[4] When deciding the name for the new high school, the community narrowed its choice to two deceased artists raised in Maryland: jazz legend James Hubert "Eubie" Blake and Muppets creator Jim Henson.

When the Jim Henson Foundation declined the honor, the high school was named after James Hubert Blake instead.

[5] When opened on August 31, 1998,[6] Blake High School had approximately 819 students enrolled, in the ninth and tenth grades.

[6] The Maryland Instructional Computer Coordinators Association named Mary Wagner the Outstanding Technology-Using Educator of the Year in 2002.

Jeweler was director of Blake High School's television production program, served as internship coordinator, and taught media arts.

[9] Mary Wagner won The Washington Post's Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award in 2004.

Wagner was recognized for leading field trips, inviting guest speakers, having mock congresses and cabinets, conducting Election Day exit polls, and encouraging debate, all to teach her students about history and government.

[11] In 2004, Blake High School's principal, Carole C. Goodman, received the Mark Mann Excellence and Harmony Award.