The curtain is rising on fall theater productions throughout the school system, at middle and high schools. Plan now to see these great performances, which run into early 2023. From “Shrek” and “Mamma Mia” to “Radium Girls” and “Lavender,” an original work by a 2023 Albert Einstein High School graduate, there’s something for everyone. Full list below, courtesy of MCPS:

Middle Schools


Applications for the Montgomery Virtual Academy (MVA) for the 2024-2025 school are now open and due Friday, Nov. 3, 2023. Applications for the waitlist for Semester 2 of the Virtual Academy’s 2023-2024 year are also due on Nov. 3. Applications submitted after Nov. 3, 2023, but by Feb. 9, 2024, will be added to the 2024-2025 waitlist. Rising Grades 2-12 students can apply in ParentVUE. Current MVA families MUST also reapply in ParentVUE.

The MVA is a comprehensive online instructional program. Students will engage virtually and synchronously five days a week during the traditional school day. The MVA provides a high quality engaging and innovative instructional program for students who thrive in virtual learning. The primary focus of the MVA is to foster a safe, inclusive online learning environment that meets the individual needs of all students. For questions about the MVA admission process, contact Cassandra Heifetz, dean of the lower school, or Jackie DeLucia, dean of the upper school.


Col. Zadok Magruder High School (5939 Muncaster Mill Road) is hosting this year’s Marching Band Showcase on Saturday, Oct. 21, starting at 1 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Twelve high school bands will be participating: Clarksburg, Damascus, James Hubert Blake, Paint Branch, Seneca Valley, Rockville, Springbrook, Montgomery Blair, John F. Kennedy, Watkins Mill, Albert Einstein and Magruder.

Each band will perform separately on the football field. The grand finale piece will include members of all 12 bands, performing Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.” This final performance will be entered into a contest that Metallica is sponsoring for marching bands. This year’s event will kick off with a middle school mass band performing the national anthem.


Northwest (6-0) at Churchill (5-1): Huge seeding battle in the 4A West and the teams involved should also pay mind to the Gburg-SV game. If Gaithersburg wins, the Trojans should be favored to win out the rest of the season finishing 8-1. Thus, assuming NW loses to QO next week, the loser of this game has a very real shot of falling down to the 4 seed and likely meeting QO Week 11. If Churchill pulls this off, suddenly the path to returning to the state reseeding just got a lot easier (obviously them beating NW would mean they have a clear path to advancing no matter what, but never bank on beating the Jags twice). Northwest hasn’t quite looked like their dominant selves the last couple weeks, they did start well against PB but cooled off and PB made it too close for comfort before the Jags got an insurance score. But Churchill hasn’t exactly fully played their best ball either the last couple weeks, and will need to come out swinging to pull this one off. This doesn’t look like a great matchup for the Dawgs as NW’s D-Line should limit Avit and Churchill’s pass defense is not great. Churchill will need to execute near-flawless in the passing game. Overall we think the Bulldogs keep it very close, but the Jags stay one step  ahead in a classic. Prediction: Northwest by 8

Paint Branch (3-3) at Blake (6-0): Once Blake beat Sherwood, without a whole lot of quality opponents on the Bengals’ schedule many immediately turned their eyes to this matchup. Blake has only beaten PB 3 times in the last 20 years, and are on a 10-year losing streak. If there was any time to get back in the win column, it’s now as PB is reeling having not been able to put it all together against their quality foes. However, our gut doesn’t like Blake in this one. Chalk it up to the Panthers being more battle tested and showing signs of improvement against Northwest. Prediction: Paint Branch by 6 


1. (LW 1) Quince Orchard 6-0: The Cougars handed out their 5th shutout of the season, beating Seneca Valley 28-0. Running Back Iverson Howard had 125 yards of total offense and 1 touchdown in the win. Quince Orchard will travel to Richard Montgomery on Friday.

2. Northwest (LW 2) 6-0: The Jaguars defeated Paint Branch 28-13.  Northwest had 201 passing yards and 2 touchdowns as a team.  The Jags will travel to Potomac to take on Churchill in a huge matchup next.


There are 182 public high schools in Maryland with an approximate average of 1,030 students per school. All of the 20 largest schools when it comes to enrollment have at least double the average. Full list below using data prior to the start of the 2023/2024 school year (Montgomery County high schools in bold):

20. Broadneck High School (Anne Arundel County): 2,203 students


Below you’ll see the most recent updates or final scores of the 2023 week 6 MCPS football games. The scores will be updated as we receive them. If a score isn’t listed, it’s because we haven’t yet received a report from the game that we can confirm. An ‘F’ signifies the score is confirmed as being final.

Thursday Games:


View More Stories