by Nisha Khatri ‘26

A Board of Education meeting is pictured above.

MCPS Board of Education is expected to vote by the end of December on a plan that would make geographic regions offering similar programs for high school students. According to the plan, Sherwood would be placed in a region with Blake, Springbrook, and Paint Branch.

If the changes go into effect, they would be fully executed by the 2027-2028 school year. According to Taylor, each region would have to offer comparable opportunities. “This is not just about the next few years … this is about designing a long-term system—one that is equitable, relevant and sustainable for decades to come,” said Taylor while introducing the regional programs model.

Students enrolled in these programs would have the chance to complete their high school careers. MCPS would determine where effective programs currently reside, according to MCPS Chief Academic Officer Niki Hazel. By doing so, MCPS hopes to provide more opportunities for students closer to where they live, with high-demand programs such as advanced STEM pathways also having shorter wait lists.

If this regional programs model is approved, the decision would effectively end magnet programs at Blair, Richard Montgomery, and Poolesville. MCPS would also eliminate the two current consortiums of local high schools.

“It’s our recommendation that we move to the regional model and [implement] that over a multiyear period,” Taylor told the board in late June. “As one [program] is sunsetting, the others are ramping up. What we’re going to find is that a lot of our programs can continue that may have been in a countywide model that we would recommend continuing in a regional model.”

A number of program themes, such as medical, education, and public service, are additionally based on student interest in regional programs through an analysis by MCPS.

Earlier, an academic programs analysis was part of a continuing boundary study to determine attendance areas for three high schools expected to open in 2027. These include the new Woodward high school in Rockville, the new Crown high school in Gaithersburg, and an expanded Damascus.