SMOB Election Nears by Ziv Golan ‘26 As this year’s SMOB (Student Member of the Board) election approaches on April 17, the final two candidates, Samantha Ross and Praneel Suvarna, will be campaigning at middle and high schools throughout the county. Ross, who is a junior at Montgomery Blair High School, has been advocating for a focus on building strong … Read More
by Ziv Golan ‘26 In recent years MCPS has seemingly taken a step away from utilizing instructional software to monitor students’ assignments and class work. In the 2022-23 school year MCPS stopped using popular anti-plagiarism software turnitin.com. The stated reason for cutting ties with the software company was a dispute with the company over student-staff privacy concerns. This trend of … Read More
by Connor Pugh ‘24 On February 2, Dr. Monifa McKnight stepped down from her position as superintendent of MCPS, her resignation represented a culmination of nearly half a year of controversy and internal chaos as sexual harassment allegations against former Farquhar Middle School Principal Joel Beidleman were made public in August in an exposé by the Washington Post. McKnight initially … Read More
by Evelyn San Miguel ‘26 Due to rising concerns nationwide, southern states like Florida, Arkansas, and Missouri have proposed bills in their state legislatures that would effectively ban certain social media sites for children under sixteen, attempting to lead the way in a new era of protecting children against Big Tech. Though which sites would be banned remains uncertain, the … Read More
by Katie Ng ‘24 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) allows secondary education students and incoming secondary education students to apply for and receive financial aid when applying to colleges. Students fill out the application by inputting their family’s income data and the Department of Education reviews the information to determine the student’s eligibility for financial aid. The United … Read More
by Aspen Weinberg ‘25 In November, a jury awarded a judgment of $4 million in damages in a sexual assault case to a former students at Gaithersburg High School. According to Fox News, court documents detail that the assault occurred in 2018 when the student was a freshman on the wrestling team. The unnamed student filed the lawsuit in 2020. … Read More
by Evelyn San Miguel ‘26 On November 29, Montgomery County Inspector General Megan Davey Limarzi released the results of her first of three investigative reports into former Farquhar Principal Joel Beidleman, which presented a more full accounting of his sexual misconduct during his tenures at multiple schools across the county. The second, released January 8, addressed the issue of MCPS … Read More
by Connor Pugh ‘24 Eight years on from MCPS axing finals back in 2016, the Maryland Department of Education is requiring new EOC (End of Course) exams for on-level and honors government and biology classes. Unlike other state tests that students are required to take to graduate, the EOC exams are tied to grades, accounting for 20 percent of the … Read More
by Randy Wang ’24 The Montgomery County Board of Education unanimously approved the “Safe Schools Resolution” proposed by Sami Saeed, student member of Board of Education (SMOB), at the November 9 board meeting. The resolution aims to create a safe and secure learning environment for students by proposing various ideas to expand or add policies. Multiple MCPS schools around the … Read More
Students May Receive Zeros by Katie Ng ‘25 The MCPS grading and reporting policy received an update this past fall. Some of the updates include: “R” must be used in Synergy to show assignments may be reassessed; teachers must assign five practice/prep assignments per quarter; and, teachers must contact parents if a student shows “a marked decline in achievement.” Teachers … Read More