James Hubert Blake High School

James Hubert Blake High School (or Blake High School) is a public secondary school located in unincorporated Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is located in the Cloverly census-designated place,[1] and has a Silver Spring postal address. Blake is a public high school that offers a signature program in fine arts and humanities. Its mascot is Benny the Bengal, and its principal is Robert Sinclair, Jr.

James Hubert Blake High School
Address
800 Norwood Rd.

Silver Spring
,
Maryland

United States
Coordinates39°6′49″N 77°1′6″W
Information
TypeHigh school, public
EstablishedAugust 31, 1998 (1998-08-31)
OversightMontgomery County Public Schools
PrincipalRobert Sinclair Jr.
Faculty177 (2017-2018)
Grades9–12
Enrollment1,624 (2017-2018)
CampusSuburban
Color(s)        Black, blue, white, silver
MascotBenny the Bengal
RivalPaint Branch High School
Springbrook High School
Sherwood High School
NewspaperBlake Beat
YearbookTempo
Websitewww.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/blakehs/

Northeast Consortium

James Hubert Blake High School is part of the Northeast Consortium, an organization of three area high schools that allows students to select a school based on each school's signature program.[2] The other members of the consortium are Springbrook High School and Paint Branch High School.

Alumni

Alumni have gone on to perform in Broadway shows, regional theater productions, as well as in other shows and theater groups throughout the country. An accomplished singer and songwriter by the name of Bibi Bourelly attended Blake High School until 12th grade.[3]

Awards

The Maryland Instructional Computer Coordinators Association named Mary Wagner the Outstanding Technology-Using Educator of the Year in 2002.[4] A social studies teacher, Wagner was recognized for her contributions to instructional computing practices.[4]

Barbara Jeweler was named Montgomery County Teacher of the Year in 2003.[5] Jeweler was director of Blake High School's television production program, served as internship coordinator, and taught media arts.[5]

Mary Wagner won The Washington Post's Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award in 2004.[6] Wagner was recognized for leading field trips, inviting guest speakers, having mock congresses and cabinets, conducting Election Day exit polls, and encouraging debate, all to teach her students about history and government.[6] Wagner also started Blake High School's Gay/Straight Alliance, known as Allies 4 Equality, and she maintained the school's web site.[6]

The National Television Academy awarded Sally Lok the Student Television Award for Excellence in 2004.[7] A senior at Blake High School, Lok was recognized for the script for "Music Piracy", a video documentary about the legality of downloading music from the Internet.[7] Lok served as the lead producer of the documentary.[7]

In 2004, Blake High School's principal, Carole C. Goodman, received the Mark Mann Excellence and Harmony Award.[8] The award letter specifically noted the diversity of Blake High School's community involvement, the school's excellent arts and humanities signature program, and how Goodman encouraged a challenging and creative academic environment.[8]

In 2007, The Washington Post awarded Teresa Carbonell the Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award for Montgomery County.[9] A Spanish teacher, Carbonnell led the honor roll recognition program at Blake High School and led the junior varsity cheer squad.[9] After Hurricane Katrina, Carbonnell raised $25,000 for the hurricane's victims with a Sunset Jazz Concert performed by students.[9]

The Maryland Association of School Libraries gave Blake High School the Mae I. Graham Award for its outstanding library media program during the 2008–2009 school year.[10] The award letter specifically noted the library staff's effective collaborative work between teachers and parents and the library's excellent collection.[10]

A team of seven students won both first-place awards at the local Globe Game Jam in 2015.[11] The students created a strategy and puzzle simulation called "Second Chance" that offers a second chance at life by unlocking clues and unraveling a mysterious medical trauma.[11] The students created the program at Blake High School's gaming and simulation studio, called Bengal Studios, which is part of the school's Interactive Media and Game Development career technology education program.[11][12]

Blake is the only school in the 59-year history of It’s Academic to win the DC-area championship four years in a row (2012–15). In 20 years on the show, Blake has reached the finals 12 times.

History

In the mid-1990s, Sherwood High School's enrollment had exceeded its capacity, and a new high school was needed to relieve classroom sizes.[13] A new high school was built with a capacity of 1,215 students.[14]

When deciding the name for the new high school, the community narrowed its choice to two deceased artists raised in Maryland, jazz legend James Hubert "Eubie" Blake and Muppets creator Jim Henson.[15] In a straw poll, Jim Henson won. When the Jim Henson Foundation declined the honor, the high school was named after James Hubert Blake instead.[15]

When opened on August 31, 1998,[16] Blake High School had approximately 819 students enrolled, in the ninth and tenth grades. Eleventh and Twelfth grades would be added the following two years, respectively.[14] Its newspaper was temporarily given the name Blake Blank[16] before being officially named Blake Beat.

In 2017, Robert Sinclair, Jr began his position as principal of the school.

Notable alumni

References
  1. "2010 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Cloverly CDP, MD" (Archive). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on June 22, 2015.
  2. "School Overview - Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, MD". www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  3. Hanra, Hanna (December 11, 2015). "Interview with Bibi Bourelly". Beat Magazine. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  4. "Teachers Honored". The Washington Post. March 14, 2002. p. T6.
  5. "School Notes". The Washington Post. May 15, 2003. p. T4.
  6. Perlstein, Linda (April 29, 2004). "Class Acts Take Home Top Honor: Teachers at Blake, Linganore Win Meyer Award". The Washington Post. p. T7.
  7. "Names in the News". The Washington Post. June 3, 2004. p. T5.
  8. "School Notes". The Washington Post. October 21, 2004. p. T6.
  9. de Vise, Daniel (March 29, 2007). "Teachers Recognized for Leadership; Award Winners Multitask, Mentor and Make a Difference". The Washington Post. p. T9.
  10. Lansworth, Tom (July 2, 2009). "Blake High School Library Media Program Honored". The Washington Post. p. 7.
  11. Shay, Kevin James (February 12, 2015). "In Video Game Contest, Teens Score Big - Twice". The Washington Post. p. SS8-17.
  12. "Bengal Studios". James Hubert Blake High School. Montgomery County Public Schools. Archived from the original on March 31, 2016.
  13. Beyers, Dan (December 5, 1996). "Sherwood High Faces Tough Choices on Crowding". The Washington Post. p. M1.
  14. "New This Year". The Washington Post. August 27, 1998. p. MD6B.
  15. Thomson, Candus (November 15, 1998). "For schools, the game of the name can be nerve-wracking You can get a real education trying to decide what to call a new school". The Baltimore Sun.
  16. Frazier, Lisa; Nakashima, Ellen (September 1, 1998). "Md. Students Stream Into Schools; State, Some Districts Are Seeing Largest Number of Children in Years". The Washington Post. p. D1.
  17. Younger, Briana (September 4, 2016). "Maryland native Bibi Bourelly enchants at U Street". The Washington Post.
  18. "Podcast Episode 50". The MoCo Show. June 12, 2019. MoCo Celeb of the Week: Robert Klemko (Blake)
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