MCPS

Per MCPS and Superintendent Dr. Monifa McKnight: The Montgomery County Board of Education and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) are committed to providing students with a world-class education, while also addressing their social, emotional and academic needs. This commitment is shared by teachers, administrators, supporting services staff, parents and the community. This letter presents the 2022-2023 School Year Reopening Guide for Schools.

The health and safety of our students and staff remain a top priority. Although COVID-19 is still with us, MCPS intends to carry out its continued commitment to deliver in-person instruction, five days a week, for all of our students. Our new MCPS medical officer, Dr. Patricia Kapunan, will partner with the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services to help implement COVID-19 guidance, with the goal of maintaining in-person learning while promoting the wellness of our entire school community.

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has reached an agreement with the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) to provide a $2,750 financial incentive to special education teachers who are hired for the 2022-2023 school year.

“We are happy to be able to offer this incentive to help fill these critical positions,” said Superintendent Monifa B. McKnight. “We are working diligently to fill every position and be 100 percent staffed come the first day of school, especially for our most vulnerable students in special education.”

After seeing a similar Facebook group in Frederick County reach over 3,000 members, MCPS teachers Jennifer Wilson and Kate Stone decided to create a Montgomery County version that allows community members to “adopt” an MCPS teacher and support them buy purchasing items for the teacher off of the teacher’s Amazon wishlist. “People have always want to donate to teachers, so we just wanted to make it easier for them to be able to do it.” Wilson told us. In less than three days, the Facebook group has over 1,000 members with hundreds of gifts already donated to local teachers.

Here’s how it works: Teachers create and share their public wishlist in a post, making sure to include the wishlist link in a post. Teachers are encouraged to include information about themselves and the school they teach at. Community members then have the option to purchase one or more items from any wishlist they choose to support. Community members are encouraged to let the teacher know they purchased something from the wishlist. If they choose to, multiple people can adopt one teacher and one person can adopt multiple teachers. Everyone is encouraged to be nice to each other.

Students are heading back to school later this month with teachers reporting on August 22nd for Pre-Service. August 22nd-26th will serve as professional days for teachers. Prior to the first day of school for students, MCPS is holding a Back-To-School Fair at Westfield Wheaton, and most students will be returning to school on Monday, August 29th (Only Arcola Elementary School and Roscoe Nix Elementary School follow the Innovative School calendar). Below you will see important dates to remember for the 2022-2023 school year:

2022

Below you will see notes from the August 8th, 2022 MCPS media briefing regarding recruitment and staffing for the 2022/2023 school year. The full video of the meeting is also available below.

Dr. Monifa McKnight (paraphrased):

MCPS currently has 247 full-time teaching positions and 60 part-time open teaching positions as the first day of school approaches (August 29th), according to the school system’s website. Last Tuesday, MCPS hosted a virtual informational session for job seekers to learn about available openings for the 2022-2023 school year. On Friday morning the Montgomery County Board of Education tweeted, “MCPS is looking for special education teachers! Do you know someone who would be a great fit? Encourage them to apply at http://mcpscareers.org“.

According to a late July post on the MCPS website, the school system offered the following information: MCPS is the largest and most diverse school system in Maryland. The district is seeking highly qualified professionals to join its workforce as classroom teachers and support professionals. The system is looking to hire for these critical areas: