Academic Support to ensure all students are supported to meet their potential.
College Readiness to ensure all students who want to attend college are prepared and supported to meet that goal.
Professional Development to attract and retain the highest quality faculty and strengthen the bond between the school and the community.
TAP is an after-school academic support program staffed by B-CC teachers. TAP offers the entire student body support in all levels of English, math, science, and social studies. From homework help and feedback on papers to test preparation, TAP is flexibly designed to meet the real-time needs of students. The program is structured as a drop-in, housed in multiple classrooms or, in the 2020/21 school year, offered virtually.
9th Grade Summer Academy
The 9th Grade Academy is designed for incoming 9th graders who would benefit from extra support transitioning to high school. Educators provide an introduction to English, math, and science classes while teaching study skills and providing a general introduction to the school.
10th Grade Summer Academy
This summer program is designed to help academically at-risk rising 10th graders identify their post-high school goals and plan their high school coursework to reach them.
These one-week summer programs, one for rising 10th graders and another for rising 11th graders, introduce students to the rigor of AP and IB coursework and help them build the skills and confidence necessary to succeed in these programs. Student panels, coursework exposure, and team-building activities create a culture of success for students new to higher-level academics.
This summer workshop introduces students to the field of urban planning, culminating in a student-designed project that is evaluated by a panel of urban planning professionals.
The Foundation established the first Montgomery County open-access International Baccalaureate Program for grades 11 and 12 at B-CC. Today, it continues to ensure all students have access by paying exam and registration fees for students who are unable to afford these fees but who do not meet the criteria to receive funding from the Maryland State Department of Education.
Link Crew is a nationally recognized high school transition program designed to build community among students from multiple middle schools as they enter a large high school setting for the first time. This year-long mentoring program pairs Link Leaders (11th and 12th grade students) with diverse cohorts of freshmen. Beginning at orientation, Link Leaders help build a social and academic network for the cohort, creating a sense of belonging intended to surround students for their entire high school experience. The Foundation co-funds this B-CC program with the PTSA.
This annual writing contest, sponsored by B-CC’s student literary magazine, Chips, and B-CC’s English Department, and supported by the B-CC HS Educational Foundation, is open to the entire school. Students are invited to submit entries in four categories (short story, personal essay, poetry, and drama) to be judged by professional writers at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda.
The Foundation’s annual grants program provides funding for equipment, supplies, and support programs requested by various departments at B-CC.
Recent examples of departmental grants include:
The Lazarus Leadership Fellows Program builds leadership skills in 10th and 11th graders through a series of seminars and meetings with local leaders that culminates in a 200-hour community service project designed by each student. Students become fellows through a competitive application process.
CollegeTracks is a college pathways program incubated through the B-CC HS Educational Foundation and now adopted at multiple high schools across Montgomery County. The program is designed to ensure all B-CC graduates have the opportunity to choose a higher education pathway regardless of their family’s income or college-going experience. CollegeTracks staff and volunteers help students navigate the application process, financial aid, and a myriad of individual barriers to college success. Mentorship is a multi-year process, following students from high school through college graduation.
B-CC’s English department provides students with focused instruction and individual feedback as they write and complete their college essays. The summer workshop setting emphasizes peer learning and collaboration and most students finish the workshop with a completed essay ready for submission.
The Foundation is the only source of funding for teacher professional development at B-CC. Professional development grants support the principal’s priorities and over the years have included topics like racism and unconscious bias, student safety and wellbeing, technology and education, and discreet curriculum training. Funds support teachers' attendance at workshops and conferences as well as day-long professional training at B-CC.
To learn more about any of these projects, please email us at bccedfoundation@gmail.org.
A one-week summer program of leadership skill building and empowerment activities for 10th-12th grade girls, to provide them motivation and the skills needed to be leaders in their communities.
Provided a grant, matching one from the Maryland State Arts Council, to the English Department for a poetry residency at B-CC.
Designed to guide students and their families through the college admission process, the program partnered students with mentors to help them with applications, financial aid, SAT prep and other related steps.
Scholarships for college-bound B-CC students who are facing financial hardships and would otherwise not be able to attend college.
Provided academics and mentoring for suspended students to encourage positive social and emotional change, in collaboration with local churches, temples, high schools, and middle schools.
A summer program for students who did not pass one or more of their high school assessments (HSAs) to work on their special “Bridge Projects,” a requirement to graduate.
In partnership with B-CC Chamber of Commerce, students received an inside view of a variety of jobs and opportunities, spending an entire day following a person in a career in which they were interested.
A three-week summer program designed for rising 11th and 12th graders to guide them through the college search, application, and financial aid process.
The establishment of six labs, each with 33 computers, throughout the school for regular classroom instructions.
A pilot course in computer upgrading and technical support, including network management and C++ programming, which received overwhelming student support.
Opened in 2003 with access to the Internet for students’ use before and after school and during lunch, the Café provided the newest learning environment to support higher student achievement at B-CC, especially for those without access to computers outside school.
Art Department: A visiting artist to teach art/life drawing in studio art classes.
ESOL Department: Cultural enrichment activities for more than 80 ESOL students.
Journalism – The Tattler Senior Magazine: Funding for the printing of the Senior Magazine at the end of the school year.
Media Center: Purchased textbooks for Government, History, Psychology, Biology, and Physics classes for students to use in the Media Center before school, during lunch, and after school.
Career Center: Grant to help defray the cost of Career Partnership Day
Media Center: Grant for the purchase of two Apple iMac computers and a multimedia projector that has the resolution, brightness, and image size needed for large group presentation, facilitating multi-class events in the auditorium, cafeteria, and gymnasium.
Music: Grant for the purchase of two ipads to replace older laptops allowing better recordings and other options to enhance rehearsals, and a scanner to scan music for posting on the website to facilitate access by students.
Physics: Grant for the purchase of customizable model rocket kits.
Technology: Grant for a projector and equipment to reconfigure the classroom to facilitate instruction and student interaction.
Math and Science: Annual subscription to the Quest homework database for teachers and students in Math and Science.
Music Department: A pilot program using professional musicians from the Washington Conservatory of Music for coaching sessions with student instrumental groups, “brown-bag” clinics, and a new set of drums and a bass for the orchestras and bands.
This literacy program within the Rosemary Village Cooperative in the B-CC cluster paired students with help for reading and vocabulary.
A brand new system of computers for the school’s Media Center for students’ use before, during, and after school; also high tech upgrades for the English, Science, and Math Departments.
Seed money and supplemental funding for this academically rigorous world-recognized program, including funding for teacher training and curriculum materials.
A two-week summer workshop for B-CC and Westland students to develop their non-fiction reading, writing, and analytical skills to meet new or changing state and national standards.
Funded the first-ever Language Lab with a 32-person, state of-the-art language learning center, with high-tech teacher and student workstations, benefiting the 90% of B-CC students who were in foreign language and ESOL classes. The Foundation continues to fund the upgrades of the lab’s equipment and central operating system.
Offered in partnership with Strathmore Hall Arts Center, highly talented performers custom crafted their lesson to B-CC needs. Using music and drama, they explored history, literature, writing, and language with students at every grade level. This program reached all students at B-CC High School.
A mentoring program for experienced teachers to support new teachers at B-CC in the 2013-2014 school year. Cuts in consulting and staff development teacher and mentor positions at MCPS substantially reduced the level of support new teachers receive.
Independent architectural and technical review during the 2000-2002 modernization ensuring the new B-CC would have the best possible design and structure.
Two seven-week basic computer skills classes at B-CC’s Cyber Cafe for ESOL and Latino parents in the B-CC Cluster schools to help them learn the technology they need to be engaged in their children’s education.
Two 12-week ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) courses, provided in cooperation with Montgomery College teachers, to help B-CC cluster parents improve their English-language skills and their interaction with schools and teachers.
Funding over 50 teachers’ participation in seminars and workshops with emphasis on training for new educational tools and instructional programs. These teachers multiplied the benefits by training their colleagues.
Supplemental funding for a student exchange program with Moscow School 45. This nationally recognized program, established in the Reagan Administration, brought a true cross-cultural experience to B-CC students.
Grants to cover Science Fair expenses for students for whom these expenses were a hardship.
Substitutes’ time for special education teachers during HSA training and planning day.
Curriculum development for a study hall where students learn various organizational methods, communication skills, and study habits.
Targeted at academically-at-risk students with a 2.5 grade point average or below.
One-week intensive summer program to support incoming 9th graders registered for honors math at B-CC.
Student training to build cultural diversity at school.
English class writing workshops led by community-based and alumni writers.
