Category: School Notebook

Rising Seniors Invited to Participate in Summer College Boot Camps

This summer, BCPS rising seniors (students who will enter Grade 12 in the 2019-2020 school year) are invited to participate in free regional or school-specific Summer College Boot Camps.

Each camp will vary, but all will offer information and resources on the process of selecting and applying to a college and applying for financial aid. Some camps will invite parent participation. Many will feature guest speakers from college admissions and financial aid offices. One camp (for students from Chesapeake, Eastern Tech, and Kenwood high schools) will be preceded by a separate event for parents.

Students interested in participating must register with their school counselors.

The following is a list of the boot camps:

Catonsville Center for Alternative Studies
Catonsville High School
Lansdowne High School
Western School of Technology
Tuesday, June 25, from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
@ Catonsville High School
421 Bloomsbury Ave., 21228

Chesapeake High School
Eastern Technical High School
Kenwood High School
Wednesday, Aug. 21, from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 22, from 6 – 7:30 p.m.
@ Eastern Technical High School
1100 Mace Ave., 21221

Parent event, same location
Monday, Aug. 19, from 6 – 8 p.m.

Dulaney High School
Hereford High School
Pikesville High School
Thursday, June 20, from 8:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
@ Dulaney High School
255 Padonia Rd., 21093

Dundalk High School
Patapsco High School & Center for the Arts
Sparrows Point Technical High School
Thursday, June 20, from 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
@ Dundalk High School
1901 Delvale Ave., 21222

Franklin High School
Tuesday, Aug. 27, from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
@ Franklin High School
12000 Reisterstown Rd., 21136

George Washington Carver Center for Arts & Technology
Loch Raven High School
Perry Hall High School
Towson High School
Wednesday, June 19, from 8:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
@ Towson High School
69 Cedar Ln., 21286

Milford Mill Academy
New Town High School
Randallstown High School
Woodlawn High School
Wednesday,Aug. 7, from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
@ New Town High School
4931 New Town Blvd., 21117

Overlea High School
Friday, June 28, from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.
@ Overlea High School
5401 Kenwood Ave., 21206

Owings Mills High School
Tuesday,Aug. 27, from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
@ Owings Mills High School
124 Tollgate Rd., 21117

Parkville High School
Thursday, June 27, from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
@ Parkville High School
2600 Putty Hill Ave., 21234

BCPS Votes to Add More Trailers to Perry Hall Middle

The Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) Board of Education voted to add more learning cottages to the overcrowded Perry Hall Middle School.

There were many different options on the table for BCPS, including initiating a boundary study to create a balance enrollment across the entire North East Area and annexing which would relocate households in a targeted area from one school to another.

The annex plan called for students from Vincent Farms Elementary to go to Middle River Middle School, and to annex some families from Chapel Hills Elementary down to Stemmers Run Middle School in Essex. The annex plan was controversial and unpopular among many families.

Fifth District Board Member and Vice President Julie Henn stated she was in favor of a comprehensive, community-driven boundary process and she did not agree with her fellow board members decision to add more trailers to Perry Hall Middle.

“[T]he Board voted to stay the course and ‘address’ Perry Hall Middle overcrowding by adding more trailers – a decision of inaction, rather than action, and one which I did not support,” Henn wrote in a statement.

“I also did not support the proposed option of annexing two select communities – without community input and for an indefinite period of time.”

Councilman David Marks said he was also disappointed in the Board’s decision to add more trailers and agreed with Henn for a boundary study.

“Perry Hall Middle School and Perry Hall High School are so large because in the 1990s, parents fought boundary changes back then – and the School Board opted to build the largest schools in Baltimore County,” Marks stated.

“Make no mistake – I opposed a sudden annexation of neighborhoods to other schools. I did support a thoughtful, deliberate review of boundaries.”

Baltimore County announced in 2017 that it was building a new northeast middle school at Nottingham Park and expanding student seating at Pine Grove Middle School to decrease enrollment at Perry Hall Middle for the 2021-22 school year. Baltimore County budget shortfalls and lack of state funding have delayed those projects for at least one year and Henn is hoping BCPS will receive that funding for next year.

“Councilman David Marks and I will be asking for your engagement and your advocacy as we seek full support from our state legislators to provide funding to advance the new northeast middle school that we so desperately need. We will be in touch with details on how you can help.”

Students honored at 33rd Annual High School Art Exhibit

Baltimore County Public Schools students earned honors at the awards reception for the 33rd Annual High School Art Exhibit, held at the Rosenberg Gallery at Goucher College. The students recognized at the May 31 exhibit reception and below is a list of local students:

Laubheimer Awards

(named after the late James Laubheimer, former BCPS coordinator of art)

Best in Show – Bienn Bagalso, Eastern Technical High     

BCPS Awards

Honorable Mentions –

                                    Kahlea Branch, Parkville High

               Amy McHugh, Perry Hall High

                    Heather Catron, Kenwood High

                   Crystal Weyant, Perry Hall High

                 Azrael, Franz, Schwab & Lipowitz Awards

(The law firm of Azrael, Franz, Schwab & Lipowitz has been a longtime supporter of the visual arts in BCPS, and each year selects student works for exhibition in its Towson office.)

1st Place – Jennifer Casagrande, Parkville High              

              Crystal Weyant, Perry Hall High

              Bienn Bagalso, Eastern Technical High

            Baltimore Watercolor Society Excellence in Water Media Awards

Bienn Bagalso, Eastern Technical High

Kahlea Branch, Parkville High

People’s Choice Award

Bienn Bagalso, Eastern Tech

Superintendent’s Purchase Award

Kiara Raysor, Parkville High

“This show gets more impressive every year,” said Sherri Fisher, BCPS coordinator of visual arts. “The skills and ideas that students presented through their artwork are tremendous. Juried exhibitions such as this provide a real-world experience for our students. Professionals in the field adjudicate works on the exhibition criteria. In a juried exhibition, the artwork along with its statement have to stand on their own.”

The exhibit closes on Monday, June 10. Many of the works are available for sale. For more information, contact the Office of Visual Arts at 443-809-4030.

The exhibit was made possible with the support of Azrael, Franz, Schwab, Lipowitz & Solter, LLC, and the Baltimore County Commission on Arts and Sciences, Baltimore County Public Schools, the Baltimore Watercolor Society, and Goucher College.

BCPS announces the selection of Dr. Darryl L. Williams as its new superintendent

Beginning July 1, Dr. Darryl L. Williams will begin his four-year term as superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools, the 25th largest school system in the nation and third largest in Maryland.

Elected by the Board of Education of Baltimore County at its May 21 meeting, Williams will join BCPS after spending more than 24 years with Montgomery County Public Schools, where he began as a teacher and advanced through the organization serving as an assistant principal, principal, community superintendent, and associate superintendent. He is currently the area associate superintendent of schools in eight clusters. In this role and in concert with his leadership team, he supports and manages eight high school principals, two specialty school principals, 15 middle school principals, and 44 elementary school principals. As area associate superintendent, William participates on the superintendent’s Executive Leadership Team and a variety of workgroups committed to enhancing academic achievement. Prior to joining Montgomery County Public Schools, Williams began his career in education as a mathematics teacher in District of Columbia Public Schools.

“I am honored to have been chosen as the new superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools,” said Williams, “and I am excited to serve our students, leaders, staff, and communities. I will focus on the needs of our students and staff and work to maintain a positive and effective learning environment for all. We have to continue to move our district in a positive direction and listen to stakeholders and students about our successes and areas of improvement and make necessary changes. Our students come first and our work as a unified team will positively impact the lives of the students in BCPS.”

Williams earned his Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from Hampton University, his Master of Arts degree in educational administration from American University, and Doctor of Education degree from the University of Maryland, College Park. A native Washingtonian, he was a member of the first graduating class of Benjamin Banneker Academic High School.

Interim BCPS Superintendent was not selected by the school board. She released a statement on the hiring of Williams.

“Serving the children of Baltimore County has been the greatest honor of my professional life. I am grateful to have worked with dedicated educators, staff, and community members for the past 24 years. While I am disappointed in the Board’s final decision, I am appreciative of their consideration,” White said.

” I would like to congratulate Dr. Darryl L. Williams on his appointment. In the coming months, I will work closely with him to ensure a smooth transition and to continue supporting the school system that I love so dearly.”

Overlea High SRO named SRO of the Year

When DJ Moore became a police officer, chances are that she never envisioned being seen as a “transformational leader” at a high school. But that is how Overlea High School Principal Monica Sample describes her. And that is why Officer Moore has been named the high school level School Resource Officer of the Year for Baltimore County Public Schools.

BCPS administrators surprised Officer Moore with the news today.

According to Sample, Officer Moore is Overlea High’s “biggest cheerleader” and someone who “demonstrates commitment, loyalty, empathy, discipline, and diplomacy” and interacts with students “in a positive and restorative manner.”

“Many female scholars,” Sample wrote, “consistently approach Officer Moore for guidance, support, and mentorship with social-emotional issues. She is viewed by many as an honorary mother who represents confidence, optimism, and hope.”

Three of the many ways that Officer Moore contributes to the school culture are by serving as co-coordinator of the female mentoring Group IT Girls, as a member of the Overlea student support team, and as a member of the Restorative Practices team. According to Sample, Officer Moore has “conducted over 100 restorative conferences,” thereby preventing numerous physical altercations in the school and community.

“SRO Moore is non-judgmental in her role and gives each scholar endless opportunities and support despite their disciplinary histories. She inspires and gives hope to our scholars that each day is a new day and that our scholars are all capable of being model citizens who will make a great impact on society.”

K. Hawthorne-Jones, clinical school social worker and student mentoring coordinator, wrote that Officer Moore “has immersed herself in the culture of the school seamlessly. She has built strong relationships with students and staff. She knows how to be confident, firm, and compassionate at the same time. She believes in the good in people first and extends mercy when appropriate.”

Hawthorne-Jones concluded her recommendation: “With the addition of Officer Rawleigh, Overlea is grateful to have the best SROs a school could have. They work well together and balance one another out. You would never think that [Moore] has only been doing this job for a little over a year. She has hit the ground running and hasn’t turned back.”

Overlea High students to perform in groundbreaking Baltimore Choral Arts Society production

OOn Sunday, May 12, Mother’s Day, 22 members of Overlea High School’s Honors Chorale will perform in the U.S. premiere of a groundbreaking “community opera” – Jonathan Dove’s The Monster in the Maze – presented by Baltimore Choral Arts Society.

The Monster in the Maze is one half of a show, titled Captivity to Liberty, which will feature a total of 200 performers. The show will also feature Mendelssohn’s Die erste Walpurgisnacht. Tickets for the 3 p.m. show are available at the Choral Arts website, and the show will be presented at Kraushaar Auditorium at Goucher College, 1021 Dulaney Valley Rd., 21204. (A pre-concert Choral Conversation will begin in the auditorium at 2 p.m.)

“The production is pretty intense, and our students have a major presence,” said Kellie Zephir, Overlea High’s choral director and piano instructor. “They will be portraying Athenian youth who must cross Crete so that Theseus can kill The Minotaur and thereby save them from being sacrificed. As they sing, they will also be carrying a rope that becomes a labyrinth and becomes the arena for the major battle. It’s a very innovative production.”

Zephir, a former member of Choral Arts, explains that the group normally produces concerts and sings symphonic works with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Taking on such a large and complex production as Captivity to Liberty is outside its norm. However, “its musical director, Anthony Blake Clark, is trying to press the limits of what singers in Baltimore do.”

In addition to the singers from Overlea High, the production involves several lead singers as well as the Baltimore Choral Arts Orchestra, Larks of the Junior League of Baltimore, Maryland State Boychoir, Muse 360 (a youth arts organization), and Peabody Youth Orchestra. (Overlea High French teacher Laura Redfurn is a Choral Arts member and will be singing in the show.)

According to Zephir, Clark approached her last May to invite the Overlea Honors Chorale to be a part of the production. “I organized this school year around it,” Zephir said. “The students have been learning music and staging all year, and we have been going offsite to practice with others in the show. This week, every evening, we take a van over after eating dinner so that we can rehearse.”

Even before the big day, Zephir can see that this experience is having a significant impact on her students. “It is blowing their minds,” she said, “expanding their horizons about what is possible with singing. Experiencing the diversity of music and particularly what is happening in classical music is exciting for our students.”

Zephir notes that every year a few Overlea students think about pursuing music professionally. “But in my nine years at the school, only three students have pursued further studies or careers in classical music. That might expand because of the exposure to this experience.”

Because the production is taking place on Mother’s Day, Choral Arts offered each Overlea High performer one free ticket for their mothers and a discounted price for their family members.

The relationship between Choral Arts and Overlea High extends beyond this performance. Members visit the school each year to host a workshop to help students prepare for their singing adjudication.

Students from Overlea High School’s Honors Chorale singing as the Athenian Youth inJonathan Dove’s The Monster in the Maze on Sunday, May 12, 2019:

Benedicta Ajagunna

Raven Askins

Jose Avila-Zepeda

Dasia Biggers

William Brown

Jessica Carpenter

Christopher Cooke

Tyekeir Davis

Kandice Dowell

Ashley Gomez

T’Asia Hall

Teddana Hobbins

Victor Iheanacho

Nia Johnson

Olivia Johnson

Sanaa’ Jones

Ericka Lowery

Mason Mahon

Daniel Miller

Blessing Onuegbu

Nasir Perry

Kaitlyn Rhodes

Kellie Zephir, Choral Director & Piano Instructor…

Parkville Student One of Four to be featured in juried state exhibit at BWI airport

Artwork by four students will represent Baltimore County Public Schools in the juried Maryland Art Education Association BWI Spring 2019 Youth Art Gallery. Yancy Quijada Amaya, of Parkville High was of those students. Amaya’s art teacher is Caitlin Tellie.
Joel Ferman Hernandez, of Owings Mills High, Ethan Nagy, of Padonia International Elementary and Frank Rosas-Espinoza, of Padonia International Elementary were the other three winners.

The exhibition, Let Art Take You There!, will feature 24 artworks from across Maryland. The pieces will be on display at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport from June until November in the Airport Observation Gallery. The gallery is open to the public and located on the upper level adjacent to the B/C security checkpoint.

“Their artworks will greet the thousands of visitors who pass through BWI daily,” said Sherri Fisher, BCPS coordinator of visual arts. “The Office of Visual Arts extends its congratulations to the students, their teachers, and school communities.”

The exhibition reception will take place on Saturday, June 1, at BWI.

Crossroads Nielsen named BCPS Teacher of the Year

Crossroads Center student Abby Lawson is just a few weeks away from graduation, and she credits her English language arts teacher, Kristen Nielsen, for helping her get there and being her inspiration.

“Unfortunately, not every school can have her, but I was blessed with her, and everything she’s done for me,” Lawson said.

Nielsen, a champion for all her students, was named the 2019-20 BCPS Teacher of the Year at a ceremony Wednesday night.

Nielsen is in her second year as a teacher at Crossroads, where she teaches Grades 9 and 12. She is also an Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program teacher and a member of Crossroad’s equity team.

“Kristen Nielsen does whatever it takes to assist all her students,” BCPS Interim Superintendent Verletta White said. “She has dedicated her career to not just doing all she can to teach others but serve as a powerful advocate for equity in public education.”

Nielsen, who resides in Middle River, is in her 16th year as a Baltimore County Public Schools educator. Previously, she taught at Eastern Technical High for 11 years, Deep Creek Middle for three years, and Chesapeake High for one year. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and a reading specialist certification with a focus on adolescent literacy at Goucher College.

Principals at the 174 BCPS schools, programs, and centers could nominate one educator for BCPS Teacher of the Year. Nominations were received from 164 schools. A selection committee, comprised of administrators, teachers, students, and staff, selected Nielsen as this year’s BCPS Teacher of the Year.

In addition to Nielsen, four other BCPS finalists were recognized. They include:

  • Christina DeSimone, child development teacher, Catonsville High
  • Jamie Metzgar, Grade 5 teacher, Honeygo Elementary
  • Abigail Metcalf, inclusion teacher, Relay Elementary
  • Ronald McFadden, choral arts teacher, Southwest Academy

Past BCPS teachers of the year include:

2018: Brendan Penn, Lyons Mill Elementary
2017: Rebecca Eig, Owings Mills Elementary
2016: Corey Carter, Northwest Academy of Health Sciences
2015: Orly Mondell, New Town High
2014: Anne Cross, Gunpowder Elementary
2013: Sean McComb, Patapsco High & Center for the Arts, the 2014 National Teacher of the Year

Honeygo and Overlea High Have Best Principals

Baltimore County Public Schools held their Teacher of the Year ceremony which was won by Crossroad Center teacher
Kristen Nielsen on Wednesday, April 24. There was also awards for BCPS Elementary & Secondary Principals of the Year and are both from the eastside. Charlene Behnke of Honeygo Elementary School was named the Elementary School winner Monica Sample of Overlea High School was named the best principal for Secondary Schools.

Behnke had the challenge of starting a new elementary school as Honeygo is in its inaugural year.

“I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to work at a school that has been embraced by the entire community,” Behnke said at the ceremony. “I’m inspired by the overwhelming support for our school from our students, our parents, local businesses and Baltimore County.”

Sample has spent her 24-year professional career in Baltimore County by previously serving as a high school Spanish teacher and Assistant Principal.

“I feel blessed that I am a principal and get to be a nurturer as one who is consistently and unconditional supportive of scholars by letting them know they can accomplish their dreams,” Sample said.



Eastern Tech students earn 7 medals at SkillsUSA Championship

Eastern Tech had eight students team up to earn seven medals at SkillsUSA Maryland 2019 State Championship on April 12 and 13.

More than 1,000 students enrolled in Career and Technology Education programs around the state compete at the state championship each year, which features more than 90 occupational and leadership skill events. Gold medal winners qualify to represent Maryland at the National SkillsUSA Leadership and Skills Conference, which will be held this year in Louisville, Kentucky, from June 24 – 29.

BCPS students won 25 medals overall and here is a list of the 13 Eastern Tech students that won medals:

  • Health Knowledge Bowl – Team G (consisting of Kiet Nguyen, Jane Lee, Nhuquynh Nguyen, Frances Maglaqui), Eastern Technical High School
  • Principles of Engineering/Technology – Lorenzo Regala, Eastern Technical High School
  • Related Technical Math – Amir Moon, Eastern Technical High School

Silver Medals

Medical Terminology – Victoria Chinaka, Eastern Technical High School

TeamWorks – Team F (consisting of Ryan Strait, James Comotto, Evan Lund, Devin Polluck), Eastern Technical High School

Bronze Medals

  • Computer Programming – Norman Moon, Eastern Technical High School
  • Medical Math – Paulo Manalo, Eastern Technical High School