Category: School Notebook

MD General Assembly Finally OKs Funding for Northeast County Schools


The Maryland General Assembly passed HB 1 on Tuesday evening that will help fund school construction projects across the state. Baltimore County will receive additional $400 million in school construction funding from the bill.

This includes three northeast Baltimore County school projects; a new elementary school in the Rossville area, a new middle school at Nottingham Park on King Avenue and to expand Pine Grove Middle School in Carney.

The three northeast projects were planned several years ago to alleviate overcrowding, but those projects hit a few road bumps when Baltimore County Executive John Olszewski, Jr. announced a budget shortfall in early 2019.

An original construction bill that would have funded the three projects was introduced in the 2019 General Assembly. That bill passed in the House of Delegates but never received a vote in a Senate committee.

The bill again passed through the House of Delegates on Feb. 14, but it appeared to be looming again in the Senate.

With the arrival of the coronavirus forcing the session into a three-week early adjournment, some were fearful that the bill might be a casualty as a result of the shorter session.

But northeast Baltimore County residents received the good news when the bill passed through the Senate 45 to 0 on Tuesday. Councilman David Marks has been an advocate for new schools in his district. He said this funding will help with overcrowded schools in his district.

“Thank you to the Senators who represent parts of the Fifth District – Chris West, Kathy Klausmeier, and J.B. Jennings – for their support,” Mark said in a statement. “The Build to Learn Act will help advance two new schools in the northeast, expand Pine Grove Middle School, and put us on a path to build new high schools throughout the county.

The funding will be finalized when Gov. Larry Hogan, who requested the legislation, signs the bill into law.

BCPS Expands Meal Options for Their Students


In addition to the previously announced free meals available from Baltimore County Public Schools, the school system expanded meal sites today and will begin providing breakfast, lunch, and dinner at all sites tomorrow, Wednesday, Mar. 18.

Free meals have also been announced by the Maryland State Department of Education (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and Baltimore County Government (lunch).

BCPS program

By tomorrow, BCPS will be providing free Grab and Go meals for its students at 41 sites during the state-mandated closure of schools. Please continue to check the BCPS Coronavirus Updates webpage for the latest list.

• Grab and Go lunch from the BCPS Office of Food and Nutrition Services is available on weekdays through Mar. 27.
• New sites added today include Cove Village Apartments—Essex, Dulaney HS, Kings Point Shopping Center, Rosedale Library, and Sollers Point Multi-Purpose Center.
• Tomorrow, Wednesday, Mar. 18, BCPS will begin providing breakfast, lunch, and dinner to students at all sites.
• New sites beginning on Mar. 18 include Carney ES, Chadwick ES, St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church on Eastern Avenue, and Woodmoor ES.

Students must be present to receive meals in the parking lots of the locations identified below on weekdays through Mar. 27, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Northeast/Central Areas
• Carney ES (as of Wednesday, Mar. 18)
• Dulaney HS (as of Tuesday, Mar. 17)
• Elmwood ES
• Halstead Academy
• Middle River MS
• Oakleigh ES
• Padonia ES
• Parkville HS
• Pleasant Plains ES
• Rosedale Library (as of Tuesday, Mar. 17)
• Stemmers Run MS

Southeast Area
• Battle Grove ES
• Chesapeake HS
• Cove Village Apartments, Essex, in front of rental office (as of Tuesday, Mar. 17)
• Deep Creek MS
• Dundalk ES
• Dundalk HS
• Hawthorne ES
• Logan ES
• Sandy Plains ES
• Sollers Point Multi-Purpose Center (as of Tuesday, Mar. 17)
• St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church, Eastern Ave. (as of Wednesday, Mar. 18)
• Sussex ES

State program

Maryland has announced free meals for students – three meals per weekday – available from all its summer meal sites. The state’s website includes a map feature at mdsummermeals.org to help families find the meal site closest to them.

County program

Beginning Tuesday, March 17, the Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks is offering limited meal distribution to children 18 and under through the Maryland Food Bank and Healthy Food Access St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore. Take-away meals will be offered from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays. Meal supplies are limited, and meals will be distributed on a first come first serve basis at the following locations:

• Arbutus Community Center, 865 Sulphur Spring Rd., 21227
• Cockeysville PAL Center, 9836 Greenside Dr., 21030
• Dundalk PAL Center, 15 Commerce Pl., 21222
• Hillendale PAL Center, 1111 Halstead Rd., 21234
• Mars Estates PAL Center, 1498 East Homberg Ave., 21221
• Scotts Branch PAL Center, 3651 Rolling Rd., 21244
• Shady Spring PAL Center, 8876 Goldenwood Rd., 21237
• Winfield PAL Center, 8304 Carlson Ln., 21244
• Woodmoor PAL Center, 7111 Croydon Rd., 21207

Essex’s Deep Creek Middle Drama Club named Honorees


The Deep Creek Middle Drama Club has been named one of the six honorees in the 2020 Young Playwrights Festival, presented by Baltimore Center Stage.

The members of the Deep Creek Middle Drama Club are: My’Kelle Carter, Shakiyah Carter, Carlita Church, Aniyah Dangerfield, AaShyah de Vires, Jason Emmanuel, Sarah Francisco, Monique Franklin, Reuben George, Ty’Liyah Green, Sumyah Jacobs, Elijah Kurtyka, Jade Lawrence, Brandon McMurrin, Carter Mills-Franklin, Makayla Powell, Kirsten Tyler, Akeelah Washington. All the club members are in Grade 7, except for Kurtyka, Mills-Franklin, and Washington, who are Grade 8 students. The club is coordinated by Jessica Schmitz, social studies teacher at Deep Creek Middle.

The Young Playwrights Festival and Residency Program has been the flagship education program of Baltimore Center Stage for the past 40 years. Students in Grades K-12 throughout Maryland are eligible to submit plays to the annual competition. The theme of this year’s festival is Seize the Day. Winning playwrights are honored with a playwright mentor to help them refine and edit their scripts before the plays receive a professional production.

The plays by Deep Creek Middle Drama Club (“Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200: A Murder Mystery”) and Nelson (“The Earthlings”) will be performed publicly on Friday, March 27 at 6 p.m. in The Pearlstone Theater at Baltimore Center Stage, 700 N. Calvert St., 21202. Tickets are free ($5 suggested donation) and available online. Seating is limited, and tickets are required.

FOX 45 to Host Town Hall About Parkville High Sex Offender Case


In response to the story about a sex offender attending Parkville High School, Fox 45 announced on their newscast that they will host a Project Baltimore Town Hall called Registered and Enrolled. The event will take place on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. at Tall Cedars of Lebanon. 2501 Putty Hill Avenue in Parkville.

Fox 45 has been covering the case about the 21-year-old registered sex offender attending the school and is hosting a public forum to provide information to the community.

According to Fox 45, some elected officials and some school board members will attend the event. The station did not specify which elected officials and school board members were attending but they did state that BCPS Superintendent Dr. Darryl L. Williams declined an invite.

Fox 45 has provided town halls for Baltimore mayoral candidates in locations throughout Baltimore City.

Dundalk High Student Among Three Finalists for BCPS Board Member


This year will be the first time that BCPS secondary students will be able to select their new student member for the Board of Education of Baltimore County. Each year, a student member serves on the BCPS Board of Education for a one-year term, but this will be the first election.

One of the three students on the ballot is Joshua Muhumuza of Dundalk High School. Muhumuza is a junior and is a member of the Dundalk school’s National Honor Society, Student Government Association and Homeland Security Program. Muhumuza has participated in the school’s debate team, AVID program, soccer team, Model Congress and Model U.N. programs.

He also serves as the southwestern representative for the Baltimore County Student Councils and a member of its infrastructure committee. Outside of school, he tutors with his church, serves as a volunteer soccer coach at Dundalk Middle School and is a senior patrol leader with the Boy Scouts of America.

He is running against Rosalind Marfo of Franklin High School and Vinay Khosla of Dulaney High School.

Marfo participates in a variety of community service activities, such as Baltimore City’s annual Day of Hope, and volunteers at homeless services providers such as Beans & Bread. As a member of Franklin’s mock trial team, Marfo says the most powerful way to show solidarity and affect change is through the law. Her participation in Franklin’s Student Government Association is an outgrowth of her respect for the law and the process of legislation.

Khosla is also a junior and has served on the Baltimore County Student Council’s General Services Committee. That is where he has advocated for an increased variety of vegetarian lunch options and voiced student concerns over the use of school devices and technology. He is PTSA liaison for Dulaney’s Student Government Organization and varsity captain for the Lion’s cross country and track and field teams. He participates in Future Business Leaders of America and Model United Nations as well.

Middle and high school students will cast online ballots on Thursday, March 12, for either Khosla, Marfo or Muhumuza. Each of the candidates, who were among five finalists, was chosen Feb. 5 following interviews with a panel consisting of students and administrators.

The student receiving the most votes on March 12 will be recommended for appointment to the governor, who annually appoints a student member to the Board for a one-year term.

For the past four years, student Board member candidates were vetted and voted upon during a special convention with student representatives and council leaders. Prior to 2016, student members were chosen and recommended by a committee of BCPS educators, staff, and student leaders.

This year, the application process was expanded to allow and encourage participation from all BCPS middle and high school students. Videotaped speeches from each of the three candidates will be available from Monday, Feb. 24, to Wednesday, Feb. 26, both online on the BCPSOne platform and in selected classes throughout the county. That will be followed by a videotaped question-and-answer session for the three candidates to be viewed online by students on Tuesday, March 10, and Wednesday, March 11.

Student voting will take place online from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on March 12.

Kenwood’s Hunt One of 200 Cadets to Earn Honor


Josh Hunt, of Kenwood High School, is one of just 200 Air Force Junior ROTC cadets worldwide to earn a Chief of Staff Private Pilot Scholarship from Headquarters Air Force Junior ROTC. More than 2,575 cadets worldwide applied for the scholarships.

Valued at approximately $22,500, the scholarship will support Hunt in attending an accredited aviation university during the summer of 2020 to participate in an 8-week private pilot license training program. The scholarship covers transportation, room and board, academics, and flight hours required to potentially earn a private pilot certification.

“JROTC has given me lots of opportunities like this scholarship,” said Hunt, “and
I’ve learned a lot in regard to leadership and how to lead people as I’ve been in a leadership role in the JROTC the past three years.”

The scholarship program is an Air Force-level initiative, in collaboration with the commercial aviation industry, to address the national civilian and military pilot shortage.

Hunt hopes to become a pilot in the Air Force but also plans to attend college to pursue his interest in marine biology

Justin Berk Visits Dundalk School


Meteorologist Justin Berk visited Our Lady of Hope/St. Luke School in Dundalk on Wednesday, Jan. 29.

Berk was known as the meteorologist on WMAR-TV and now has a website called www.justinweather.com where he still forecast the weather

Berk gave students a crash course in weather forecasts at the school. Despite having limited snow in the Baltimore area, Berk told OLHSL students that he is hopefully that there will be snow in the forecast for February.

“I saw the word ‘Faith’ painted on the walls here, so if Our Lady of Hope/St. Luke School has Faith in the (February) Flakes, then it might bring more people on board,” Berk said on social media about his visit. “Thank you for inviting me in to spend the afternoon with your students. STEM is always awesome, but with winter weather it’s extra cool”

This week is Catholic Schools Week and today was “Student Day” at the school.

“Thank you Justin Berk, Meteorologist for visiting our School and celebrating Student Day with us,” said an OLHSL post on the school’s Facebook page. “We certainly have Faith that we will see Flakes this February.”

BCPS to Open Schools on Presidents’ Day


The Maryland State Board of Education has approved a request from Baltimore County Public Schools to make Presidents’ Day (Monday, February 17, 2020) a regular school day, with all schools and offices open.

This change is in accordance with the 2019-2020 school calendar, and the planned use of emergency closure make-up days. Opening schools on February 17, 2020 will make up for the school system’s emergency closure of schools on December 16, 2019.

BCPS announced their plan to open schools on Presidents Day a few weeks ago to make up a snow day on Dec. 16 but it was not official until now with state approval.

BCPS Students to Convene for Outstanding Young Women Leaders Program


One Grade 11 student from each Baltimore County public high school has been selected to participate in the 2020 cohort of the Outstanding Young Women Leaders Program, a new initiative of the Towson University Women’s Leadership Collective. The Collective was conceived by Dr. Nancy Grasmick, the Presidential Scholar and Women’s Leadership Ambassador at Towson University.

The selected eastside BCPS students are:
•Eliya Behailu, Parkville High

•Adria Fialkowski, Sollers Point Technical High

•Lesly Guevara, Chesapeake High

•Chahat Kumari, Dundalk High

•Carmelli Leal, Eastern Technical High

•Michelle Ramirez, Overlea High

•Bianca Skipper, Patapsco High

•Karalyn Varricchio, Perry Hall High

•Sophia Wilson, Sparrows Point High

•Caroline Woodring, Kenwood High

The students will be engaged in academic and career activities approximately every six weeks throughout the calendar year. The first activity, a welcoming retreat, will be held on Towson University’s campus on Friday, Jan. 24. The students will participate in workshops from 2 – 5 p.m., followed by dinner on campus with Towson University President Dr. Kim Schatzel, and attendance at the Towson Tigers’ women’s basketball game against Northeastern University at 7 p.m. During the welcoming retreat, students will hear from Dr. Elizabeth Berquist, director of professional learning, BCPS; Kim Fabian, senior vice president, Junior Achievement of Central Maryland; Dr. Grasmick; Kristi Halford, founder/chief support officer, c3 Visionary Strategies; Pat Isaac, CEO, Capital Services; Dr. Keiwana Perryman, assistant director of leadership/student activities, Towson University; Diane Richardson, coach, women’s basketball, Towson University; Sharon Markley Schreiber, COO, Alliance of Greater Baltimore; and Kim Williams, youth outreach coordinator, First Financial Federal Credit Union.

Throughout the year, the participants in the Outstanding Young Women Leaders Program will interact with a variety of Towson University administrators, faculty, and students. Each participant will be matched with a successful professional woman who will serve as coach and counselor during the program cycle.

The selection process for the Outstanding Young Women Leaders Program began with each BCPS high school principal nominating up to three candidates who met academic, leadership, and community service requirements. The Towson University Women’s Leadership Collective selected a finalist from each school after reviewing their applications, recommendations, and transcripts and conducting interviews.

Carter of Middle River Middle Named Northrop Grumman Foundation Teachers Academy Fellow


Anthony V. Carter, Jr., the career and technical education department chair at Middle River Middle School, has been selected as a 2019–20 Teacher Fellow in the Northrop Grumman Foundation Teachers Academy.

Carter, a resident of Havre de Grace, is one of 26 middle school science, technology, and engineering teachers receiving this designation from the Northrop Grumman Foundation and the National Science Teaching Association. Chosen from school districts in communities where Northrop Grumman operates across the country, the Teacher Fellows will participate in a variety of science, technology, and engineering-related activities and professional learning opportunities.

“We are excited to welcome this year’s teaching fellows to the Northrop Grumman Foundation Teachers Academy,” said Stephanie Fitzsimmons, K–12 STEM education programs manager at Northrop Grumman. “These professional educators will embark on a yearlong journey with us and NSTA culminating in a hands-on externship engaging with our engineers and technologists to help build the bridge between their classrooms and our communities.”

“This is truly a remarkable group of educators, dedicated to expanding their knowledge base and improving their teaching skills in order to reach all students,” said NSTA Executive Director Dr. David Evans. “We congratulate this year’s cohort of Teacher Fellows and look forward to supporting them in their efforts to transform STEM education.”

The Teacher Fellows were selected based on several criteria, including displaying a strong desire to advance STEM education and apply real-world applications in the classroom. During their fellowship, recipients will:

• Attend the NSTA National Conference on Science Education in Boston, Massachusetts and pre-conference special events, April 1–5, 2020;
• Participate in a five-day summer workshop at a Northrop Grumman facility in Los Angeles, where they will continue to explore teaching strategies and programs for integrating effective and authentic engineering design practices and workforce skills in their classroom;
• Participate in an immersive, 60–70-hour externship at a local Northrop Grumman facility, where they will be partnered with an engineer/technologist to observe and experience critical workforce skills in action;
• Engage in online professional learning through a comprehensive NSTA membership package which offers a variety of web-based professional learning activities, including a specially designated online learning community;
• Develop classroom materials that integrate an authentic, real-world application linked to the externship experiences; and
• Access resources and develop strategies to share their learning with colleagues so they can build capacity within their schools and districts.

Launched in 2016, the Northrop Grumman Foundation Teachers Academy was created to help enhance teacher confidence and classroom excellence in science, technology, and engineering, while increasing teacher understanding about the skills needed for a scientifically literate workforce.