About Blair

(240) 740-7200

 

51 University Boulevard East

Silver Spring, Maryland 20901

Directions

 

Principal Kevin Yates

Home of the Blazers

Crescens Scientia

 

A Short History of Montgomery Blair High School

Montgomery Blair High School (MBHS) serves the diverse population of Silver Spring, Maryland, in Montgomery County, just outside of Washington, DC. Montgomery Blair High School's precursor was Takoma-Silver Spring High School, founded in 1925. It opened with eighty-six students and five faculty members, including the principal, Mrs. Evalene Beebe. Three years later, the Board of Education decided to expand the school to include a junior high school.

 

By the mid 1930's, the school was getting large enough that it was determined to split the junior and senior high schools, and a new high school was constructed "miles from anywhere." The high school moved, along with its seal, ring, song, traditions, and colors (red and white) in March 1935. The new school was named after Montgomery Blair, Abraham Lincoln's Postmaster General, lawyer for Dred Scott before the Supreme Court, and former Silver Spring resident.

 

After World War II, the population of suburban Maryland grew by leaps and bounds, and the school found itself by a growing downtown Silver Spring, instead of miles from anywhere. Its student population grew from 714 in 1946 to 1,323 five years later. The school expanded its campus over the next decades, and today it houses close to 3,000 students, the county's largest enrollment.

 

With the continuing expansion of the Silver Spring area in the 1990s, and the annexation of Prince George's County part of Takoma Park into Montgomery County, the Blair population reached well over 3,000 by the turn of the century. With this in mind, the County built a new Blair High School at the corner of Colesville Road and University Boulevard in the Four Corners area of Silver Spring. The school opened for the 1998-99 school year.

 

Blair houses Montgomery County Public Schools' Communication Arts Program (CAP), a humanities and media program, the Blair Science, Mathematics, Computer Science Magnet Program, and the Academies at Montgomery Blair.

Alma Mater:

By old Sligo's winding waters

Gentle hills of green

Shelter as their proudest treasure

Alma mater queen

We thy students will be loyal

For thy glory fight

Always keep thy name untarnished

And thy honor bright

 

Sixty years by Sligo’s waters, beacon on the hill

Ever growing, moving upward, making progress still

Fine new programs, diverse students; time to move ahead

On to new heights at Four Corners with the white and red

 

As the years shall bring thee power

And thy of share fame

Countless students coming after

Shall exalt thy name

Speak thee fairly speak thee proudly

Shout it to the air

Hail to thee our alma mater

Hail Montgomery Blair

(The middle verse, added in 2004, was written by teacher emeritus Norm Stant, Senior Class Advisor for over 30 years)

School Colors:

Red and White

School Mascot:

Blazer

School Song:

Fight! Blazers, fight for old Blair high

Right behind you everyone is with you

Break the line and follow down the field

And you'll be upon the top, upon the top

On Blazers you will always win

Proud to see your colors flying skyward

In the end you'll win a victory

So Blazers fight for old Blair high

FIGHT!!!!!

 

Directions

51 University Boulevard East

Silver Spring, Maryland 20901

 

Please note! There are only a very limited number of visitor parking slots in the University Boulevard parking lot. The directions below direct you to the Colesville Road parking lot, which has a high number of visitor spaces. Cars without permits parked in non-visitor spots during school hours will be towed!

 

Please also note! Due to county regulations, the doors to the Colesville Road lot are locked after 8:00 AM. Visitors who park later in the day in the Colesville Road lot are encouraged to walk around the building to the left to reach the unlocked doors at the main school entrance.

 

Approaching the school from

Downtown Silver Spring

Take Colesville Road North toward White Oak. After crossing the Beltway, the school is the first entrance on your right. Follow the signs to Visitors' Parking.

Takoma Park, Langley Park, or College Park

Take Route 193, University Boulevard, North. At Route 516, Franklin Avenue, take a left. Take Franklin until it ends, at US Route 29, Colesville Road. Turn Right. After crossing over the Beltway, take the first entrance to your right into the school grounds. Follow the signs to Visitors' Parking.

White Oak, Colesville, Burtonsville, or Columbia

Take US Route 29 (Colesville Road/Columbia Pike) South. You will see the school on your left immediately after you cross Route 193, University Boulevard. However, you must pass the school and continue over the Beltway on Colesville Road. At the second cut in the median, you can make a legal u-turn and head North on Colesville. After crossing back over the Beltway, enter the school grounds by making your first right, and follow the signs to Visitors' Parking.

Bethesda, Rockville, Gaithersburg, Germantown, Northern Virginia, or other points West of Silver Spring

Get onto the Inner Loop of the Beltway, heading toward Silver Spring (I-495 East in Montgomery County, I-495 North in Northern Virginia). Get off at Exit 30 North (US Route 29, Colesville Road, Columbia). The school is the first entrance on your right after merging onto Colesville Road. Follow the signs to Visitors' Parking.

Baltimore and other points to the Northeast

Take I-95 South toward Washington. At the Beltway, exit 27, take I-495 West toward Silver Spring. After getting on the Beltway, take Exit 29, Route 193, University Boulevard. You will see the school at the end of the exit ramp, however you must turn left, away from the school onto Route 193 South in order to reach the school's Visitors' Parking. Take a right at the first light, Route 516, Franklin Avenue. Take Franklin until it ends, at US Route 29, Colesville Road. Turn Right. After crossing over the Beltway, take the first entrance to your right into the school grounds. Follow the signs to Visitors' Parking.

Washington, DC proper

Travel North on Sixteenth Street, NW. At the state line with Maryland, there is a very small traffic circle. Take the soft (60 degree) right onto Route 340 North, Colesville Road. Do not take the hard, 120 degree right onto Eastern Avenue. Traveling through Silver Spring, Colesville Road will become US Route 29 North. About 2.5 miles form the district line, you will cross over the Beltway, I-495. Take the first right entrance after your cross the Beltway, onto the school's campus, and follow the signs to Visitors' Parking.

Prince George's County, Annapolis, Southern Maryland, or the Eastern Shore

Travel to the Washington Beltway, I-495, and take it North. DO NOT take I-95 North when it splits off toward Baltimore; stay on I-495. Take Exit 29, Route 193, University Boulevard. You will see the school at the end of the exit ramp, however you must turn left, away from the school onto Route 193 South in order to reach the school's Visitors' Parking. Take a right at the first light, Route 516, Franklin Avenue. Take Franklin until it ends, at US Route 29, Colesville Road. Turn Right. After crossing over the Beltway, take the first entrance to your right into the school grounds. Follow the signs to Visitors' Parking.

Richmond and other points to the South

Get onto I-95 North. When you reach the Washington Beltway, take exit 170B, I-495 North, toward Tyson's Corner (the Inner Loop of the Beltway). Get off at Exit 30 North (US Route 29, Colesville Road, Columbia). The school is the first entrance on your right after merging onto Colesville Road. Follow the signs to Visitors' Parking.