MCPS

Community Mourns The Loss of Former P.E. Teacher/Coach/Administrator

By MCS Staff

The Blake High School athletics department announced the passing of former P.E. Teacher, soccer coach and assistant principal Rudy Tyrell after a battle with Leukemia. Tyrell also served as assistant principal at Gaithersburg High School and most recently returned to MCPS as an acting administrator at Seneca Valley High School after initially retiring after 30 years of service with MCPS in 2020.

Blake Athletics shared the following, “It is with a heavy heart that we are sharing that former Blake Soccer Coach, PE Teacher and Assistant Principal Rudy Tyrell has passed away after battling leukemia. Please keep his family and all those who were positively impacted by Mr. Tyrell in your thoughts.”

Seneca Valley High School shared the following letter to the school community:

It is with great sadness that I must inform you of the death of Mr. Rudy Tyrell, acting assistant principal at Seneca Valley High School during the 2023-2024 school year. Mr. Tyrell devoted his life to education and his family. He joined the SVHS community at a time of transition and helped me personally as I became the acting principal, then eventually principal. I have known Mr. Tyrell for the better part of 17 years in MCPS.

He was a man of his word and would do anything and everything for his students.

Mr. Tyrell’s career began as a high school physical education teacher before becoming an administrator at James Hubert Blake HS, and then Gaithersburg HS. After retirement, Mr. Tyrell returned to MCPS in order to support schools as an acting administrator, having most recently spent the better part of last year at Seneca Valley HS as acting assistant principal. His presence in MCPS is far reaching. As an MCPS community our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, two children and their family.

A support team of psychologists, counselors, and social workers from Montgomery County Public Schools have coordinated with the Seneca Valley High School staff to be onsite and provide counseling and support to students today and tomorrow, December 12, 2024. If students need additional support, they should report to our school counseling office.

Your child may be coming home with questions and worries about this loss. We have attached some suggestions that may prove helpful to you as you talk about Mr. Tyrell’s death with your child. Please contact the school if you have any concerns you would like to discuss.

I know you join me in extending our heartfelt sympathy to Mr. Tyrell’s family. When we receive word regarding funeral arrangements, I will share the information with you.