When senior Elissa Fischel walked inside the open, sprawling building for her first day of junior high, it was painfully obvious that she stood out in the sea of students. Whenever she walked in the hallways, people stopped and stared. She did not have a sign taped to her back or toilet paper stuck on her shoe; she was unique in that she was American, a foreigner to Brazil.
Blair's piano lab in room seven was completely revamped over the summer to cater to piano, music theory and music technology classes. These updates include new software, communication boxes, flat screen monitors, a digital sound system and improved headsets.
Blair held its orientation for High School Plus on Sept. 11 in the auditorium, according to James Short, head of the program at Blair. High School Plus is an extended-hours program that lets students recover credits at their home schools for classes they may have failed. Though only offered to students in Grades 9 and 10 this year, it will replace Evening High School completely in two years.
Class sizes have remained the same despite a drop in the overall student population. Student enrollment for the 2007-2008 school year was higher than projected, according to assistant principal Myriam Rogers, causing large class sizes to remain a problem at Blair.
The Student Government Association (SGA) will add a new tutoring program to its fall agenda, which already includes homecoming, the Charity Challenge and the canned food drive. These events will be the SGA's main priorities for the fall, according to SGA sponsor Rondai Ravilious.
After receiving enthusiastic responses from Blair's Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) and teachers, Blair's SGA-sponsored peer-on-peer tutoring program will be launched in early October. Seniors Ariel La and Benjamin Simon will be leading the program.
The Blair Information and Learning Locus (BILL), a replacement to the now defunct Blair Education Network (BEN), will be implemented in the next few weeks, according to network administrator Peter Hammond. BILL will include discussion forums, student schedules, email and task lists among its features.
The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) plans to remove the brief constructed response (BCR) and extended constructed response (ECR) sections of the required High School Assessments (HSA) beginning in May 2009, MSDE Education Program Specialist William Reinhard said. The change is in response to complaints of slow grading from Maryland school systems, including MCPS.
The annual Student Activity Fair will take place this Friday during both 5A and 5B lunch in the hallway leading up to the SAC and into the courtyard. The activity fair, hosted by Blair's SGA, will feature approximately 20 different clubs and sports teams.
The SGA elections for the class of 2011 will be held tomorrow in the auditorium during the advisory period. Freshmen will vote on Thursday and Friday in their English classes and the outcome of the election will be announced Friday.
Like many other new students, junior Gabriela Vettiger has spent the last few weeks navigating the world of Blair. But what sets Vettiger apart from the masses is that her home is thousands of miles away in Bottenwil, Switzerland.
China September 14 - Zhao Yan, a Chinese research assistant for The New York Times, is to be freed Saturday morning after serving a three-year prison sentence for a fraud conviction that brought criticism to China. President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice lobbied on the behalf of his freedom with Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Sept. 4 – Long lines due to processing are causing delays at the Canadian and Mexican borders. Lines are nearly as long as they were directly after Sept. 11, 2001. The hold up is due to new regulations that require U.S. citizens to show a driver's license, a passport or other photo ID. Previously citizens just had to declare their citizenship and declare goods before crossing the border.
En la reunión de hoy, la junta educativa de MCPS anunció que Darryl Williams será el próximo director de Blair. Williams ha sido el director de la escuela secundaria Gaithersburg desde el año 2005.
Blair failed to meet the Annual Measurable Objective (AMO) for the English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) subgroup for the 2006-2007 school year, according to Principal Darryl Williams. However, the Blair administration has yet to find out whether Blair has met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).
The National Merit Scholarship Program recognized forty-three Blazers as National Merit Semifinalists on Sept. 12.
Maryland Distinguished Scholar Recognition Day was held on Saturday Sept. 8 at Loyola College, where 43 Blazers among over 300 students were honored as Maryland Distinguished Scholar semifinalists and finalists. Senior Lance Zhao, one of the 10 finalists in the Talent in the Arts competition, performed at the ceremony.
The College Board approved all of Blair's Advanced Placement (AP) course syllabi, deeming them to be at college level. All 36 of the AP teachers at Blair passed the audits and will not be required to redesign their AP courses.
Blair's annual Back-to-School Night was held from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. yesterday. This year's event, coordinated by new assistant principal Myriam Rogers, saw many changes from previous years.
El Gobierno de Estudiantes (SGA) celebrará la segunda parrillada anual de Regreso a la Escuela el viernes, 7 de septiembre. La parrillada tendrá lugar en el patio detrás de la escuela desde las 3 de la tarde hasta que empiece el partido de fútbol contra Blake a las 6:30.
A short fall sports pep rally will be held Friday during sixth period in the stadium. Organized by media center specialist Susan Madden and attendance secretary Roxanne Fus, the pep rally aims to boost students' spirit and pride in their school.
El 12 de junio la administración ofreció una fiesta de despedida al director Phillip Gainous por sus 23 años de mando, manejando el timón en Blair, liderazgo que formalmente terminará el primero de julio. La fiesta, planificada por un comité de profesores y padres, y abierta a todo aquel que deseara atender, se celebró de las 4:30 p.m. a las 7 p.m. y fue seguida por una presentación especial en el auditorio.
Blair conducted its first fire drill of the school year today in the football stadium at 9:15 a.m. during the advisory period, which took place immediately after second period. Students' emergency meeting areas were organized by advisory classes rather than by homeroom as in the past.
Blair's 2007 winter play will be Shakespeare's "A Comedy of Errors." Auditions begin next Monday in the auditorium.
The SGA will hold its second annual Back-to-School barbecue in the courtyard on Friday, Sept. 7, from 3 p.m. until the start of the varsity football game against Blake at 6:30 p.m.
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