Carole C. Goodman, principal of James Hubert Blake High School, is this year's winner of the Mark Mann Excellence and Harmony Award, given annually to one local school administrator who has shown an exceptional ability to encourage academic excellence, positive human relations, and strong community outreach.

The award was presented by Superintendent Jerry D. Weast at a countywide meeting of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) administrative and supervisory personnel on October 6. “The panel members were particularly impressed with the diversity of the school's community involvement, your championship performance in creating a standard-setting arts and humanities signature program, and your ability to foster a challenging and creative academic environment,” Weast said in a letter informing Goodman of the award.

Goodman left her principalship at Herbert Hoover Middle School to open the new Blake High School in 1998. Since that time, the commitment to student success has grown incrementally as the school has mushroomed from 700 to 1,820 students. Blake students have participated in growing numbers of Honors and Advanced Placement (AP) classes and do well on the High School Assessments. In 2003, for example, 323 students took 571 AP tests in 16 different subjects.

As the first county high school with a signature program in the arts and humanities, Blake has been a pace-setter for other signature programs. Goodman helps infuse arts and humanities themes in all classrooms. Numerous Blake students have won local and national arts and talent competitions in media, drama, visual arts, and creative writing. Blake's Summer Institute for Art, Humanities, and Academic Achievement is a model for schools across the county and beyond. In recognition of her efforts, Goodman was honored with the Montgomery County Executive's 2003 Award of Excellence in the Arts and Humanities.

Goodman was recently chosen to be one of 10 consulting principals on the Administrative & Supervisory Professional Growth System Review Panel, a recognition of her positive human relations skills and ability to groom leaders. With an open-door policy, she is accessible to staff, teachers, parents and students. The ongoing peer recognition among staff, ROARS (Reach Out and Recognize Someone), was her brainchild.

Goodman also was recognized for being a bridge builder in the Blake community. Among other accomplishments, she created the Blake Arts Advisory Council, bringing together members of the professional arts and humanities community to advise on curricular and signature-related issues.