Teenagers Blowing Smoke in New Fad

By Meagan Barrett ‘15 Over the years, the current teen generation has gone through a dozen fads; Ugg boots, YOLO, silly bands – the list could go on. Within the last year, a trend has arisen in the form of e-cigs and e-hookahs, or hookah pens. E-cigs, or electronic cigarettes, are an up and coming replacement for cigarettes. The pens … Read More

Allrich Takes the Reins As Acting Principal

By Michael Natelli ‘14 For the first six weeks of 2014, Principal Intern James Allrich is serving as Acting Principal of Sherwood High School. The Principal Internship is a program that is conducted by MCPS to help give principal candidates hands-on job experience. The top candidates from the internship program are then considered when principal job openings become available in … Read More

MCPS Addresses Inappropiate Tweets

by Kira Yates ’16 Recently, Superintendent Joshua Starr wrote an open letter to all MCPS parents addressing the issue of cyber-bullying on social media.  This letter came as a follow-up to many tweets from students urging Starr to cancel school on December 9 and 10 due to the emergency weather conditions. “Many of these tweets were offensive and disturbing.  Some … Read More

MSDE to Limit Zero Tolerance

by Betselot Wondimu ’15 The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) is currently making revisions to student discipline policies as part of a statewide effort to reduce the number of suspensions and expulsions and create positive school environments. Modifications to the Student Code of Conduct are progressing after facing criticism in previous months. The new regulations intend to give more … Read More

NFL Super Bowl XLVIII Predictions

Denver 35-31 It’s a battle between the best defense and the best offense in the league in possibly freezing temperatures. More specifically, the Super Bowl will be a battle between arguably the best QB in the league, Peyton Manning, and the dangerous secondary duo of Seahawks’ safeties Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor. Seattle’s running game is stronger than Denver’s, with … Read More

Feeling Nostalgic for the Good Old Days

By Becky Ewing ’14 When I complain about doing homework, my parents always scold me. “At least you have the internet! We had to use textbooks!” “At least you have a computer! We had to use typewriters!” “At least you have a car! We had to ride dinosaurs!” Blah, blah. I never understood why old people say things like that. … Read More

MCPS To Switch from Using Edline

By Kyle Melnick ‘14 Montgomery County schools have decided to abandon Edline and change their service to MyMCPS. Like Edline, MyMCPS is an online portal that is used as a classroom-to-home online communication system. Kara Trenkamp, the director of the Department of Instructional Technology for MCPS, is currently working with students, parents, teachers, administrators and education partners to develop and … Read More

Block Scheduling Versus Traditional 7-Class Day

Solution to the Time Crunch By Ankur Kayastha ’15 – Pro Block scheduling at Sherwood has the potential to be an advantageous change to the standard seven-period system due to its flexibility both in and outside of school. This change could benefit school staff, parents and especially students. Many schools have implemented block scheduling already, and the movement is increasing. … Read More

Board of Education Votes Not to Observe Muslim Holidays

by Ketki Chauhan ’16 The Board of Education voted November 12 against closing school on Muslim holidays with a vote of 5­-2. The board argues that if the school system were to close on every major religious holiday, minor religions would then insist on closing school on their religious holidays, too. Board Member Michael Durso was one of two members … Read More