Schools Closed Monday And Tuesday (Feb. 8 & 9)

Thank you to >Montgomery County Public Schools for letting us know in plenty of time: Schools will be CLOSED on Monday and Tuesday, February 8 and 9. Here’s the official notice:

MCPS schools closed Monday (2/8) and Tuesday (2/9) due to emergency weather conditions. Administrative offices closed Monday.

Montgomery County Schools Closed Today Weds. Feb. 3

From the >school district:

Montgomery County Public Schools are closed today due to emergency weather conditions. All school and community activities in school buildings also are canceled. All administrative offices are open. Day care programs in school buildings will remain open as scheduled.

Snow day, kids!

Julius West Students Donate To Haiti Relief

Organizations and individuals all through Rockville are donating to relief efforts in the quake-stricken Haiti. (>For example, KidzCare.) Here’s a new effort that just crossed our desk.

Gail Fribush, the IB Middle Years Program director at Julius West Middle School recently wrote the following, which was shared with the JW community:

“Why I’m Proud to Work at Julius West”

From Gail Fribush

On January 15, three days after the earthquake in Haiti, we began an effort to collect money to aid with relief efforts. Students were encouraged to bring in spare change (or bills) to fill our large water bottle and BOSS, SGA and French students helped to coordinate and encourage contributions during lunch each day.

Here is what the water bottle looked like after 5 days.

Students had an opportunity to guess how much we collected before we counted the money, and I think we were all amazed at how much all of those pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and bills added up. In fact we collected $2,224.32!

The money was sent to the Save the Children Foundation Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund. For me personally one of the best parts of the drive was seeing the number of students who brought in zip lock bags full of change, as well as those who gave a little each day that we were collecting. So while there may be a few more empty piggy banks in Rockville, there was much to be proud of here as our students proved once again that they are well on their way to becoming responsible global citizens.

Thanks to parents for raising such great kids and for your support as well.

Wootton High School Houses DNA Teaching Lab

As >Rockville Central readers may have noticed over the years, in my view one of the major problems facing the nation is our citizenry’s lack of basic numeracy and understanding of science concepts. (For instance, even a quick look at the “balloon boy” story should have shown authorities that there was no way that a boy could have been on the floating “UFO” but instead they wasted a huge amount of resources on a wild goose chase . . . but I digress.)

So, I was delighted to read this morning in the Washington Post about an effort to ensure Montgomery County public high school teachers stay up to daye when it comes to biotechnology. I was even more delighted to learn that the program is housed at our own Wootton High School!

Here’s the deal from the article:

In many school districts, teachers have to take it upon themselves to keep up to date with late-breaking research and translate it into their classrooms; in Montgomery, they get help. . . . The school system’s DNA Resource Center has developed nine lab experiments that teach biotechnology concepts. The center is funded by six-figure annual grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, managed by a handful of part-time staff members and housed at Thomas S. Wootton High School in a supply room filled with pipettes and flasks. The center staff trains teachers to use the lab activities in their classrooms and delivers all of the equipment and consumable materials that the exercises require.

The DNA Resource Center, which dates to the 1980s, has primarily served Montgomery County’s high schools. Beginning in the spring, it will expand into middle schools. Seventh-grade teachers will be trained in biotechnology concepts and activities, such as DNA gel electrophoresis, that once were reserved for advanced science courses.

How cool is that! I am excited to hear that this program is being expanded so that middle school teachers can stay on top of latest biotech developments too.

MCPS Schools Opening Two Hours Late Today, Fri. Jan 8, 2010

From >Montgomery County Public Schools:

Montgomery County Public Schools will open two hours late today (Jan. 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 are open on time. Day care programs in school buildings will remain open as scheduled.

Rockville High School Named Grammy Signature School Finalist

>According to MCPS:

The Rockville High School Music Department has been named a finalist for the 2010 Grammy Signature Schools program. Rockville is one of 140 finalists nationwide, four within the state of Maryland and the only school in Montgomery County to be named a finalist.

The Grammy Signature Schools program, sponsored by the Gibson Foundation, recognizes and awards public high school music programs each year. Each Grammy Signature School receives a monetary grant from $1,000 to $10,000 to benefit their music program.

The 2010 Grammy Signature Schools will be announced in March.

Very cool!

Rockville Scholarship Foundation Awards 2009 College Grants to Record Number of Local Students

Terrific news from the >Rockville Scholarship Association:

Thirteen students displaying exceptional academic careers and unique extracurricular involvement have been named winners of college scholarship grants by the Rockville Scholarship Foundation. This is the [largest] number of students the Foundation has honored since 1986, when the Foundation began distributing the awards to students in need in the community. (more…)

Richard Montgomery, Thomas S. Wootton In Top 100 High Schools

The closely-watched >Newsweek listing of America’s top high schools is out, and Rockville has two high schools that have made the list. Richard Montgomery High School is ranked 38 in the nation, while Thomas S. Wootton High School is 58.

Read the press release from from the school district here.

Here is a list of all the MCPS high schools, along with their rank on the “Challenge Index,” which is what Newsweek used in its calculations. (The index was created by the Washington Post’s Jay Mathews.)

High School and 2009 Rank:

• Richard Montgomery — 38
• Bethesda-Chevy Chase — 55
• Thomas Wootton — 58
• Winston Churchill — 94
• Walt Whitman — 104
• Walter Johnson — 109
• Rockville — 209
• Montgomery Blair — 287
• Quince Orchard — 294
• Albert Einstein — 295
• Poolesville — 305
• Springbrook — 324
• Paint Branch — 332
• James Hubert Blake — 381
• Watkins Mill — 391
• Sherwood — 393
• Col. Zadok Magruder — 479
• Northwest — 502
• Damascus — 577
• John F. Kennedy — 616
• Wheaton — 657
• Seneca Valley — 674
• Gaithersburg — 847

Rockville High School To Reopen

>According to Montgomery County Public Schools:

Rockville High School will reopen tomorrow, Wednesday, May 6, 2009. The decision to reopen follows a new directive from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommending that schools not be closed as a result of probable flu cases within the school community.

The school had been closed due to the discovery of a case of H1N1 flu.

Rockville High School Remains Closed

>According to the Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville High School, closed because a student was found to be carrying H1N1, will be closed today, Monday, May 4. The closure will continue indefinitely:

A date has not yet been set for reopening, but Montgomery County Public Schools officials are consulting with the county and state health officials on a daily basis, and will provide an update on the school’s reopening as soon as possible.

As this week is a time when high school students begin taking Advanced Placement (AP) and/or International Baccalaureate (IB) exams, school officials have set up an alternate location for Rockville High School students to take the tests while the school is closed. On Monday, two AP exams are scheduled and participating students from Rockville High School will be able to take the exams at the Mark Twain School in Rockville.

Community-Acquired H1N1 Flu Prompts Closure of Rockville High School

>This item is by our very good Rockville Central friend, Jennifer Deseo, who is editor of The Silver Spring Penguin:

County and state health officials urged calm and caution as they revealed details behind a suspected case of swine flu at Rockville High School.

The school was ordered closed Thursday evening after laboratory tests determined that a special-needs student at the school probably contracted H1N1 flu, Ulder Tillman, chief of Montgomery County’s public health services, explained during a press conference.

“Because this student can’t follow our messages of covering your mouth when you cough or washing your hands, we felt it was very important to take this action,” Tillman said.

The student, whose name, age and gender were not disclosed, appeared well on Monday but began to show flu-like symptoms on Tuesday, Tillman described. The child received immediate medical attention, and by Thursday evening, a state health department lab in Baltimore had determined that samples collected from the student probably contained the H1N1 virus.

That’s when state and county health officials decided to close the school at least through Monday, Tillman announced. “We want to be proactive and precautionary,” she said.

What makes this case peculiar is that the student did not travel to Mexico or any other affected areas, nor did anyone in the student’s immediate family, Tillman said. Instead, the student may have contracted the illness from someone else in the community.

If the child’s illness was community-acquired, it would be the first such case in the state of Maryland, Tillman said. Nine other probable cases of H1N1 flu have been reported in the state, Fran Phillips, Maryland’s deputy secretary for public health, said. None of them have required hospitalization, and there have been no related deaths.

The current health condition of the Rockville High student was not disclosed. Samples from the student have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta for further study.

In the meantime, Tillman encouraged students to remain at home, and to avoid extracurricular activities or gathering at malls. It’s unclear how school officials intend to handle Saturday’s scheduled college-entrance exams or next week’s advanced-placement tests.

“We’ll be sorting this out,” Montgomery County schools superintendent Jerry Weast said. “Not sorting it out could cost us the life of a child.”

A cappella Fest at Wootton

If you’re looking for a fun night out this Saturday, April 25, 2009, head over to >Wootton High School from 7 PM – 10 PM to hear several of our local high school A cappella groups compete. Tickets are only $5.

Last year the First Annual A capella Fest started as an Eagle Scout project by Jack Stonesifer. Although most of these projects involve mulch, Jack came up with the idea of the Wootton High School A Cappella competition resulting in over 110 pounds of canned goods collected for the Manna Food Pantry. The event was hosted by the University of Maryland all male A cappella group, the Generics.

The Generics will be returning as hosts for the second year, with a freshman who participated in the competition last year from Wootton.

These six high school groups will compete:

Wootton Supertonics
Wootton Chaos
Wootton Acabellas
Landon Bearitones
Richard Montgomery In Tune
Walt Whitman’s None of The Above

Here’s the rundown on these fine singing groups from Susan Stonesifer.

Wootton will be fielding three groups on Saturday night. The A Cabellas, Wootton’s newest group, will be the only all girls ensemble of the evening. Featuring strong soloists, the guys of the Supertonics, look to move up from their second place finish last year. Guys and girls mix in Chaos, known for their diverse repertoire.

From across 270, In Tune from Richard Montgomery will be appearing for the first time. Walt Whitman’s None of The Above is returning, looking to score again for best soloist and best arrangement. The Landon Bearitones sing mostly classic songs with great class.

The Supertonics were a guest on our Rockville Central Radio show last year before their delightful performance in front of a packed crowd at Hometown Holidays. Personally, I know a couple of the guys in Chaos. This is going to be a good competition. All of these high school students can do some amazing things with their voices!

Rockville Scholarship Foundation Applications Available

The Rockville Scholarship Foundation has sent along word that applications are now available for the 2009 year.>

This from their materials:

The Rockville Scholarship Foundation has posted the 2009 application for awards on its Web site. Applications are due by April 16, 2009.

Created in 1985, The Rockville Scholarship Foundation is a partnership of the Rockville Chamber of Commerce, the City of Rockville and Montgomery College-Rockville as well as local corporations and individuals to provide deserving local youth assistance with their college education and to encourage them to be leaders in their profession and the community.

Since its inception, the foundation has granted scholarships in excess of $160,000 to Rockville students pursuing post-secondary education. . . .

The Rockville Scholarship Foundation is a not-for-profit, charitable organization under section 501c (3) of the IRS Code. Eligibility is open to residents in the corporate limits of Rockville; students attending a Rockville high school; and Montgomery College students (Rockville). The Foundation is administered by a volunteer 13-member Board of Directors. The Board decides policy, formulates fundraising, and is responsible for the award process. Applications are reviewed after the April 16 deadline, based on five categories — academic standing, integrity and character, community involvement, school activities and need. Applicants are encouraged to provide other information as deemed pertinent.

The Foundation is also calling on local businesses and individuals to support their efforts by giving funds. They say donations can be sent to:

Rockville Scholarship Foundation, Inc.
P.O. Box 4778, Rockville, MD.

Schools Delayed Today (Jan. 29, 2009)

One more time!>

Due to the ice and such, school is delayed two hours today, according to Montgomery County Public Schools:

Montgomery County Public Schools will open two hours late on Thursday, Jan. 29, due to emergency weather conditions. Bus service will be provided on a two-hour-delayed schedule. Morning prekindergarten, morning half-day Head Start, other 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 Today (Jan. 28, 2009)

You can put down the sandwich you are making, because the >schools are closed again, due to the winter weather we’re witnessing.

Don’t take my word for it. Here is MCPS:

Montgomery County Public Schools are closed today, Jan. 28, due to emergency weather conditions. All school and community activities in school buildings also are canceled. All administrative offices will open two hours late. Day care programs in school buildings will also open two hours late today.

The weather folks are predicting a fine day tomorrow, so hold out.