematics), functions of complex numbers. It is helpful in many branches of mathemati ...
, Thermodynamics,
Discrete Mathematics Discrete mathematics is the study of mathematical structures that can be considered "discrete" (in a way analogous to discrete variables, having a bijection with the set of natural numbers) rather than "continuous" (analogously to continuous f ...
,
Marine Biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies s ...
,
3D Computer Graphics 3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for th ...
, Artificial Intelligence,
Origins of Science Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Sl ...
, and Organic Chemistry as of 2022. Qualified students who are not in the program can and do enroll in its elective courses. In their senior year, Magnet students complete research projects to enter into the
Science Talent Search The Regeneron Science Talent Search, known for its first 57 years as the Westinghouse Science Talent Search, and then as the Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS) from 1998 through 2016, is a research-based science competition in the United S ...
, in which the program has a long history of success. In 2017, the Magnet had a mean SAT score of 1531 and a mean composite ACT score of 35, both of which are higher than any high school in the nation overall. The Blair Magnet is open to students from the southern and eastern areas of Montgomery County, who are selected through a competitive application and testing process (a program at
Poolesville High School Poolesville High School is a Public school (government funded), public all magnet high school located in Poolesville, Maryland, United States. History The core of the building was built in 1911 as an elementary school, and as of 1912 the school ...
provides a similar curriculum for students in the northern and western areas of the county). The Magnet program has been criticized for being overwhelmingly white and Asian, enrolling few black and Hispanic students. The Magnet was threatened with proposed budget cuts in 2008, but after student protests, it was spared from the most severe cuts. In 2018, a retired Magnet teacher was accused of sexual harassment by many former students.


Communication Arts Program

The Communication Arts Program (CAP) at was established at Blair soon after the Magnet, in 1988. It strives to provide a comprehensive educational approach to the humanities by offering accelerated, interdisciplinary courses in English, social studies, and media for participating students. CAP is open to students in the Downcounty Consortium and admission is competitive by application and testing. CAP offers courses in drama, photography, video production, history, government,
English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...
, writing composition, journalism and research. The number of CAP classes decreases by year, until students only complete one CAP class in 12th grade. The curriculum frequently builds off of existing
Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...
courses but uses the program's resources to add interdisciplinary experiences, such as a simulated presidential election that occurs over the course of a week at end of 10th grade, in which some students serve as candidates and others as campaign staff and reporters. CAP students also maintain portfolios of their work throughout the four years, which must include independent and service-based projects done outside of school. In 12th grade, they must successfully defend the portfolio's contents to a faculty committee in order to complete the program and graduate with a CAP Diploma.


English Department

In addition to offering standard English courses, the English Department also offers AP courses in Language and Literature, as well as studies in
dramatics Theatre studies (sometimes referred to as theatrology or dramatics) is the study of theatrical performance in relation to its literary, physical, psychobiological, sociological, and historical contexts. It is an interdisciplinary field which also e ...
, journalism, and theater.


Fine Arts Department

The Fine Arts Department consists of two sub-departments of Music and Visual Arts. The Music Department includes instrumental music, choral music, and general music. Each year the department hosts a fine arts festival, in which students showcase their artistic talent.


Instrumental Music Department

MBHS's Instrumental Music Department consists of three orchestras, three bands, and two jazz bands: Chamber Orchestra (Honors), Symphonic Orchestra, and Concert Orchestra; and Wind Ensemble (Honors), Symphonic Band, and Concert Band. The jazz ensembles are Advanced Jazz Ensemble (Honors), and Jazz Lab Band. In addition, the music program also contains a marching band and a theatrical pit orchestra, as well as an audio library and a professional recording studio. In the Spring of 2014, MBHS's Chamber Orchestra hosted British Composer Paul Lewis as a Composer-in-Residence, receiving pay from the Wolftrap Foundation. Students played the world premiere of a 5 movement long piece called "Salute the Silents".


Choral Music Department

The Choral Music Department consists of Chorus, Show Choir, Chamber Choir (Honors), a Cabaret, and InToneNation, an
a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
group.


General Music Department

The General Music Department offers studies in music history, technology, business, composition, and theory. There are also courses offered in solo and ensemble techniques for piano and guitar playing.


Visual Arts Department

MBHS's Visual Arts Department offers studies in art & culture, ceramics & sculpture, digital art, photography, and studio art.


Foreign Language Department

The Foreign Language Department offers classes up to AP-level in Spanish, French, and Latin, and up to honors-level in Japanese and Arabic. It has recently added American Sign Language (ASL), which offer classes up to ASL 3.


Mathematics Department

The Mathematics Department offers a variety of honors- and AP-level courses, including:
Algebra 1 Algebra () is one of the broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics. Elementary ...
, Geometry, Algebra II, Precalculus, Calculus, Statistics, and Business Mathematics.


Science Department

The Science Department contains sub-departments in the core sciences of Physics,
Chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
, Biology, and
Earth Science Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...
.


Social Studies Department

MBHS's Social Studies Department offers honors and AP-level
U.S. History The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of Settlement of the Americas, the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Native American cultures in the United States, Numerous indigenous cultures formed ...
, American Government and Politics, and World History, the department also offers elective courses such as African American History, Latin American History, European History,
Middle East History The Middle East, interchangeable with the Near East, is home to one of the Cradle of civilization, Cradles of Civilization and has seen many of the world's oldest cultures and civilizations. The region's history started from the earliest human se ...
,
Comparative Government Comparative politics is a field in political science characterized either by the use of the ''comparative method'' or other empirical methods to explore politics both within and between countries. Substantively, this can include questions relatin ...
, Comparative religion,
Cultural Anthropology Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of a posited anthropological constant. The portma ...
, Administration of Justice, International Human Rights, Peace Studies Seminar, Economics, and Psychology. It was also the first in the region to offer courses in Women's Studies and the History of Hip-Hop.


Athletics

The student athletics program currently offers 23 different varsity and 8
junior varsity Junior varsity (often called "JV") players are the members of a team who are not the main players in a competition (such as any football, basketball, or baseball game), usually at the high school level–– and formerly at the collegiate level ...
sports, with a total of 42 teams:


Fall

*
Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
* * Girls Field Hockey* * Boys Soccer* *
Girls Soccer A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.c ...
* * Girls Volleyball* * Golf * Cross Country* *
Handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...
* Girls Tennis * Poms * Cheerleading


Winter

* Boys Basketball* * Girls Basketball* * Swimming and Diving * Ice Hockey^ * Wrestling * Indoor Track * Cheerleading


Spring

* Boys Baseball* * Girls Softball* * Boys Lacrosse* * Girls Lacrosse* *Track and Field * Boys Volleyball * Co-ed Volleyball *
Boys Tennis A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy is " ...
*Gymnastics


Year-round

* Badminton^ * Ultimate Frisbee^ * Rowing^ * * indicates a sport for which there is also a
junior varsity Junior varsity (often called "JV") players are the members of a team who are not the main players in a competition (such as any football, basketball, or baseball game), usually at the high school level–– and formerly at the collegiate level ...
team. * ^ indicates a sport that is not officially sanctioned by the school and is thus considered a club team.


Student activities and traditions

MBHS has over 95 teams or clubs, some of which are entirely student-run, including the Blair Radio Station, "Blazer Pride" Marching Band, Debate Team, and Jewish Culture Club and Philosophy Club. Popular activities include:
Knowledge Master Open The Knowledge Master Open (commonly known as Knowledge Masters or KMO) was a computer-based semiannual worldwide academic competition produced by Academic Hallmarks. During KMO competitions, teams of students from many schools earned points by answe ...
,
American Computer Science League ACSL, or the American Computer Science League, is an international computer science competition among more than 300 schools. Originally founded in 1978 as the Rhode Island Computer Science League, it then became the New England Computer Science Le ...
,
Envirothon NCF-Envirothon is an annual environmentally themed academic competition for high school aged students organized by the NCF-Envirothon a program of the National Conservation Foundation. The competition is held by the United States and Canada on a ...
, Science Bowl, Ocean Science Bowl,
Doodle4Google ''Doodle 4 Google'', also stylized ''Doodle4Google'', is an annual competition in various countries, held by Google, to have children create a Google doodle that will be featured on the local Google homepage as a doodle. History Google features ...
, and
Youth and Government YMCA Youth and Government (YaG), also known as Youth In Government, or Model Legislature and Court, is a program of the YMCA of the USA that allows high school students to serve in model governments at the local, state, national, and internationa ...
.


Computer team

Montgomery Blair's computer team specializes in advanced computer science topics and programming algorithms which extend the classroom curriculum. Upperclassmen students teach new and complex algorithms, data structures, and programming techniques, including Dijkstra's shortest-path algorithm, dynamic programming, and greedy algorithms. The team also delves into other miscellaneous theoretical computer science topics including turing machines,
nondeterministic polynomial time In computational complexity theory, NP (nondeterministic polynomial time) is a complexity class used to classify decision problems. NP is the set of decision problems for which the problem instances, where the answer is "yes", have proofs ve ...
, random number generation,
assembly language In computer programming, assembly language (or assembler language, or symbolic machine code), often referred to simply as Assembly and commonly abbreviated as ASM or asm, is any low-level programming language with a very strong correspondence be ...
,
lambda calculus Lambda calculus (also written as ''λ''-calculus) is a formal system in mathematical logic for expressing computation based on function abstraction and application using variable binding and substitution. It is a universal model of computation ...
, and relational databases. The Computer Team participates in the (ACSL), University of Pennsylvania Programming Contest, Loyola Programming Contest, University of Maryland Programming Contest, and the USA Computing Olympiad (USACO). The Computer Team won the ACSL All-Star Competition Senior Division in 1991, 1993, 2001, 2003, 2009, 2011 and 2013.


Robotics team

MBHS has an active FIRST Robotics Competition team, Team 449, nicknamed "The Blair Robot Project", inspired from the film The Blair Witch Project. The team was founded in 2000, and has competed in every year since except 2005.


Puzzlepalooza

MBHS has a puzzle tournament known as Puzzlepalooza. Puzzlepalooza has been self-proclaimed as "America's premier high school puzzle tournament." The tournament first began in 2010 and had taken place each May until 2020, when the tournament was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The tournament resumed for May 2022 after a two year hiatus. During a four-day period, teams have 12 hours to complete multiple-leveled puzzles. This puzzles produce a phrase that will be used in the final puzzle, which is the main goal of Puzzlepalooza. Completing this final puzzle results in prizes for the team that solves it. There are also many other prizes available for the teams such as the Spirit Award or the Iron Puzzler Award.


Science bowl

MBHS has an active science bowl team, consistently doing well in the Maryland Science Bowl and winning the National Science Bowl in 1999 and 2016. Blair won the National Ocean Sciences Bowl in 2018.


Quiz bowl

MBHS has an active quiz bowl team that competes in the local '' It's Academic'' competition. Blair won the ''It's Academic'' Super Bowl in 1995, 2017, and 2018.


BlackCAP

Established in 2016, BlackCAP is a student-run movement dedicated to helping students of color be accepted to and achieve in Montgomery County Public School application programs. BlackCAP was spearheaded by Alix Swann, Jaya Hinton, and Marley Majette (Class of 2018) and is sponsored by Mr. Kenneth Smith. BlackCAP has several components including a safe space for students of color in magnet programs and mentoring programs at Parkland Middle School and Silver Spring International Middle School.


Climate summit

Beginning in 2017, Blair has hosted a student-run climate summit event at the nearby Silver Spring Civic center. The summit aims to provide area high school students with the skills and connections to be effective environmental activists. In 2018, U.S. Congressman Jamie Raskin and American environmentalist and author
Bill McKibben William Ernest McKibben (born December 8, 1960)"Bill Ernest McKibben." ''Environmental Encyclopedia''. Edited by Deirdre S. Blanchfield. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, December 31, 2017. is a ...
spoke at the summit. In 2019, the students running the event began reaching out to schools in other parts of the country with the goal of establishing climate summits nation-wide. Climate Summit was initiated by Anna Brookes, Leo Blain, and Absa Fall (class of 2019) with the support of Ms. Elizabeth Levien. Current organizers include Maddie Graham, Rebecca Heimbrock and Jansikwe Medina-Tayak.


History bowl

The Montgomery Blair History Bowl team won the 2020
National History Bowl The National History Bee and Bowl (NHBB) are nationwide history quiz competitions for high school, middle school, and elementary students in the United States. International Academic Competitions oversees both NHBB and the comparable Internation ...
Junior Varsity Championship. with team members Martin Brandenburg, Albert Ho, Jason Liu, and Leela Mehta-Harwitz.


Notable alumni

Blair has had many notable alumni in public service, the entertainment industry, sports, media, business, and academics.


Politics and public service

* Tyras S. Athey, former member of the Maryland House of Delegates and Secretary of State of Maryland. *
William A. Bronrott William A. "Bill" Bronrott (born 1955) served in the Maryland House of Delegates from January 13, 1999, until April 26, 2010, representing Maryland's District 16 in Montgomery County. He stepped down from his seat in the General Assembly to acce ...
, former member of the Maryland House of Delegates. *
Robin Ficker Robin Ficker (born April 5, 1943) is an American disbarred attorney, real estate broker, former state legislator, political activist, sports heckler, and perennial political candidate. Ficker ran unsuccessfully for Montgomery County Executive i ...
, former member of the Maryland House of Delegates. *
Stan Greenberg Stanley Bernard Greenberg (born May 10, 1945) is an American pollster and political strategist affiliated with the Democratic Party. Greenberg is a founding partner of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research (GQR) and Democracy Corps, political consul ...
,
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
pollster and political strategist, known for his work on Bill Clinton’s Presidential campaign. * Thomas R. Norris,
U.S. Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy, U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command, Naval Special Wa ...
who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Vietnam War. * William Addams Reitwiesner, genealogist and Library of Congress employee. *
Craig L. Rice Craig Lamont Rice (born September 27, 1972) is an American politician and former member of the Montgomery County Council, serving from 2010 to 2022. Elected in 2006 to the Maryland House of Delegates, he served one four-year term and represented ...
, Montgomery County Councilmember and former member of the Maryland House of Delegates.


Arts and entertainment

* Cynthia Addai-Robinson, actress appearing in TV series ''
Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...
'', '' Spartacus'', and '' Shooter''. *
Tyrone Giordano Tyrone Giordano (born 1976) is a deaf American film, television, and stage actor. He is known for his roles in the musical '' Big River'' and the movie ''The Family Stone''. Early life and education Giordano was born in Hartford, Connecticut t ...
, film and stage actor, known for his lead role in '' Big River''. *Eric Glover, writer for TV series '' Tom Swift'' and author of graphic novel ''Black Star''. * Goldie Hawn, Oscar-winning actress in Hollywood movies including '' Cactus Flower'', '' Private Benjamin'', and '' The First Wives Club''. * Ron Holloway, jazz saxophonist. *
Eric Hutchinson Eric Hutchinson (born September 8, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter best known for his songs " Rock & Roll", "OK, It's Alright with Me", "Not There Yet", "Watching You Watch Him", and "Tell the World". Hutchinson was named an AOL "About t ...
, singer-songwriter known for his songs "Rock & Roll" and "Watching You Watch Him". * Rosamond S. King, poet and literary theorist. * Joshua Oppenheimer (finished high school in New Mexico), filmmaker of Oscar-nominated films ''
The Act of Killing ''The Act of Killing'' ( id, Jagal, meaning "Butcher") is a 2012 documentary film about individuals who participated in the Indonesian mass killings of 1965–1966. The film is directed by Joshua Oppenheimer and co-directed by Christine Cynn and ...
'' and ''
The Look of Silence ''The Look of Silence'' (, "Silence") is a 2014 internationally co-produced documentary film directed by Joshua Oppenheimer about the Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66. The film is a companion piece to his 2012 documentary ''The Act of Kill ...
''. *
Chuck Redd Chuck Redd (born September 10, 1958) is an American jazz drummer and vibraphonist. Career Redd began touring and recording when he joined the Charlie Byrd Trio at the age of 21. He also joined The Great Guitars (Barney Kessel, Charlie Byrd, an ...
, jazz percussionist. * Nora Roberts, best-selling romance novelist. *
Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...
, American actor, screenwriter, and film director (attended for short time before moving to Philadelphia). *
Ben Stein Benjamin Jeremy Stein (born November 25, 1944) is an American writer, lawyer, actor, comedian, and commentator on political and economic issues. He began his career as a speechwriter for U.S. presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford before ente ...
, economist, actor, commentator,
speech writer A speechwriter is a person who is hired to prepare and write speeches that will be delivered by another person. Speechwriters are employed by many senior-level elected officials and executives in the government and private sectors. They can also be ...
for U.S. President Richard Nixon. *
Rebecca Sugar Rebecca Rea Sugar (born July 9, 1987) is an American animator and screenwriter. She is best known for being the creator of the Cartoon Network series ''Steven Universe'', making her the first non-binary person to independently create a series for ...
(traveled to Albert Einstein High School for Visual Art Center Program), artist, composer, and director, created the
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
series '' Steven Universe''. *
Lisa Ann Walter Lisa Ann Walter (born August 3, 1963) is an American actress, comedian and television producer, best known for her roles as Chessy in the romantic comedy film '' The Parent Trap'' and Melissa Schemmenti on the ABC mockumentary sitcom ''Abbott El ...
, actress and comedian, known for her roles in '' The Parent Trap'' and '' Abbott Elementary''.


Sports and games

*
Steve Barber Stephen David Barber (February 22, 1938 – February 4, 2007) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) left-handed pitcher. He pitched for the Baltimore Orioles and six other teams between 1960–74. Barber compiled 121  wins, 1,309 str ...
, baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles. * Tom Brown, baseball player for the Washington Senators and football player for the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
. * Dominique Dawes (finished high school in
Gaithersburg Gaithersburg ( ), officially the City of Gaithersburg, is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, making it the ninth-largest location in the state. Ga ...
), Olympic gymnast. *
Steve Francis Steven D'Shawn Francis (born February 21, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. He was selected with the second overall pick of the 1999 NBA draft and was named co-NBA Rookie of the Year (along with Elton Brand) in his fi ...
(completed GED), basketball player for the Maryland Terrapins and
Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...
. *
Kelli Hill Kelli Hill (born 1960 in Silver Spring, Maryland) is a United States Artistic gymnastics coach who coached Olympians Dominique Dawes, Elise Ray, and Courtney Kupets, and Olympic reserves Corrie Lothrop and Kayla DiCello. She was the head coach of ...
, coach of USA Women's Gymnastics Teams. *
Wei-Hwa Huang Wei-Hwa Huang (born 1975 in Eugene, Oregon) is an American puzzler, member of the US Team for the World Puzzle Championship, and game designer. Huang was a member of the United States International Math Olympiad team in 1992 and 1993, where he was ...
, four-time World Puzzle Champion. * Sonny Jackson, baseball player for the
Houston Colt .45's The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
/
Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
and Atlanta Braves; the first black athlete at Blair. *
Johnny Klippstein John Calvin Klippstein (October 17, 1927 – October 10, 2003) was an American professional baseball pitcher (mostly a reliever), who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for a number of teams, over an 18-season career. The most prominent portio ...
, baseball player for the
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
,
Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...
, and several other Major League Baseball teams, including the
1959 World Series The 1959 World Series featured the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers beating the American League champion Chicago White Sox, 4–2. Each of the three games played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum drew record crowds, Game 5's atte ...
champion Los Angeles Dodgers. *
Jake Rozhansky Jake Michael Rozhansky ( he, ג'ייק מייקל רוזנסקי, born 4 July 1996) is an American soccer player who plays as a midfielder for MLS Next Pro side New England Revolution II. During his career, he has previously appeared for D.C. Un ...
, American-Israeli soccer player for Maryland Terrapins and Israel's Liga Leumit. * Visanthe Shiancoe, football player for the Minnesota Vikings. *
Charlene Thomas-Swinson Charlene Thomas-Swinson (born December 11, 1965) is an assistant coach for Las Vegas Aces. From 2005 to 2011, Thomas-Swinson was the head women's basketball coach at Tulsa. Her overall record as a head coach was 61-86 over five seasons. The 200 ...
, college basketball player (
Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...
) and coach (
LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...
). *
Willis Wilson Willis Thomas Wilson Jr. (born March 22, 1960) is an American basketball coach. He was most recently the head coach of the Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Islanders men's basketball team before retiring in March 2021. He previously served an assistant ...
, former head men's basketball coach at Rice University. *
Bob Windsor Robert Edward Windsor (born December 19, 1942 in Washington, D.C.) is a former tight end in the National Football League. Windsor played a total of nine seasons in the NFL, five with the San Francisco 49ers and four with the New England Patriot ...
, football player for the San Francisco 49ers and
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
. *
David Vanterpool David Vanterpool (born March 31, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He most recently served as an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). During his playing career, he ...
, basketball player for the Washington Wizards and assistant coach for Portland Trail Blazers. * Morgan Wootten, high school basketball coach for DeMatha.


Journalism and media

*
Erik Agard Erik Agard is a crossword solver, constructor, and editor. He is the winner of the 2018 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT), a frequent contributor to the The New York Times crossword puzzle, ''New York Times'' crossword puzzle, a crosswo ...
, crossword puzzle editor for '' USA Today''. * Carl Bernstein, journalist and author known for breaking the Watergate scandal for '' The Washington Post''. * Kiran Chetry, journalist and television news anchor for Fox News and CNN. * Connie Chung, journalist and television news anchor, known for co-hosting '' CBS Evening News''. * Emily Gould, author and former co-editor of
Gawker ''Gawker'' is an American blog founded by Nick Denton and Elizabeth Spiers and based in New York City focusing on celebrities and the media industry. According to SimilarWeb, the site had over 23 million visits per month as of 2015. Founded in ...
. * Rick Leventhal, broadcast journalist, Former Senior Correspondent for
Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
. * Tom Marr, former Baltimore Orioles radio broadcaster, longtime radio talk show host on Baltimore's WCBM(680-AM). * Donna Richardson, fitness and aerobics instructor, author and ESPN commentator. *
Eric Shansby Eric Shansby (born 1985) commonly known as Shansby, is an American cartoonist and children's book illustrator.Weingarten, GeneWhat's mightier, the pencil or the keyboard?Washington Post Magazine. February 8, 2004.
, cartoonist for '' The Washington Post''. *
Daniel Zwerdling Daniel Zwerdling is an American investigative journalist who has written for major magazines and newspapers. From 1980 to 2018 he served as an investigative reporter for NPR News, with stints as foreign correspondent and host of Weekend All Thi ...
, journalist for NPR.


Business

*
Matias Duarte Matias is a form of the given name Matthew. In German-speaking Europe it is most often written as Matthias. It appears in this form in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. Alternate spellings are: Mathias, Mattias, Mattis, Mats and Matti. Matias ...
, Google Vice-President of Design. * Shervin Pishevar, entrepreneur and venture capitalist, known for co-founding Hyperoffice and Hyperloop One. * Chris T. Sullivan, co-founder of
Outback Steakhouse Outback Steakhouse is an American chain of Australian-themed casual dining restaurants, serving American cuisine, based in Tampa, Florida. The chain has over 1,000 locations in 23 countries throughout North and South America, Asia, and Australia ...
. *Patrick Y. Lee, co-founder and CEO of Rotten Tomatoes.


Academics

*
Maneesh Agrawala Maneesh Agrawala (born 1972) is a professor of computer science at Stanford University. He returned to Stanford in 2015 as the director of the Brown Institute for Media Innovation, after nearly a decade on the faculty at the University of Califor ...
, Professor of Computer Science at
Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
, Winner of 2009 MacArthur Fellowship. *
Malcolm Beasley Malcolm Roy Beasley (born January 4, 1940 in San Francisco) is an American physicist. He is Professor Emeritus of Applied Physics at Stanford University. He is known for his research related to superconductivity. Early life and education Beasle ...
, Professor of Applied Physics at
Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
, former President of the
American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...
. *
Alexander Berg Alexander C. Berg is an American Assistant Professor of computer science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He specializes in web mining as well as machine learning and computer vision. He obtained his master's and bachelor's deg ...
, Associate Professor of Computer Science at UC Irvine and computer-vision researcher at Meta AI. * Jonah Berger, best-selling author and marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. * Lorrie Cranor, Professor of Computer Science at
Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
, former Chief Technologist of the
Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...
. *
Samit Dasgupta Samit Dasgupta is a professor of mathematics at Duke University working in algebraic number theory. Biography Dasgupta graduated from Montgomery Blair High School in 1995 and placed fourth in the 1995 Westinghouse Science Talent Search with a ...
, Professor of Mathematics at
Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
. * Jacob Lurie, Professor of Mathematics at Harvard University, winner of MacArthur Fellowship and
Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics The Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics is an annual award of the Breakthrough Prize series announced in 2013. It is funded by Yuri Milner and Mark Zuckerberg and others. The annual award comes with a cash gift of $3 million. The Breakthrough Prize ...
. *
Stephen Vladeck Stephen Isaiah Vladeck (born September 26, 1979) is the Charles Alan Wright Chair in Federal Courts at the University of Texas School of Law, where he specializes in national security law, especially with relation to the prosecution of war cr ...
, Professor of Law at the University of Texas, expert on the prosecution of war crimes. * Joshua Weitz, Professor of Biology at Georgia Tech,
AAAS AAAS may refer to: * American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a learned society and center for policy research; the publisher of the journal ''Dædalus'' * American Association for the Advancement of Science, an organization that supports scientifi ...
Fellow.


References


External links


Montgomery Blair High SchoolStatistics about Montgomery Blair High School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blair Educational institutions established in 1925 Four Corners, Maryland Magnet schools in Maryland NCSSS schools Public high schools in Montgomery County, Maryland 1925 establishments in Maryland