Structural, Institutional Changes and Success Stories

The 2021-2022 academic year marked the completion of the 1st-year all honors-level instruction pilot, engaging all 9th-grade students through their English, US History, Biology, and Geometry classes. Following the positive achievement and student voice data, the initiative will expand in the 2022-23 academic year to include 10th grade core content area classes: English 10, NSL Government, Chemistry, and Algebra II.

This pilot semester-long course, approved by the county in 2021, completed its inaugural run in the spring of 2022. The course encourages students to interrogate and/or dismantle the ways in which race, gender, and class are interconnected in the practice of STEM -- with special consideration for the operation of MCPS specialty programs. While the course confers elective credit toward a STEM Magnet Program certificate, it is open to all Blair students.

In coordination with the Communication Arts Program's equity priorities, the school newspaper Silver Chips continually seeks opportunities to better engage Blair's substantive Spanish-speaking student population. The school has offered both co-taught, bilingual and sheltered Spanish-taught journalism courses to help make Blair's student publications more inclusive and responsive.

Supporting the county's increased focus on restorative justice, Blair increasingly incorporates restorative practices as a part of its disciplinary practices and behavior interventions. Utilizing experiences such as mediation, service opportunities, and community circles, approaches to resolving student conflict focus on personal responsibility and repairing harm as opposed to traditional punishment.