Montgomery Blair Receives Award for Gifted and Talented Education

February 16, 2011

Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring will be honored tonight (February 16) with the Maryland Excellence in Gifted and Talented Education (EGATE) award. Blair is one of just five schools statewide—and the only high school—to receive the prestigious award, which recognizes outstanding gifted and talented education.

The Maryland State Advisory Council on Gifted and Talented Education chose Blair and four other schools to receive the recognition after reviewing applications from across the state.

Administrators and staff members from Blair will receive the award on Wednesday, Feb. 16, in a ceremony at the Miller Senate Office Building in Annapolis, from 5-8 p.m. Blair will receive citations from Gov. Martin O’Malley and the Maryland State Department of Education, a banner and plaque, and will serve as a model and resource to other schools striving to achieve the EGATE status.

To qualify for the award, school staff must submit an application that documents how the school’s gifted and talented education program aligns with the Maryland Criteria for Excellence: Gifted and Talented Education Program Guidelines. Those criteria lay out optimal practices in four areas of gifted and talented programs: identification of students, curriculum and instruction, qualified teachers and professional development, and program management and evaluation.

Montgomery Blair, with more than 2,800 students, has a strong track record for serving gifted and talented students. Blair is home to several rich academic programs that meet students’ diverse interests: Entrepreneurship and Business Management; Human Service Professions; International Studies and Law; Media Literacy, and Science, Math and Technology, which complement its two magnet programs -- the Communication Arts Program (CAP), and the Science, Mathematics, Computer Science Magnet.

The EGATE award is the latest in a series of accolades honoring Blair’s academic excellence. This year, seven Blair seniors were named as semifinalists in the Intel Science Talent Search—the nation’s most rigorous and competitive pre-collegiate science contest. And since 1999, Blair has produced 149 semifinalists in the competition—more than any other high school in the United States.

Intel Science Talent Search press release

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