Montgomery Blair sent the following message to the Blair community at 2:19pm: “All students will dismiss at 2:30 today using their regularly scheduled transportation. Students with a 9th period will dismiss to our stadium and shuttles will take them to Eastern MS. They will board buses with middle school magnet students to go home. All athletic programs, clubs, and RecZone are canceled until further notice. Athletic games will be reevaluated at 4:30.” We will provide an update if additional information becomes available.

To maintain a safe environment, we made the decision to dismiss all students at 2:30 p.m. Ninth period students were directed to the stadium until they could be safely transported to Eastern Middle School where they will board buses to go home. As a result of this threat, all after-school activities and athletics have been canceled this evening until further notice. We are working closely with the authorities to investigate the threat and take appropriate measures to ensure the ongoing safety of our school community.


With the first “early decision” college-application deadline looming on Nov. 1, and tuition and room and board at a four-year college costing $27,940 – $57,570 per year, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its 2024’s Best College & University Rankings report and top 10 colleges and universities in Maryland (full list available below).

To help college-bound seniors make the most informed school choices, WalletHub compared over 800 higher-education institutions in the U.S. based on 30 key measures grouped into seven categories, such as Student Selectivity, Cost & Financing and Career Outcomes. The data set ranges from student-faculty ratio to graduation rate to post-attendance median salary.


In an email to staff on Friday, MCPS superintendent Dr. Monifa McKnight shared additional changes in personnel for the school system. Dr. McKnight previously emailed administrative and supervisory staff on Wednesday to inform them of changes that included announcing that deputy superintendent Dr. Patrick Murphy was no longer employed by the district and that two members of the MCPS Office of School Support and Well-Being (OSSWB), Dr. Donna Redmond Jones and Dr. Eugenia (Jeanie) Dawson are currently on leave. The additional changes shared can be seen below:

    •    Effective Monday, October 16, 2023, Dr. Betty J. Collins will serve as acting deputy superintendent. Dr. Collins, an MCPS graduate, enjoyed a distinguished 49-year career in the district as a teacher, principal, and director of Instructional Leadership, before her retirement in 2018.


Below you’ll see the most recent updates or final scores of the 2023 week 7 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’s Games:


9:25am Update by Principal Renay Johnson: Police have given us the all-clear. Staff and students can re-enter the building. Report to period 3. Thank you!

8:49am update by principal Renay Johnson: We have a large campus and 19 outside classrooms. Our police partners are checking all areas. If students need to be dismissed, parent / guardians reunification area is at the firehouse next to our school. Classes will resume once we receive the all- clear from police.


The State Board voted unanimously on Wednesday evening to appoint Dr. Carey Wright as the interim State Superintendent of Schools for the remainder of the current term through June 30, 2024. Dr. Wright will begin her service as State Superintendent by October 23, 2023, pending the completion of onboarding logistics.

Most recently, Dr. Wright served for nine years as the State Superintendent of Schools in Mississippi leading successful educational reform efforts that guided Mississippi to lead the nation in improving student achievement outcomes. She has consistently demonstrated an ability to build consensus by developing critical relationships with key stakeholders to achieve results.


Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) will be emphasizing the importance of school bus safety and saying thank you to all who transport MCPS students during National Bus Safety week from Oct.16–21.

National School Bus Safety Week is a public program designed to educate the public about the importance of school bus safety. Each year schools organize events to bring attention to school bus safety and to recognize the critical role school bus employees play in providing safe transportation to our students.


Today, MCPS Superintendent Dr. Monifa B. McKnight delivered the following remarks during the Board of Education business meeting, providing an update on the comprehensive corrective action plan she has been charged with developing:

“I want to thank the Board for committing to releasing a redacted version of the Jackson Lewis report, which many in our community have asked for and is indeed an important step for restoring trust with our staff and community.


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