About Us

     Sequoyah Elementary was built in 1990 and sits on 10 acres of land between Bowie Mill Road and Muncaster Mill Road in Derwood, Maryland. We serve approximately 410 students in grades K-5.

     Hours: 9:25 am- 3:50 pm 

    Meet the Administration and Main Office Staff

    Dr. Jasper 
    Principal 

     I grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I have a B.S. in Elementary Education and Special Education; a Masters degree in Special Education from Central Michigan University and a Doctorate in Public School Administration from University of Texas at Austin.Jasper2 This is my fiftheeth year as the principal of Sequoyah Elementary. 

      I am married with two sons. Both are proud graduates of MCPS. The older son is 30 and a graduate of Clemson University, living and working in Nashville, TN in the country music industry.  Our younger son is 27, also a graduate of Clemson (BS., MS., Ph.D.), and lives and works in the Phoenix, AZ in the field of Human Factors.

      We came to Montgomery County in July 1994 and we always celebrate our decision to move here.

     

    Mrs. Seidel
    Principal Intern

    I started my career in MCPS in 1994 as a classroom teacher and enjoyed teaching 3rd grade and 5th grade before moving to the central office of the system as an Instructional Support Teacher for Differentiation. When my children were small, I left the system for a few years, and I spent some time working as a contractor for MCPS and for Discovery Education. I returned to MCPS as a reading initiative teacher in 2008, while at the same time serving as an elected member of the Board of Education in Carroll County Public Schools. In 2014, I was part of the staff that opened Wilson Wims Elementary School as a reading initiative and ESOL teacher. I started my journey in school administration as the Assistant School Administrator at Rachel Carson Elementary School, and most recently, I served as the Assistant Principal at Wilson Wims Elementary School.

     

    A native of Connellsville, Pennsylvania, I received my B.S. in Elementary and Kindergarten Education from the Pennsylvania State University, and my M.Ed. in School Administration and Supervision from Bowie State University.



    My husband, Steve and I are the proud parents of two young adults. Our son, Alex, is a junior at Penn State, majoring in Industrial Engineering,  and our daughter, Katie, is a senior in high school. As a family, we enjoy traveling, all things Disney, and cheering on the Penn State Nittany Lions!



    I am really looking forward to a great year with the students, staff, and community at Sequoyah ES! It’s great to be a Stallion!



     Mrs. Hoponick       

     CH

          
             I have been an MCPS employee for 25 years.  I worked as an administrative secretary at Farmland Elementary School, Hoover Middle School, the Department of Special Education, Poolesville High School and the Office of School Support and Improvement.  I have been married for 44 years and have three amazing daughters, Emily, Katie and Julie.  I have an adorable grandson, Alexander, who is in third grade.  I love spending time with my family, cooking, biking, shopping, and I love our summer vacations at the ocean.                                                                                                                         

     

     

    Mrs. Ann Noonan
    AN

     

     

     

     

     

    Cluster

    We are proud to be part of the Magruder cluster. When our students leave us, they go on to Redland Middle School and Magruder High School. Other schools in this cluster are Shady Grove Middle School, Cashell Elementary, Candlewood Elementary, Mill Creek Towne Elementary, Resnick Elementeary, and Flower Hill Elementary.

    School Improvement Plan

    The School Improvement Team meets regularly to analyze data and determine how to move our school forward.. We celebrate our successes and discuss areas of concern. 

    In Progress! 

    Who Was Sequoyah?

    Have you ever wondered about the person for whom our school is named?

    One interesting fact is that our Sequoyah Elementary School was the first school in Montgomery County named for a Native American. Sequoyah was famous for creating a way of writing that his people, the Cherokee were able to learn, just like we are learning to read and write!

    George Gist, also known by his Native American name, Sequoyah, lived in the South Mid-West during the early 1800s. Sequoyah’s father, Nathaniel Gist, was a fur trader from Virginia, a white man, who married Wut-teh, a Cherokee chieftain’s daughter.

    Sequoyah was physically handicapped. Some stories about him say that he was injured while he was hunting; some say he was born physically handicapped. He learned the trade of silver-smithing as a young man. One of the things Sequoyah wanted to do was to sign his work like the other silversmiths but he had never been to school and did not know how to read or write.

    There was no written language for the Cherokee people so Sequoyah spent about 12 years creating one. The Cherokee written language has 86 symbols and is said to be so simple to learn that you could learn to read and write it in a month. (Imagine if we could learn to read and write English in a month!!!) Sequoyah began to teach other Cherokee people his new way of communicating and sent a message to the chief just to prove how well his method worked. He called the written messages white people wrote to each other “talking leaves” and the name was applied to his writing also. The Cherokee Phoenix was a weekly newspaper written in Cherokee and English and kept the Cherokee people well informed just like our newspapers do today.

    Some of the Native American people were very suspicious of his way of writing down talking and tried to stop him by burning his cabin and all the “talking leaves” in it. This did not stop Sequoyah; he moved around the southwest and taught his method to the people.

    Sequoyah died in 1843 while visiting a tribe of Cherokee People in Mexico City, Mexico.