Good News Abounds!
MCPS hosted nearly 1,000 volunteers, lawmakers and county leaders on April 22 for the Resilience, Education, Action, Climate, Habitat (REACH) Hub groundbreaking ceremony and Earth Day volunteer event at A. Mario Loiederman Middle School. Hundreds of middle and high school students, along with MCPS staff and volunteers from Habitat for Humanity, spent time building portions of the farm, rehabbing a courtyard garden, and planting bio retentions at the middle school and nearby Weller Road Elementary School. Check out the Flickr gallery from the event.
The REACH Hub at Loiederman is being developed by MCPS in partnership with the Charles Koiner Conservancy for Urban Farming, a nonprofit land trust, which is dedicated to creating and supporting neighborhood farms that provide educational opportunities, improve food security, build community connections and promote land conservation. Through support from Montgomery County Green Bank’s Technical Assistance Program, site designs are being developed by MCPS to increase the Hub's resilience. Watch a video from the event.
The REACH Hub will support food production and climate resiliency, as well as serve as an accessible resource for more than 17,000 students (89 percent minority) from 20 school locations within two miles, including four schools within walking distance.
Eight MCPS High Schools Rank in the Top 20 in Maryland for 2024
Eight MCPS high schools have been recognized as some of the top public high schools in Maryland, according to the latest rankings released by U.S. News & World Report. The U.S. News rankings review nearly 25,000 public high schools in 50 states and D.C.
The rankings are based on a variety of metrics, including college readiness, state assessment performance, underserved student performance, and graduation rate.
The list of MCPS schools in the top 20 are as follows:
- Walt Whitman High School (#2 in the state, #139 nationally)
- Poolesville High School (#3 in the state, #172 nationally)
- Thomas S. Wootton High School (#4 in the state, #196 nationally)
- Winston Churchill High School (#5 in the state, #295 nationally)
- Richard Montgomery High School (#6 in the state, #364 nationally)
- Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School (#10 in the state, #590 nationally)
- Walter Johnson High School (#15 in the state, #855 nationally)
- Northwest High School (#20 in the state, #1,059 nationally)
Nine Students Win National Merit Corporate-Sponsored Scholarships
Nine MCPS students from five high schools have been awarded National Merit corporate-sponsored scholarships financed by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. About 770 high school seniors have been chosen to receive corporate-sponsored National Merit scholarships financed by about 94 corporations, company foundations and other business organizations.
The students are among 21 high school seniors in Maryland to be selected in the latest group of National Merit Scholarship Program recipients. Most of these awards are renewable for up to four years of college undergraduate study and provide annual stipends that range from $1,000 to $10,000 per year. Some provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000.
MCPS winners of the corporate-sponsored scholarships, their intended field of study and sponsors are:
Winston Churchill High School
- Angie Chen, Biology, Astrazeneca Pharmaceuticals
Clarksburg High School
- Yalini Anbalagan, Medicine, Bristol Myers Squibb
Poolesville High School
- Soumya P. Jailwala, Computer Science, Walgreen Co.
- Aditya Lahiri, Bioinformatics, Astrazeneca Pharmaceuticals
- Jasmine Q. Li, Engineering, Astrazeneca Pharmaceuticals
- Milo A. Stammers, Mathematics, Astrazeneca Pharmaceuticals
Rockville High School
- Maximilian G. Pankowski, Academia, National Distillers Distributors Foundation Scholarship
Thomas S. Wootton High School
- Rhea Chelar, Computer Science, Mary E. Beyerle Scholarship
- Carolyn Fu, Law, GEICO
Poolesville HS Teacher Named Maryland History Day Teacher of the Year
Stephanie Gomer, teacher at Poolesville High School, has been named Maryland History Day High School Teacher of the Year. Read the Maryland Humanities feature on her. She will be honored at the Maryland History Day statewide awards ceremony on May 4.
Three Students Selected to Show Artwork in Juried Show
Three MCPS students will have their artwork on display as part of the Reginald F. Lewis High School juried art show, which showcases student artwork throughout the state of Maryland. Students will be recognized for their contributions. Visitors will also be able to view Black Women Genius: Elizabeth Talford Scott – Tapestries of Generations, one of the inspirations for the student art showcase. The museum's opening reception will be held at 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 4.
The MCPS students and their artwork are:
Eric Le, 12th grade, Albert Einstein High School
Second Place
Title of Work: Chipped Tooth on Hardwood Floors
Mixed Media (fiber, charcoal, liquid charcoal, tape, window frame, curtain rod)
Alanna Sidlowski, 12th grade, Albert Einstein High School
Title of Work: Elizabeth Talford Scott: Lanterns
Mixed Medium (fabric, quilt, charcoal, acrylic paint and canvas)
Rochelle Bremmer, 12th grade, Montgomery Blair High School
Title of Work: Lost In Emotions
Acrylic yarn, crochet hook and crochet
The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture is located at 830 E. Pratt St. in Baltimore.
Damascus Girls’ Lacrosse Raises $2K for American Cancer Society
In conjunction with Spring Officials Appreciation Week April 15–20, the Damascus High School varsity girls’ lacrosse team hosted their Stick it to Cancer game, raising $2,000 for the American Cancer Society.
Grade 9 Students Experience In-Person and Virtual College Tours This Spring
The College Tour experience provided close to 7,000 ninth grade students early exposure to college as a post-secondary option, helping them to refine their preferences and learn more about college life, programs and admissions.
The MCPS Career Advising Team established partnerships with 13 regional colleges and universities (the University of Maryland, College Park, Morgan State University, McDaniel College, Stevenson University and the Universities at Shady Grove, among them) to offer in-person visits to their campuses in February, March and April. High schools were matched with an in-person college visit opportunity. To date, more than 2,000 students have participated in a college tour experience.
The Virtual College Tour Platform is accessible to all students via myMCPS classroom with an enrollment link provided by the high school. For each of the featured colleges on the platform, there is a page that highlights fast facts on enrollment, location, tuition, fees and other facts. Students can then explore virtually, with a 360-degree walk through of campus and key facilities.
MCPS In the News
Hundreds of Montgomery County Public Schools students volunteered for Earth Day
Students, Volunteers Create Urban Hub Farm on Earth Day
Wheaton High School Students Begin Working on Clearing Area That Was Avery Road Colored Cemetery