By Betselot Wondimu ‘15 The Montgomery County Planning Department hosted a free four-day workshop from February 3 to 6 at the Sandy Spring Museum to initiate its Sandy Spring Rural Village Plan. The main purpose of the plan is to design a village center near the museum, and to continue “transforming the heart of Sandy Spring,” as the Montgomery County … Read More
By Connor Loughran ’15 Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) may be adding one extra to the end of the year to compensate for the five snow days there have been so far, though February 12. The county has four days built in for weather emergencies. The county website says that if there have been 5 days missed due to emergency … Read More
By Vicky Florian ‘14 On January 24, students from Covenant Life School in Gaithersburg were walking along the sidewalk on Muncaster Mill Road when a Honda Accord and a Chrysler Sebring collided and hit the two teens and then hit a tree. Teressa Rosalind French, 16, of Washington D.C., was killed and Emily Grace Lowe, 13, of Gaithersburg was critically … Read More
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
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
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
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
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
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
by Olivia Skofteland ‘14 The construction that has been occurring from Sherwood Elementary school to Urban BBQ is due to the replacement of sewer mains along this area. Students can expect to continue experiencing frustrating delays until early March, when the county is finally expected to complete the project. The project will include construction of approximately 2,500 linear feet of … Read More