Montgomery County High School Graduation Rate Eighth In State; Wootton Leads Rockville Schools

Photo of Thomas S. Wootton High School from Montgomery County Public Schools

Yesterday, the state released its annual “report card,” a large amount of information about how each school and district is doing in the state. This is part of the No Child Left Behind law that mandated testing in all districts to better see where things are working and where there are problems.

Standardized testing is not the only way to gauge academic progress, nor is it necessarily the best way. However, it can provide a good bottom-line snapshot. At a minimum, most everyone would agree we share a goal of having all high school students graduate.

Montgomery County Schools issued a release pointing out that our graduation rate rose at 24 of the 25 high schools in the school district, and praising our overall 90 percent graduation rate.

The Maryland Report Card site appears to be purposefully designed to discourage comparisons, but the data are there for those who are interested in delving more deeply. It’s a tedious job. (Here it is by MoCo school.)

One group that is interested and crunches the numbers is the Parents Coalition of Montgomery County. They put together a quick table of graduation rates in Maryland by county and found that Montgomery County is eighth out of 24 counties. The all-state average is 86.6%, and the county with the highest graduation rate is Carroll County, at 95.3%.

The graduation rate would appear to put Montgomery County at the top of the second tier of school districts statewide.

As we like to focus in on Rockville around here, I went ahead and looked at the rates by school.

• Thomas S. Wootton High School: 97.8% (3rd in county)
• Richard Montgomery High School: 90.8% (14th in county)
• Rockville High School: 89.6% (15th in county)

Congratulations Thomas S. Wootton!

Interestingly, Wootton is the most crowded high school in Rockville, at 118% of capacity. (RM is at 104.7%, and Rockville is under capacity at 78.6%).

Here are all the MCPS schools, in descending graduation order:

Rank	School	Grad Rate
	All MCPS	90
	ALL STATE	86.6
	Carroll Cty (highest county)	95.3
1	Poolesville	99.3
2	Winston Churchill	98.2
3	Thomas S. Wootton	97.8
4	Walt Whitman	96.9
5	Bethesda-Chevy Chase	95.9
6	Damascus	95.8
7	Walter Johnson	95.7
8	Sherwood	95.2
9	Clarksburg	93.1
10	Northwest	92.5
11	Col. Zadok Magruder	91.5
12	Quince Orchard	91.5
13	Paint Branch	91.2
14	Richard Montgomery	90.8
15	Rockville	89.6
16	James Hubert Blake	89.2
17	Seneca Valley	89.0
18	Montgomery Blair	88.1
19	Springbrook	88.1
20	John F. Kennedy	87.6
21	Gaithersburg	86.8
22	Albert Einstein	85.6
23	Wheaton	84.5
24	Watkins Mill	83.9
25	Northwood	82.9

This is from a pdf available from MCPS, but I did the reordering.

E-Recycle And Help A School

Periodically the City of Rockville collects unwanted electronics for recycling but you need to check for the specific dates. This fundraiser for Twinbrook Elementary School makes it easier.

You can drop these types of electronics into a box in the Twinbrook Elementary Main Office (map) during school hours throughout the school year:

• inkjet/laser cartridges
• cell phones
• ipods
• digital cameras
• GPS devices, and
• laptops (with enough charge to turn on or preferably a power cord to make sure the battery does not die in transit).

Twinbrook PTA President, Susan Pickell, encourages everyone to recycle the unused electronics cluttering up your homes and support the PTA as they strive to lower as many barriers as possible for students at Twinbrook Elementary. Many are on the Free and Reduced Meals program. The school offers two field trips per grade each year and some students can use help paying their way. These important learning opportunities can be expensive, as even renting the buses to the Smith Center in Rockville can cost as much as $300. The PTA offers many services to families. They even provide a vinyl folder for each student to facilitate communication between home and school. All of the money raised will help pay for educational programs. The processing plant pays for each item and even covers the UPS shipping costs.

Recycling at Twinbrook Elementary started during their 2009 Earth Day endeavors which were funded by a grant from the City of Rockville. The school community came together on a Saturday to landscape the property and started recycling. Last spring they also held another green initiative by having a used book drive.

If your church, office, or other group would like to join together for an electronics recycling drive for Twinbrook Elementary contact Susan Pickell at 301-294-6573.

We all know we have them laying around. What a tremendous way to support recycling and Twinbrook ES!

School Overcrowding In The Richard Montgomery Cluster

One point became very clear at the Public Hearing for Rockville’s Municipal Growth Element (MGE) last Monday, all of the schools in the Richard Montgomery Cluster are overcapacity. With the recent court decision for Beall’s Grant II requiring the City to use data beyond MCPS figures to determine if the City’s Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) is met regarding student overcrowding, many are questioning what will be done. Also this week, the Planning Commission denied the addition of  two portable classrooms at College Gardens also due to the APFO. What is the real situation at these schools and what is Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) doing about it? Is all residential and school development in Rockville stopped?

At the Public Hearing, Christopher Kelly, the Richard Montgomery Cluster Coordinator, stated that the APFO would result in a moratorium for all schools in RM cluster. He commended the planning staff for significantly revising the school section of the MGE. MCPS must make the situation in Rockville a very high priority and financial support should more accurately reflect enrollment. Newly-modernized schools in the Cluster are over capacity. The Cluster is worried about the future of Julius West Middle School. A formal dialog on long-range growth and the over-crowding of schools must begin.

Here’s a snapshot of our RM Cluster schools and where they are in the modernization and expansion plans.

Projections indicate enrollment at Julius West Middle School will exceed capacity by six classrooms or more in the next five years. MCPS intends to monitor enrollment to determine the need for a future project. Relocat¬able classrooms will be utilized until additional capacity can be added. In the meantime, restroom renovations are approved and will be completed in the 2011–2012 school year.

RPES

Ritchie Park Elementary has five portables. Two added this summer were not ready for the beginning of school. The feasibility study for the school has been completed so Ritchie Park is ready to be renovated. The next step is to get into the Superintendent’s proposed CIP this fall to fund the needed addition. However, new projects are funded every other year and this is an amendment year. It’s not impossible to be funded but fewer new projects are typically added. If the funds are approved and the project starts, it will take about three years for the addition to be completed. In the meantime, restroom renovations are approved and will be completed the 2015–2016 school year.

The Beall and Twinbrook Elementary Schools are in the middle of feasibility studies which should be completed this year. If they qualify for an additions, both would most likely request funding in the next full CIP in the fall (October) 2011. Both have portables in use as classrooms.

BES

Beall Elementary has seven portable buildings visible at the back and at least one is used by more than one classroom. Again, while the school waits, restroom renovations are approved and will be completed in the 2013–2014 school year.

TES

Twinbrook Elementary has four portables visible on the side of the school. Rising enrollment projections for the next several years at Twinbrook indicate an increase of 175 students, for a total of 687 students by 2016. Twinbrook Elementary has been approved for restroom renovations to be completed in the 2014–2015 school year.

The feasibility study also looks at whether current buildings need to be updated or replaced. Buildings are studied against a checklist of criteria and given a score. Based on the score of each building, MCPS makes a decision about the future needs of the current school building but this is separate from the decision about the need for an addition.

CGES

College Gardens Elementary was just reopened after being torn down and replaced. At the MGE Public Hearing, Andrea Hall, who lives in College Gardens said the school has over 700 students and it was built for 673. The school has two portables on site but this week the Planning Commission denied a waiver to allow their occupancy because only two fire stations are within a 10-minute response time to the school, instead of the required three. The Planning Commission did not have the super majority necessary to grant the waiver. The kids who would occupy the classrooms are already crowded into the school and they cannot use the new classrooms. Beyond this immediate issue, the school would like to get in the queue to build new classrooms that are already part of their master plan. Now in addition to needing funding for the feasibility study for this project, the school would need the County to build the new fire station planned for the Shady Grove area or the APFO would need to be changed. What does this mean for all the schools in the RM Cluster?

The Montgomery County Public Schools Division of Long Range Planning issued a planning document in October 2009 which stated the following:

To address the overutilization of schools in this cluster, the County Council approved the Richard Montgomery Cluster Elementary Schools Solution project, which includes funds to plan, design, and construct eight permanent elementary school classrooms in the cluster. These additional classrooms would meet capacity requirements under the Growth Policy, avoiding a residential moratorium in the cluster. The County Council anticipates that ultimately the Board of Education will request one or more specific projects that will add these classrooms by the start of the 2016-2017 school year and that these funds would be used for that purpose.

Of course, the MCPS budget will be tight for the foreseeable future and competition for modernization funds will be stiff. The process to build additions takes several years. First the feasibility study for a year, then the push for funding in a future budget, then the three-year timetable to actually build the addition. As is apparent with the descriptions above., MCPS has a tendency to project over enrollment then wait until it occurs before starting the process.

During the MGE Public Hearing, people testified on a variety of issues concerning the schools. Because of the economic downturn two families are sometimes living in homes meant for one and more families are renting, so many believe we must reexamine how to better determine number of students. Some testified about moving special programs, such as Chinese Immersion, out of the Cluster, or refusing hardship cases who want a transfer to RM Cluster schools.

Laura Berthiaume, who is on the Board of Education, also spoke at the Public Hearing. She is more than happy to facilitate any fact finding the City wants to start with the Board of Education. School overcrowding is a complex issue. The fact is that although this cluster is overcrowded, so is every other part of a county. An entire grade of an elementary school had to be moved to the bottom of a middle school. The situation is particularly bad in the Silver Spring area.

School overcrowding is a serious problem throughout the County. Now adequate fire protection has come into question when trying to alleviate the situation in Rockville.  The Mayor and Council Worksession on the Municipal Growth Element is scheduled for October 11, 2010. Testimony is still being accepted until October 8th by e-mail to mayorcouncil@rockvillemd.gov (provide your full name and address) or by mail to City Clerk, City of Rockville, 111 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, MD, 20850. What do you think?

Board of Education Begins Search For New Superintendent

Photo from the BOE website

Today the Montgomery County Board of Education approved a resolution which starts the process of hiring a search firm to help with the superintendent selection process. The formal Request for Proposal (RFP) includes a timeline for action resulting in the selection of a new superintendent by May of 2011.

From the Board of Education press release:

“This RFP officially launches our search for a new leader for MCPS,” said Board of Education President Patricia B. O’Neill. “Conducting a national search to field the most qualified group of candidates to lead the district is our top priority.”

A search firm will assist the Montgomery County Board of Education with key pieces of the national search process including: articulating the qualifications for a superintendent, facilitating the process for community input and engagement, identifying and fielding a pool of highly-qualified candidates, coordinating the interview process, assisting the Board in narrowing down a field of candidates, and advising the Board on an appropriate compensation package.

Current Superintendent Jerry D. Weast will leave when his current contract expires on June 30, 2011, so the process should result in a very timely replacement.

MCPS Back To School Fair Draws The Largest Crowd Yet, Weast Thanks ABC7/TBD

Families started to line up for free backpacks of school supplies at the Carver Educational Services Center at 8 AM on Saturday. The Third Annual Back-to-School Fair wasn’t scheduled to open until 11 AM. By 2PM all 5,000 backpacks had been distributed to kids who needed them to get their school year off to the right start.

The City of Rockville booth

The white tents spread across the entire parking lot to accommodate over 10,000 visitors to the Fair, up from 8,000 last year. Booths had information on recreation programs and resources available in the County. Kaiser Permanente provided health information. Nutrition was an important theme. A human-sized bunch of grapes and a banana traversed around the crowd. Kids jumped in the moonbounce, ate Carmen’s Italian Ice, and talked to a robot. Throughout the day, the main stage was jumping. The organizers understood that kids like to move. The Washington Talent Agency kept the crowd upbeat and dancing.

Dancing to the beat

During the Corporate Sponsor Recognition, School Superintendant Jerry Weast emphasized the importance of the sponsors and volunteers who make the event possible. The total sponsor amount has grown from $80,000 to $200,000 in three years. Representatives from all the corporations, organizations, and schools received awards of appreciation from Dr. Weast and Eric Davis, the director of Family-Community Partnerships which organized the event.

Jerry Weast, Eric Davis and Leon Harris

From the beginning, ABC7/TBD have been the main sponsor of the Back to School Fair. ABC7 Nightly News anchorman, Leon Harris, accepted the award then stayed to talk with his fans and sign autographs. As a MCPS parent, he’s always willing to help out. 

In case you missed it, News Channel 8 is now TBDTV. TBD.com is the place for all local news in the DC region. In addition to producing their own stories and linking to other news outlets, the site networked 130 blogs together including Rockville Central. Therefore I was on hand to help distribute t-shirts and answer questions. If you haven’t yet, visit TBD.com and put in your zip code for your local community news. Try it on your phone too. The apps are a terrific way to stay connected when you’re on the go.

Leon Harris and Cindy Cotte Griffiths

Bridge To Lakewood Elementary Opened

Just in a nick of time before school starts, the pedestrian bridge which connects Glenmore Terrace and Lakewood Elementary School over Wootton Parkway has passed inspection and is now open.

As we reported previously, the bridge was closed February 3rd then removed on July 15th after an inspection questioned the bridge’s structural integrity. The replacement bridge was installed August 25th.

The City of Rockville reports that work will continue into the early fall on the Americans with Disability (ADA) compliant approach to the bridge from Glenmore Terrace. Pedestrians will be able to safely travel across the bridge at all times during this continued construction.

Carmen’s New Truck Welcomes The New School Year

Last night when my family went to Carmen’s Italian Ice for a lazy summer evening treat, the parking lot in Woodley Gardens was packed. We’d never seen it so full. Turns out, Carmen’s took delivery on their brand new truck and owner Jason Mandler was sharing his enthusiasm with the community by giving away free custard.

The Chevy truck was outfitted in England with many special features including these cones on the front which light up. The vehicle had finally made it through customs and passed the restaurant health inspection so everyone at Carmen’s felt like celebrating. We certainly appreciate Carmen’s ongoing generosity to the community.

Today the truck was put into service for the very first time at Ritchie Park Elementary’s Sneak Peek. Students turned out to meet their teachers, find their friends, and tour their classrooms, which now include five portables. Unfortunately, three of them were put on the only remaining blacktop for basketball and foursquare.

This didn’t stop the kids from enjoying giant blowup games, a moon bounce, Potomac Pizza and Carmen’s. Parents could buy newly-designed t-shirts, join the PTA, sign up for International Night, and donate to the school supply drive. Summer really will be over next week.

How have other schools welcomed the new year? What changes are you seeing at your schools?

Join ABC7 And Me At The MCPS Back-To-School Fair

This Saturday over 8,000 people are expected at the Carver Educational Services Center for the school system’s Third Annual Back-to-School Fair from 11 AM until 2 PM. I’m going to be at the ABC 7 booth telling everyone about TBD.com and Rockville Central. Please stop by and say hello!!

The City of Rockville will also be on hand with information about City programs, services, recreation programs, and foreign-language resources. They’ll have registration information to get you started.

You’ll also be able to find out about NOAA, the Newseum, the Audubon Society, the Nationals, and the Girl Scouts, among many others.

Besides visiting the information booths, A full line-up of entertainment will be hosted by Angel Santiago on the Washington Talent Agency Main Stage. Here’s the schedule:

11:00 AM Watkins Mill HS Marching Band
11:30 AM Kaiser Permanente – Professor Bodywise’s Traveling Menagerie
12:00 PM Washington Talent Agency Performance
1:15 PM InToneNation singers from Montgomery Blair HS

On the Kaiser Permanente Stage Bill Grimmette will tell stories at 12 noon and the Kids on the Block puppet show will grab your attention at 1:15 PM.

The Imagination Stage will give 20-minute demonstrations:
11:45 AM Create a Story for grades K-1
12:30 PM Create a Character for grades 2-3
1:15 Fundamentals of Acting for grades 4-5

You’ll also find hip hop, salsa and Haitian dance every 25 minutes and reading every hour, plus demonstrations from Kicks Karate, Leap on Love Art, and Gymboree. Vision and hearing screenings will also be provided.

With so many people attending, you can be assured of getting there by taking a bus from your local high school starting at 10:30 AM. They will leave from Richard Montgomery, Rockville, Gaithersburg, Blair, Einstein, Kennedy, Northwest, Seneca Valley, Springbrook, Paint Branch, Wheaton, and Watkins Mill.

See you there!

MCPS Superintendent Jerry Weast Announces Retirement

Jerry Weast Presents 2011 Budget (photo MCPS)

In a memo to the Board of Education with the simple subject line “2011,” Montgomery County Public Schools superintendent Jerry Weast has announced that he will retire when his contract expires on June 30, 2011.

Weast joined MCPS in July 1999, whose board renewed his contract in 2003 and 2007. In 2003, he was named Maryland Superintendent of the Year and was one of four finalists for National Superintendent of the Year. He is the second-longest serving superintendent in MCPS history.

During his tenure, Montgomery County Public Schools has remained at the forefront of education and is one of the highest-performing districts nationally.

“It has been an incredible honor to serve this system as superintendent and I will be forever grateful for the opportunities I have had here,” Weast wrote in his memo. “Because we have created a solid foundation with excellent processes that work, I know that when I leave in ten months, the system will be in good shape to make continued progress.”

In a press release, MCPS highlighted some recent successes:

• MCPS has the highest graduation rate of any large district in the nation, according Education Week;
• The class of 2010 had the highest SAT score in the history of the district and earned more than $234 million in college scholarships, an all-time record;
• MCPS students took 28,575 Advanced Placement exams in 2009, a new record, and 72 percent of those exams received a “college-ready” score. African American and Hispanic graduates at MCPS greatly exceeded the national participation and success rates on AP exams.
• More than 90 percent of MCPS kindergartners have met or exceeded reading targets each of the past three years, essentially closing the achievement gap by race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status at this grade level.

Weast has also brought controversy. Recent examples include the district’s recent deal with education publisher Pearson’s, and his apparent support of a plan to develop the city’s Redgate Golf Course into an event center suitable to house graduations and other large events.

The district has not yet announced plans to search for a successor.

MCPS Wins History Grant

MCPS

Montgomery County Public Schools announced today that it is one of 124 districts awarded a $1 million, three-year federal grant to improve history teaching across grade levels.

The program, called “Unveiling History,” is a partnership with George Mason University and the Maryland Historical Society. It unfolds in one- and two-week intensive training institutes for teachers, designed to boost their knowledge of history.

While open to all MCPS teachers, it’s aimed mainly at fourth and fifth grade teachers, history teachers in eighth and ninth grades, and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers.

Maryland Releases School Assessments

The Maryland Board of Education released its annual “>2010 Maryland Report Card” Tuesday, showing that Montgomery County schools continue to excel but with some areas for improvement.

As the Gazette notes:

Third graders in Montgomery’s public schools did not do as well as last year on state reading exams. Countywide, according to the 2010 Maryland State Assessment, the percentage of third graders who scored proficient or higher dropped from 88.9 to 87.4. That’s the largest decline of any grade and subject measured by the exams, which test third through eighth grade in reading and math.

How did your school do? Click the links below to check.

Elementary Schools:

• Beall Elementary School
• College Gardens Elementary School
• Fallsmead Elementary School
• Lakewood Elementary School
• Maryvale Elementary School
• Meadow Hall Elementary School
• Ritchie Park Elementary School
• Twinbrook Elementary School

Middle Schools:

• Earle B. Wood Middle School
• Julius West Middle School
• Robert Frost Middle School

High Schools:

• Richard Montgomery High School
• Rockville High School
• Thomas S. Wootton High School

MCPS Has Seven High Schools in Newsweek Top 100; Breaks Record

>Montgomery County Public Schools announced yesterday that it has seven schools in the annual Newsweek list of top 100 schools in the nation.

This is the most high schools ever from one district — and it breaks Montgomery County’s previous record of six, set in 2006.

The high schools:

• Richard Montgomery (33)
• Poolesville (59)
• Bethesda-Chevy Chase (63)
• Winston Churchill (75)
• Thomas Wootton (83)
• Walt Whitman (85)
• Walter Johnson (95)

According to the district, the Newsweek list is the latest in a string of accolades about the performance of MCPS students:

• MCPS has the highest graduation rate among the nation’s large school districts, according to a report released by Education Week on Thursday. The MCPS graduation rate of 83.1 percent is significantly higher than the state and national rates.
• The class of 2010 has earned $232 million in college scholarships so far this year, an all-time record for the district and nearly $50 million more than last year.
• MCPS has been named one of five finalists for the $1 million Broad Prize for Urban Education, which recognizes large school districts that raised student achievement and narrowed the achievement gap.

Congratulations to all the schools!

MCPS in Curriculum Marketing Deal

In a move sure to arouse controversy, >Montgomery County Public Schools has announced a deal with education publisher Pearson Higher Education to develop and market new curricula. The core of the idea, according to WTOP is:

Montgomery County will have some of Pearson’s experts help district writers revamp the elementary education curriculum. In return, Pearson will market the curriculum with the Montgomery County Public Schools’ name attached. In return for the use of its name, MCPS gets 2.5 percent of the material sales.

The move was approved on a 6-2 vote by the school board on Tuesday.

In a piece by the Washington Post, Rockville school board member Laura Berthiaume criticized the move:

“It puts our system . . . in an untenable conflict, when we start to go into business and at the same time try to meet the needs of our students,” said Board of Education member Laura Berthiaume (Rockville-Potomac). “Converting our employees into salesmen is not where I think we should be.”

The district was revamping the elementary curriculum anyway, but this will allow the work to proceed more rapidly, according to district chief of staff Brian Edwards.

The Post article suggests that the deal was rushed through with little announcement (it’s buried as line item 4.4.1 of this agenda) because the contract was under negotiation throughout the weekend (so not announced until Monday) and officials wanted the work to start at the beginning of the fiscal year.

Regardless of one’s opinion on the deal, it is at least testament to the sterling reputation on MCPS, that Pearson saw the district’s brand as so potentially profitable. But — what do you think?

Schools To Open Two Hours Late Tomorrow (Tues. 2/16)

On the first day of school after a very long and unanticipated snowcation, it appears >Montgomery County Public Schools are on a two hour delay tomorrow. This from MCPS:

Montgomery County Public Schools will open two hours late on Tuesday, February 16, due to emergency weather conditions. Bus service will be provided on a two-hour-delayed schedule. Morning prekindergarten, morning half-day Head Start, other morning half-day programs and field trips are canceled. Other activities and programs that begin at 10:30 a.m. or earlier are canceled. Administrative offices will be open on time. Day care programs in school buildings will remain open as scheduled.

Schools Closed For The Rest Of The Week (Feb. 10-12)

The >Montgomery County Public Schools have bowed to the inevitable and closed for the rest of the week. Here is their announcement:

Montgomery County Public Schools are closed Wednesday, February 10, Thursday, February 11 and Friday February 12, due to emergency weather conditions. All school activities and community activities in school buildings are canceled. A decision about administrative offices will be made at a later time.

Dr. Weast, my kids thank you.