Wednesday, December 12, 2012
The $2.2 billion budget adds teachers and targets middle school instruction.
A $2.2 billion county schools operating budget proposed Tuesday by Superintendent Joshua P. Starr increases spending to manage growing enrollment, seeks to address persistent achievement gaps and invests in a curriculum aimed at meeting new state and national standards. It also sets the school system up for yet another debate with the Montgomery County Council over spending on K-12 education. “This is a responsible budget that allows us to keep up with growing enrollment, while making strategic investments that will benefit our students today and in the future,” Starr said in a statement. “A budget is a reflection of our values and I know that Montgomery County understands the direct connections between the quality of our schools and …
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Montgomery County public school students will have an 11-day winter break this year.
Montgomery County Public School students will have an 11-day winter break this year, including weekends. Public schools and MCPS offices will close on the following dates: For a full list of MCPS vacation days, check out our calendar here.
Monday, December 10, 2012
A rundown of what MCPS is serving to students this week.
What's for lunch? This week's menu for Montgomery County Public Schools' elementary school cafeterias is listed below. Visit the full menu for calorie information. The menu for Head Start and pre-kindergarten students varies slightly from the elementary school menu. Visit the MCPS website for middle school lunch, high school lunch and middle and high school breakfast offerings through December.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
We all want our kids to have the best education, but does that mean sending them into the pressure cooker?
Way back when my kids were still very small, I went to an MCPS presentation about gifted and talented programs in the county. I don't remember why I did that; it certainly wasn't relevant to me at the time, but regardless, I was there and I learned all about the various county programs available. I was highly amused at the time to hear about the fourth and fifth grade "highly gifted program," and I laughed really hard when the presenter joked, "In Montgomery County, it's not enough to be gifted, you have to be highly gifted." Now, my oldest son is in fifth grade in one of those same highly gifted centers and even though I feel like a jerk every time I say that to someone, it is definitely the best place for him. The truth is that there are…
Monday, December 3, 2012
A rundown of what MCPS is serving to students this week.
What's for lunch? This week's menu for Montgomery County Public Schools' elementary school cafeterias is listed below. Visit the full menu for calorie information. The menu for Head Start and pre-kindergarten students varies slightly from the elementary school menu. Visit the MCPS website for middle school lunch, high school lunch and middle and high school breakfast offerings through December.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Montgomery County public school students took a record number of Advanced Placement exams in 2012, according to an MCPS report.
Montgomery County Public Schools students took a record number of Advanced Placement exams in 2012, according to a MCPS statement. The percentage of exams earning a score of 3 or higher—a "college-ready score"—also increased, the statement added. MCPS students took 32,974 AP exams in 2012—1,240 more than in 2011. It was the most exams taken in any year in MCPS history. Seventy-five percent of the exams received a score of 3 or better—up 3 percentage points from 2011 and the highest percentage since 2006, the statement added. Statewide, the percentage of AP exams earning a score of 3 or higher in 2012 was 61.4 percent. Nationwide, that number was 57.3 percent, the statement added. "These results show that our efforts to provide students …
Montgomery County public school students took a record number of Advanced Placement exams in 2012, according to a MCPS report.
Montgomery County Public Schools students took a record number of Advanced Placement exams in 2012, according to a MCPS statement. The percentage of exams earning a score of 3 or higher—a "college-ready score"—also increased, the statement added. MCPS students took 32,974 AP exams in 2012—1,240 more than in 2011. It was the most exams taken in any year in MCPS history. Seventy-five percent of the exams received a score of 3 or better—up 3 percentage points from 2011 and the highest percentage since 2006, the statement added. Statewide, the percentage of AP exams earning a score of 3 or higher in 2012 was 61.4 percent. Nationwide, that number was 57.3 percent, the statement added. "These results show that our efforts to provide students …
Arcola and Forest Knolls are among 12 schools included in a study slated to begin in January.
Montgomery County Public Schools will attempt to explore ways to address overcrowding problems in a new study of 12 elementary schools in the Downcounty Consortium. Arcola Elementary School and Forest Knolls Elementary School in Wheaton are two of four schools with the "most severe" space shortages, according to a report from MCPS Superintendent Joshua Starr to the Board of Education. Arcola introduced portable classrooms for the 2012-2013 school year, angering the neighborhood's residents and the parents of students when the portables arrived to the school's front lawn over the summer. Starr's memo shows the gap between capacity and projected enrollment at Arcola: Arcola Elementary School opened in August 2007 with a capacity of 434 …
Monday, November 19, 2012
A rundown of what MCPS is serving to students this week.
What's for lunch? This week's menu for Montgomery County Public Schools' elementary school cafeterias is listed below. Visit the full menu for calorie information. The menu for Head Start and pre-kindergarten students varies slightly from the elementary school menu. Visit the MCPS website for middle school lunch, high school lunch and middle and high school breakfast offerings through November.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Forum gives community members a chance to weigh in on the MCPS budget and strategic plan.
Community members have a chance to help shape the future of Montgomery County Public Schools as the county school board holds a “Community Conversation” from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville. Attendees will engage in small group discussions about the values they think should guide the board as it updates the MCPS strategic plan and begins preparing its operating budget request for the 2013-2014 school year. Click here to register or call 301-279-3617. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The strategic plan, known as Our Call to Action: Pursuit of Excellence, is the guiding document for the school system. “The strategic plan provides an accountability structure for measuring academic performance and operational …
John
5:20 pm on Wednesday, December 12, 2012
The rate of increase of students in Montgomery County public schools is exceeding the rate of growth of the general population, in Montgomery County -- a fact the Montgomery County Council and the current County Executive want to continue to ignore, when they budget money for the school system. They say they are funding the school system at 100%, but they do not account for the higher percentage … more ›