8830 Piney Branch Rd #1012
Silver Spring, MD 20903

My daughter attended the Math and Science magnet at Blair, and it provided an extraordinary education for her. She was admitted to an Ivy League school and she has told us that she would not have survived majoring in a STEM subject without the rigorous preparation she received in the magnet, especially in mathematics. She pointed specifically to the extraordinary teachers in the magnet, some with PhDs in their subject, and their commitment, even during COVID, to ensuring student learning. They deserve a lot more recognition than they get! I had some reluctance for her to attend the Blair magnet, because the Takoma Park middle school magnet did not cultivate student cooperation, and let really destructive competitive behavior run rampant. By contrast, Blair magnet students were encouraged by teachers and the magnet principal to work with each other and support each other. (BTW, I am concerned that if Blair is destroyed as a county-wide STEM magnet, that this wonderful county resource will be lost.) The overall Blair HS administration did not harm the magnet, and that was all that was needed for the magnet to thrive. Other positives: the music theory class was amazing, and a great AP prep. My only negatives: the English program was appalling-- the teachers in that department were apathetic (especially during remote learning), students barely read anything for their classes, there were not many writing assignments, and my daughter had to catch up for college work by reading and writing in her spare time. And the school makes parents feel unwelcome-- I get the security concerns-- but by the time you go through all the security checkins, you are made to feel like a suspicious outsider rather than a partner in your child's education. And the sports facilities, while in good shape for this large student body, are not as open to the community outside of school hours as they should be. But overall, I recommend the science and math magnet to all students with a keen STEM interest!

Poor. I was disappointed with my experience as parent of a child of color. Children are treated differently and this school is not willing to address the deficiencies. If I had it all to do over, I would not send my child to this school if I had a choice.

Great school with supportive teachers and admin. Offers lots of extracurricular activities. Mrs. Holman and Mrs. Moses are particularly amazing!

The school is separated by the magnet and non-magnet programs - think protected and unprotected children. The non-magnet program, where most kids are enrolled, is like general population with all sorts of clicks and gang-like students who relentlessly bully, misbehave or just don't care to be there. It's like one city with a gated community who love their experience, as they get most of the attention and resources, and another-non-gated community who gets far less in terms of attention, unless it's to police activities of nearly all other malcontents.