Nominations for the 2022–2023 English Language Development (ELD) Awards open on Tuesday, April 11. This year, the ELD Awards will recognize Emergent Multilingual Learners (EMLs) who have shown achievement, leadership and perseverance in multilingual learning, participation and leadership criteria. Nominations open Tuesday, April 11 and are due Friday, April 28.
More information, including nomination forms and award criteria, are below:
The Maryland Beta Chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa, an international honorary organization for women educators, is offering a $1,500 scholarship for educators in MCPS or employees who wish to become educators. The scholarship is available to an MCPS employee studying to become a teacher, counselor or other educational specialist. It may also be used for professional development at a college or university to enhance the education of an MCPS teacher, counselor or other educational specialist. The scholarship must be used within one year from the date of notification of selection to receive the scholarship.
Those interested should email Janet Burton for an application. The deadline is Monday, May 1. Courtesy of MCPS.
Jordan Hawkins, who is coming off of leading the UConn Huskies to a National Championship, has officially declared for the NBA Draft. Hawkins is a Montgomery County native who attended Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Germantown and Gaithersburg High School for his freshman and sophomore years before transferring to DeMatha. Below is his announcement:
“First and Foremost I would like to thank God for giving me this opportunity. I want to thank my family for their continued support and guidance throughout this entire process. To Coach Hurley and the entire UConn staff thank you for believing in my dream and pushing me at times I felt like giving up.
Montgomery County native Fredricka Whitfield anchors the weekend edition of CNN Newsroom from CNN’s world headquarters in Atlanta, and is also a fill-in/substitute anchor for CNN’s At This Hour With Kate Bolduan. She has been with CNN for over two decades, starting with the news agency in 2002.
Whitfield grew up in Burtonsville and attended/graduated from Paint Branch High School in 1983. She went on to Howard University in DC, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Howard’s School of Communications in 1987. While at Howard, she was a news anchor for campus radio station WHUR. Whitfield worked for News Channel 8 after college, as well as television stations in Miami, Dallas, New Haven, and Charleston prior to serving as the Atlanta-based correspondents for NBC Nightly News from 1995-2001.
MCPS will honor its newly retiring employees, as well as those who retired in the past three years, during a reception on Thursday, June 8. The event will be held from 5–7:30 p.m. at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville. Registration will begin at 4:30 p.m.
For several years, MCPS has been unable to hold the annual retirement reception due to the pandemic. For that reason, this year’s event will recognize retirees from 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. To receive an invitation to this year’s reception, those newly retiring must submit completed retirement forms to the Employee and Retiree Service Center (ERSC) no later than Monday, May 15. Retirement forms are available on the ERSC Retirement Planning webpage. Employees who submit retirement paperwork after May 15, 2023, will be honored at next year’s reception.
Richard Montgomery High School of Montgomery County won the 2022 Maryland Envirothon placing 1st in aquatics, forestry, and 5th issue! They placed 2nd in the NCF Envirothon in Ohio!
2nd place: Anne Arundel County
A message was sent to the Blake High School community, on behalf of Dr. Donna Redmond Jones, Director, School Support and Well-Being, inviting the community to a meeting to discuss the process of searching for a new principal. Full message can be seen below:
“As you know, Mr. Robert Sinclair, Jr. was appointed by the Montgomery County Board of Education to be a consulting principal, effective July 1, 2023. My office will be conducting the search for the next principal, and community feedback is an important part of the process. Please join me via Zoom on Tuesday, April 11th at7:00 p.m. to discuss the principal search process, and for information about how you can give feedback about the desired characteristics of the next principal, as well as express interest to serve on the interview panel. The Zoom information is as follows:
25 student-athletes from five different Montgomery County high schools are currently going through leadership training with Adam Bradley’s Lead ‘Em Up to prepare for the Student-Athlete Mentor Program (SAMP), created by Joseph Hooks and the 480 Club.
The participating student-athletes had to interview in order to be hired for the stipend, which is fully funded by the Montgomery County Department of Health & Humans Services (DHHS). After the student-athletes go through an 8-part Lead ‘Em Up training, they will begin to serve as mentors for the program.
MCPS sent a community letter containing five things know for Thursday Mar. 30 and an update on the progress we are making to address the findings of the Antiracist System Audit. Get information on the work being done across the system since the report and findings, the mid-year Evidence of Learning framework, upcoming events, COVID 19 testing recommendations after spring break and more. The full letter, courtesy of MCPS, can be seen below:
1. Mid-Year Evidence of Learning Framework Demonstrates Gains in Student Performance, Continued Areas for Improvement: At its March 28 Board of Education meeting, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) leaders presented mid-year Evidence of Learning (EOL) data focused on grade-level proficiency using multiple measures to determine the success of students, schools and the district.
Per MCPS: The 5th annual Got the Power! Girls Conference will be held on Saturday, May 6 at The Universities at Shady Grove (USG) in Rockville. This free conference is open to middle and high school girls and their parents in Montgomery County. Check in begins at 9 a.m.; the program runs from 10 a.m.–3:30 p.m. The day will include speakers; parent and student workshops; exhibitors; and breakfast, lunch and snacks.
The event will include engaging and interactive parent and student workshops focused on financial literacy, college readiness, STEM, mental health awareness and self-care, self-defense and social media. Register by Saturday, April 15. The event will be held at USG, 9630 Gudelsky Drive, Building 2.
According to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, “today the Honorable David Lease, in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, sentenced defendant, Etienne Kabongo, to 90 years in prison suspend all but 40 years. He would face five years of supervised probation should he ever be released. The defendant pleaded guilty to crimes against four female victims, ages 12, 12, 18 and 20, who rode the bus he drove for Montgomery County Public Schools. While he pleaded guilty, Kabongo claimed he was not criminally responsible due to an alleged mental disorder. Last month, however, a jury found he is indeed responsible for the two counts of Second-Degree Rape and two counts of Sexual Abuse of a Minor.”