Christopher Berry
Blake Blue Note
October/November 2011

Welcome back for the second half of the year, and a new semester. While January signals the beginning of the calendar year, the school year in a high school actually begins again around the first of February. For many students, turning that page means the opportunity to take a fresh look at class in which they are continuing, or start new study habits that are better than old ones. There is nothing better, in many cases, than a blank page in which to make a new start. As I told students on our televised news on the first day, every student currently has a 4.0 GPA. Every day represents the opportunity to keep that 4.0. Students should not view a new semester simply as a directive to focus on fulfilling minimum requirements with the least possible effort. Instead, students should always be asking themselves how they can maximize their results with one purpose in mind – creating as many opportunities as possible at the high school finish line. It’s a somewhat simple premise, but work with your student daily to ask the questions, “What else can I do?” “Can that C be pushed to a B?” “Am I REALLY ready to take that quiz or test?”

In the next few weeks, students in grade 9 through 11 will register for their courses for the next school year. Decisions may be difficult as so many of our students are eager to take advantage of the variety of interesting and challenging courses we provide. The most important advice I can offer is to take the most rigorous and balanced schedule that the student, parent and counselor believe you can take. Students need to be challenged to reach beyond what even they see and their own potential. Often students opt for on-level classes because they see it as a safer opportunity to get a higher grade and grade point average. This needs to be questioned and discussed by both school-based adults and parents, particularly if the student has the potential to do more, even if it represents a stretch. We are shortchanging the A/B student in an on-level class who is comfortable and choosing not to try the risk of an honors or Advanced Placement level class. Most teenagers are risk-takers; the challenge is to encourage them to be appropriate academic risk-takers, encourage them to find support when they need to learn to work through struggle, and encourage them to feel a real sense of accomplishment for having truly mastered something that is complex and difficult. This is a game plan for success. The grade of B in an honors or AP course is weighted the same as an A in an on-level course in the weighted GPA. Colleges and universities look at both weighted and un-weighted GPA’s and look more favorably upon students with a more rigorous course load.

One by-product of encouraging students to take more challenging courses can be student overload. It is critical to determine which honors/AP courses and how many are reasonable for students to take. The workload in an honors course is greater and harder than on-level courses. Likewise, the step up from an honors course to an AP course is another degree of difficult that some students find surprising. Honors and AP courses are a different level of difficulty. Many students are highly successful at taking mostly honors courses. Many really challenge themselves and succeed at taking one or two, and then progress to others. The term “honors program” is really a fallacy in high school, in that taking honors or AP courses is not a sequential, all-or-nothing process for which a student is selected. All honors and AP level courses can be taken in an “a la carte” approach. Students should take advanced courses in the content areas in which they have a strength or a strong interest in, or for which they have been recommended. The balance is an important part of the student success. There needs to be discussion with students, parents, and counselors to plan for a rigorous but realistic course load. We have developed supports for students at all levels, but the month of February is the time to reprogram that academic GPS and determine the route for the coming year.

Let me offer a final few thoughts from the school perspective on the registration process. Student course selection is important as it determines staffing for the next school year. I probably don’t need to remind you that we live in extraordinary economic times, and that MCPS is having to make choices among bad options unlike many years in the past. While fiscal restraint is necessary, it will have an impact on the classrooms at Blake High School. Schools are given a set number of teaching positions based on student populations for the next school year. We hire teachers and assign classes based on the courses that students select. When students change their mind later, it can have a negative domino impact on class size. We build the master schedule with a distinct student-centered focus. Students need to make second and third choices because we can only offer classes when enough students are present to run the course. Sometimes we need to make hard choices when small numbers of students choose certain classes. We do not have the staffing to support every course every student would like to take. Priority is given to team-taught and inclusion classes which are capped at smaller classes to ensure the best learning environment for students who need support. In addition, Advanced Placement and signature arts-related classes are a priority. We make a concerted effort to run all of these courses that we can to maintain a breadth and depth of creative and academically challenging classes in our schedule for all of our students.

I’ve touched on the budget issue, but allow me to highlight a few more items related to this process. It is not hyperbole to suggest that the fiscal choices our school system faces are like none we’ve seen in a generation. The proposals that are currently being suggested and discussed are jaw-dropping in many cases, especially by Montgomery County standards. I would encourage you to do a couple of things as this timeline progresses into spring. First, please make a concerted effort to understand the complex nature of the budget process and factual news regarding proposals. The rumor mill is rife during these times, and it’s far more productive to deal in facts, rather than the opposite. I will attempt to communicate frequently with the community-atlarge about proposals that will impact the quality of the education at Blake. Please follow Eubie Mail, the Blake school website, and the Blake PTSA website, as well as your local news sources, for breaking information. Second, please allow your voice to be heard. This request is echoed time and again, but the stakes are higher than I can recall in a 25- year career in education. We do provide world-class education in Montgomery County. It is why people choose to live here versus other location. But it does come at a price and it is not a given. There are limits to this public service, especially in tight fiscal times, but please consider what the true long-term cost that differing cuts will bring.

Let me close by thanking all of the parent volunteers who make our school a true community of students, staff, and parents. Whether it is selling pizza, manning a concession stand, chaperoning a field trip, serving as a leader of a parent group, or writing a check for a fundraiser, Blake works because we all pull in the same directions. Your efforts do not go unnoticed by our students and staff. Thank you for the important and simple ways that you help our staff feel appreciated and, on a personal level, for taking the time to chat and reflect with me at so many student events. Please take the time to have a conversation with me about what’s on you mind when our paths cross.