We do not lock students in the building but there are consequences for leaving school during the school day which violates school policy. Please speak with your teen about this important rule. In the event of a school emergency or lockdown, students who are off campus will not be permitted to re-enter our building. In addition, there is no staff supervision off campus.

After school, students can respectfully visit businesses as needed. I am disappointed to hear from our neighboring businesses that students are not behaving appropriately in their establishments and that is not the Blair Way!

Topic: PTSA Meeting Dates:

Jan 17, 2023 07:00 PM

Feb 21, 2023 07:00 PM

Mar 21, 2023 07:00 PM

Apr 18, 2023 07:00 PM

Join Zoom Meeting:

https://mcpsmd.zoom.us/j/85250504172?pwd=c2FMZWZNU1JYNTVGR0V0QWFMME41UT09

Meeting ID: 852 5050 4172

Passcode: PTSA

Happy New Year Students & Families! We are excited to share that our 2023-2024 School Year course selection process has begun! School Counselors will be meeting with students throughout the month of January to assist them in selecting their courses, with many opportunities for your student(s) to review and make any changes prior to the end of the school year! You can find that information and so much more in our Counseling Newsletter. Our CCIC Ms. Delos Reyes also has many updates for our students about upcoming workshops that can be informative, which can be found in the College/Career Newsletter. Be sure to check out the upcoming events that will be hosted by our department throughout the month of January!

Links embedded above:

Counseling Newsletter: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K--SSZD8W1E2qDp0V01f2tD3y8cxKLh1/view?usp=sharing

College/Career

Newsletter: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NeuBeltBZGdIQcQzvnvhJZu36kcEkFPv/view?ts=63a20a3b

January Counseling Events: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_grMjEAxPpHusFSOCCXn1Z3PAS5JA6Ne/view?usp=sharing

Mrs. Makeyda Soriano, NCC (she/her)

Resource School Counselor
Montgomery Blair High School

Phone: 240-740-7220

School Counseling Website: https://sites.google.com/mcpsmd.net/mbhs-schoolcounseling-team/home

Based on staff input, Blair will be increasing the number of all-period days to explore how this may improve academic opportunities and support for students. We feel that in 5-day weeks, the adjustment of one day to an all-period day will even out the amount of time a student spends in each class per week and minimize the gaps between classes if school is disrupted due to weather closings. Additionally, through strategic use of the all-period day, teacher’s will have the ability to more equitably serve their students, check for understanding and provide academic support in a more timely fashion. Student attendance is still required on all-period days as key learning will still take place.

For the 2022-23 school year, the following days have been identified as all-period days:

• Wednesday, February 8
• Wednesday, February 15
• Wednesday, March 8
• Wednesday, March 15
• Thursday, March 30 (Last school day of MP3)

We will be seeking student and parent feedback as we try this schedule enhancement during the year. If the trial is successful, we will expand the use of all-period days in 2023-24.

Very Important Senior Parent Meeting:

Don’t miss this meeting. This will be the only opportunity you have to hear the latest information for the journey to graduation. This meeting will include information regarding Senior Events and most importantly Graduation. The meeting will take place at Montgomery Blair High School Auditorium, on March 14, 2023, at 7:30 a.m. or 6:30 p.m. We will provide you with all the need-to-know very important information for all upcoming events and address your questions.

Graduation Tickets: Due to our school stadium capacity and our senior class being 750+ students strong, each senior will receive 5 tickets for family and guests to attend graduation. If your family needs more than 5 tickets, we encourage students to speak with their classmates who will not be using all of their assigned tickets.

Please ensure your seniors have completed all their SSL Hours. For any organizations please ensure they are approved by MCPS. Please see the information below for SSL information.

All opportunities (including in-person): https://bit.ly/SSLOpportunities

Virtual/remote opportunities:

https://bit.ly/VirtualSSL2020

For additional tips on how to search for opportunities, please go to https://bit.ly/SSLSearchTips

SSL Activity Verification Forms (https://bit.ly/SSLReflection) for service completed should be turned in to your school’s SSL coordinator.

The SSL Hour Due Dates and Deadlines:

Qualification for Certificate of Meritorious Service (240 SSL hours or more): March 30, 2023

SSL forms for all services performed for potential grads/seniors: April 14, 2023

The Need to Check ParentVue:

As we approach semester II, your senior will need your assistance now more than ever with attending classes and completing assignments. Please regularly check attendance and assignments to ensure your student remains on track to graduation. If you have questions, please follow up with your child’s Counselor or Administrator (Mrs. Pettis-Jones)

Counseling Team Information:

https://sites.google.com/mcpsmd.net/mbhs-schoolcounseling-team/home/mbhs-school-counseling-team

My name is Farzaneh Nabavian and I am the Parent Community Coordinator (PCC) at Blair , I also am the PCC for Takoma Park Middle School and Takoma Park Elementary School. You can visit my website to learn more about what I do as well as a wealth of resources.

I am always looking for ways that we can assist our students and families and provide them with resources. I work collaboratively with the administration and school staff. The Kindness Corner at Blair high school is now in its 3rd year! It has been a great success with the support of Ms. Johnson, the administration team, school staff, Blair HS PTSA, community members, and community organizations. We are so grateful for all the contributions we have received in many ways to support our school community and continue the mission of the Kindness Corner! We appreciate your kindness.

In 2022, we had three Freebie Fridays and we will continue having them in 2023. Freebie Friday is an event in the Student Activity Center on a selected date during lunch and it is open to ALL students at Blair. We have lots and lots of items for students to look through and get what they want FREE!! Ms. Johnson has been there at every single one supporting the event.

https://silverchips.mbhs.edu/content/a-look-behind-blairs-kindness-corner-35252/

At our last event, we met Arvin Kim, the Student Member of the Board of Education, and he got a bit of exposure to Kindness Corner!!

If you have any questions or know of anyone at Blair HS that may benefit from PCC and/or Kindness Corner, please share my information.

Farzaneh_nabavian@mcpsmd.org​

Cell: (240) 506-8576

https://blairpcc.weebly.com/

The winter teams are in full swing! Not only are there wins and successful competitions, but within teams and programs as well as across programs, we are having many successes. More and more, our Blazers and Blazer coaches are supporting each other’s events and supporting each other’s events. What a terrific community! We have reached the midway point of the season. Tickets to boys' basketball, girls' basketball, wrestling, and indoor track are all available through GoFan. The link for Blair's home events is on Blair GoFan home page.

Swim & Dive (Coach Labriola)

Blazers Swim and Dive are having a strong start to the season. They continue to compete in a highly difficult division up against some of the best in the county. Swim & Dive competes across the county at various pools. See the Blair Athletics winter schedule for specifics.

Wrestling (Coaches Grover, McMahon, McCaw, Rogers, and Funyas)

Wrestling has had a very strong start to their season with the latest victory being 39-38 over Damascus. Blair wrestling was the first in the state of Maryland to host a varsity female tri-meet this year! They will also host a female wrestling tournament on January 27, the day before their JV Blazer Brawl tournament on the 28th. See the Blair Athletics winter schedule for specifics.

Indoor Track (Coaches Johnson, Lindo, and Bosse)

The Blair Indoor Track team is now under the tutelage of Coaches Johnson, Lindo, and Bosse. They have been competing at all the MCPS meets and attended the Howard County Winterfest before winter break. Many successes and PRs are already happening. A school record being broken and perhaps more to come. See the Blair Athletics winter schedule for specifics.

Boys Basketball (Coaches Mensah, Gonzalez, Charles, and Melton)

The Boys' Varsity Basketball team is coming off a tough MCPS December schedule, but a successful winter tournament. The boys' varsity won the St. Johns Catholic High School tournament. Many more games ahead for the team. Anthony Gonzalez is at the helm for JV and we look forward to the continued success of the entire program. See the Blair Athletics winter schedule for specifics.

Girls Basketball (Coaches Launi, Richardson, and Warner)

The girls' basketball program has been progressing every day under the coaching of Launi and Warner. They are currently 4 – 4 and headed into the bulk of their season healthy and ready for the second half. This young program is determined to go into every game to compete. Coach Warner is leading the JV program for Blair girls' basketball, this is her first year here. We look forward to the rest of their season. See the Blair Athletics winter schedule for specifics.

Bocce (Coaches Moran and Terry)

Bocce is back with a full complement of student-athletes and a few games in. They are practicing hard and ready to roll through the end of their season before heading into playoffs in late January. See the Blair Athletics winter schedule for specifics.

SENIOR NIGHTS

We love our senior student-athletes! Senior recognition happens at the last home competition of each sport. The Indoor track team and the Swim & Dive team will have their own recognition as well as at a Blair home event, TBD. See the Blair Athletics winter schedule for specifics; senior nights are highlighted in yellow.

SPRING SPORTS! Blair has the full complement of spring sports. Our spring sports teams are Baseball, Softball, Boys Lacrosse, Girls Lacrosse, Track & Field, Boys Volleyball, Coed Volleyball, Boys Tennis, Girls Tennis, Gymnastics, and Allied Softball. The Spring Sports Informational meeting will be held at lunch in the small gym on January 19th.

County Sports Zone also has all schedules for all sports: https://www.countysports.zone/

As you start planning for summer vacations, fall sports will start on August 9th, 2023.

If you should ever have questions, concerns, or comments, please reach out to Athletic Director/Specialist Rita J. Boulé at Rita_J_Boule@mcpsmd.org. Stay safe and healthy! Let’s Go Blazers!

The love of reading is alive at Blair! The Media Center Staff were thrilled to hold our 2nd Annual Free Book Fair on Wednesday, December 14! This was truly a labor of love on behalf of the entire community! We had well over a thousand books donated to the Free Book Fair, and our Project LIT @Blair students did the work of heroes in getting the books attractively displayed in time for our lunchtime event! Thanks to a core of dedicated student volunteers who spent many (many, many) hours in the weeks preceding the event, we pulled it off! Also - thanks to the many donors to our ongoing (more info below), we raffled off lots of free new books during our Free Book Fair! We look forward to another event in the spring.

Thank you, parents and other community members, for your support of our multifaceted media programs here! As part of our extension beyond the classroom, you have contributed nearly $1,700 to our First Book fundraiser that helps purchase the free new books we've raffled off over the years. During the upcoming months, we'll continue to sponsor more of our Free Book Giveaways.

Down the line, we are thrilled to be part of upcoming events in celebration of Black History Month. The Media Center will host a Sankofa Showcase in the Media Center on February 24 during lunch! We'll also host an event (yet to be planned fully) celebrating the National African American Read-In during the month of February, and will, of course, have LOTS of new, free books to raffle off!

As always, we are happy to help parents with ParentVUE questions. If you need help, please use this form and we can work to get your account up and running: https://mbhs.libwizard.com/id/d9654b88779879b4c62949e4e801b32b

Andrea Lamphier

Montgomery Blair HS

51 University Blvd., East

Silver Spring, MD 20901

240-740-7237

http://imc.mbhs.edu

https://news.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/quicknotes/deadline-coming-soon-for-rales-oneill-scholarships-recognizing-academic-excellence-2/

If you do not receive log-in information for your teen, please contact Ms. Melissa Young, Latino Achievement Coordinator, Melissa_Young@mcpsmd.org, or Ms. Andrea Lamphier, Media Specialist, Andrea_Lamphier@mcpsmd.org.

Student Schedules:

Student schedules will be available in ParentVUE and StudentVUE on Monday, August 23. Parents and students will need to log in to the report using the student’s ID and password. Report Link: https://studentschedule.mcpsmd.org

Scheduling, Transcript, Social Emotional Wellness Questions, Contact Your Teen's Counselor

School Counseling Department: 301-649-2810

https://sites.google.com/mcpsmd.net/mbhs-schoolcounseling-team/home/mbhs-school-counseling-team

All Things College and Career: Contact Jazmine Delos Reyes, College and Career Coordinator.

JazmineChareez_G_DelosReyes@mcpsmd.org

Melissa Young, is our MyMCPS/Synergy Parent Portal Staff Liaison, Melissa_Young@mcpsmd.org

Health Room: Full-Time School Nurse: Anisa Harris, Anisa_Harris@mcpsmd.org

Health Room Tech: Angela Romero, Angela_Romero@mcpsmd.org

Principal's Administrative Secretary, Claudine Biggs, Claudine_Biggs@mcpsmd.org

Attendance Office: Roxanne Fus, Roxanne_F_Fus@mcpsmd.org

Blair Security Office: Adrian Kelly, Security Team Leader.

Adrian_D_Kelly@mcpsmd.org

Financial Specialist: Donna Franklin, Donna_M_Franklin@mcpsmd.org

Parent Community Coordinator: Faye Nabavian, Farzaneh_Nabavian@mcpsmd.org

https://blairpcc.weebly.com/

MBHS ADMINISTRATION:

Renay Johnson: Principal, Renay_C_Johnson@mcpsmd.org

Joseph Fanning: Grade 9, A-L, Administrator, Joseph_M_Fanning@mcpsmd.org

Tracy Pettis-Jones: Grade 12, Administrator, Tracy_Pettis-Jones@mcpsmd.org

Lavina Carrillo: Grade 11, Lavina_Carrillo@mcpsmd.org

Rahman Culver: Grade 10, M-Z, Administrator, Culver, Rahman_A_Culver@mcpsmd.org

Adriana Burgos-Ojeda: Grade 10, A-L, Administrator, Adriana_Burgos-Ojeda@mcpsmd.org

Ramona Washington: Grade 9, M-Z, Administrator ,Ramona_L_Washington@mcpsmd.org

Peter Ostrander: Magnet & CAP Programs, Peter_M_Ostrander@mcpsmd.org

James Funk: School Business Administrator, James_W_Funk@mcpsmd.org