Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School

Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School (B-CC)
Location
Bethesda , Maryland USA
Information
Type	Public Secondary
Established	1926
School district	Montgomery County Public Schools
Principal	Karen Lockard
Grades	9–12
Number of students	1,675
Campus	urban
Color(s)	Blue and Gold
Mascot	Baron
Newspaper	The Tattler
Yearbook	The Pine Tree
Website	Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School

Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School (B-CC) is a Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, public school named for two of the towns it serves along with Kensington and Silver Spring, Maryland. It is located at 4301 East-West Highway, in Bethesda, an unincorporated community in Montgomery County.

Bethesda-Chevy Chase is a part of Montgomery County Public Schools.

The school serves the Chevy Chase and Bethesda areas including the towns of Chevy Chase, Chevy Chase View, Chevy Chase Village, and Somerset; and the villages of Chevy Chase Section Three, Chevy Chase Section Five, Martin's Additions, and North Chevy Chase.

School performance

In 1960, the school was rated "Best School in America" by Time Magazine. In 2005 the school was ranked 29 in Newsweek Magazine's top 1000 High Schools in the U.S., ranked 34th in the 2006 edition and 44th in the 2007 edition of the list.

History

Begun as a two-story, 14-room facility on Wilson Lane in 1926, B-CC High School opened in its current location on East-West Highway in 1934 at 44,995 ft². New buildings or additions to existing buildings were constructed over the years:

• 1936 - 36,515 ft² added
• 1950 - 49,616 ft² added
• 1952 - 22,396 ft² added
• 1959 - 32,408 ft² added
• 1966 - 29,023 ft² added
• 1970 - 20,295 ft² added
• 1975 - 8,378 ft² added
• 1976 - 9,616 ft² added

which made the total school area 253,242 ft².

In the summer of 1994, parents, teachers, administrators, business people, and other supporters of B-CC High School formed the Community Coalition for Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. Its charge was to re-engineer and refocus the high school in an increasingly urbanized and cosmopolitan area. CC-B-CC representatives were encouraged to think broadly and innovatively to create programs that would lead B-CC High School and Montgomery County Public Schools into the next century.

Because of this effort, in February 2002, B-CC High School re-opened its doors after a two-and-a-half year, multi-million dollar, comprehensive modernization that, among other things, combined the historic 1934 and 1936 structures into one building. It had a 213,499 ft² addition, 94,716 ft² of renovations of the original 1934, 1936 and part of the 1950 buildings, and 158,526 ft² of demolitions of most of the 1950 building, 1952, 1959, 1966, 1970, 1975, and 1976 buildings. The building now encompasses 308,215 ft².

The school now boasts 70 classrooms (67 regular classrooms and 3 special or alternative education classrooms), a media center with 30 computer workstations and TV studio and media production facilities, a music laboratory and choral room, 2 gymnasiums and a weight training room, a 900-seat auditorium, and a cafeteria that serves breakfast and lunch. B-CC also has two "firsts" among Montgomery County Public Schools — a Cyber Café, opened in March 2003, and a state-of-the-art Language Lab, installed in the summer of 2004.

The Cyber Café and the Language Lab resulted from two major initiatives launched by the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School Educational Foundation. Founded in 1996 by a group of parents, alumni, teachers, and business and civic leaders in the B-CC community, the Foundation raises funds for projects that further the tradition of excellence for students at B-CC, now and in the future.

Administrators

• Principal: Karen Lockard
• Assistant Principal: Bennie Green
• Assistant Principal: Irina LaGrange

Notable staff

• Colman McCarthy, peace studies teacher

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of B-CC:

• Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl with a Pearl Earring
• Chet Culver, Governor of Iowa
• Tommy Davidson, comedian and part of the cast of the TV show In Living Color
• Council Nedd II, American Anglican Bishop
• Andy Duncan, founding member of the band OK GO
• Neal Fredericks, cinematographer, most notably for "The Blair Witch Project"
• Joe Haldeman, noted science-fiction writer and author of "Forever War"
• Robert Gordon, rockabilly singer
• Laura Hillenbrand, author of Seabiscuit: An American Legend
• Philip J. Kaplan, (aka Pud), notable internet personality and founder of Fuckedcompany.com and Adbrite
• Daniel Kessler, guitarist and founder of the band Interpol
• Neal Potter, County Executive of Montgomery County, 1990-1994
• Jeff Raines and Robert Mercurio, founding members of the band Galactic
• Joti Rockwell and Nathan Church Hubbard, founding members of the band Rockwell Church
• Jonathan I. Schwartz, CEO of Sun Microsystems
• Andy Serwer, journalist with Fortune magazine
• David Simon (writer), creator and executive producer of the HBO series The Wire (TV series)
• Daniel Stern, actor/writer/producer, noted for playing Marv, one of the burglars from the first two Home Alone movies, also wrote several episodes of the TV show The Wonder Years.
• David Stuart (Mayanist), Mayanist scholar and the youngest-ever recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship "genius grant"
• Becky Stark, actress and lead singer of Lavender Diamond.
• Jason Throckmorton, founder and partner, LaunchSquad

Academics

B-CC offers a variety of educational programs including the Advanced Placement Program and the International Baccalaureate Program to its students.

Chips is B-CC's award winning magazine, currently in its 71st edition, is a Colombia Scholastic Press Association Silver Crown winner, making it among the nation's top 5% of Literary Magazines

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Music and Theater

B-CC is a GRAMMY foundation signature school. In 2005, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School won the Maryland State Theatre Society's award for best musical for its production of Urinetown. Also, RepCo, a student-run, non-school affiliated organization received favorable reviews.

In April 2008, B-CC attended the Boston Heritage Festival. All of its music groups received golds and left with several trophies and plaques. They also received soloist awards for a number of their musicians. Despite leaving a string Bass which was recovered and returned by Takoma Park Middle School

The music department, led by Marshall White, boasts a Symphonic and Concert Orchestra and Band, Pep Band, Jazz Band, Drumline, and a number of chamber groups such as a string quartet, brass group, string ensemble, and many more. It also have several choral groups, and individual instrument courses like guitar and piano. The department offers a rigorous IB Music course as an 8th period to its students.

Athletics

Fall

• Boy's soccer
• Girl's Field hockey
• Girl's Volleyball
• Girl's Tennis
• Girl's Soccer
• Cross Country
• Football
• Cheerleading
• Golf
• Poms

Winter

• Girl's Basketball
• Boy's Basketball
• Indoor Track and Field
• Swimming and diving
• Cheerleading
• Wrestling
• Ice Hockey

Spring

• Girl's Lacrosse
• Boy's Lacrosse
• Boys Tennis
• Girls Tennis
• Baseball
• Gymnastics
• Outdoor Track and Field
• Poms
• Softball
• Co-ed Volleyball

Clubs

• BSA (Black Student Association)
• Asian Culture Club
• Chess Club
• Crew (Rowing)
• Juggling Club
• Global Action Club
• Ice Hockey
• Debate
• Rugby
• Ultimate Frisbee
• Squash
• Young Democrats
• Top Notch Steppers
• National Art Honors Society

Feeder Schools

Middle Schools

• Westland Middle School (6-8)

Elementary Schools Feeding into Westland Middle School

• Bethesda ES (K-5)
• Chevy Chase ES (3-6)
• North Chevy Chase ES (3-6)
• Rock Creek Forest ES (PreK-5)
• Rosemary Hills ES (PreK-2)
• Somerset ES (K-5)
• Westbrook ES (K-5)

External links

• Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School