Wednesday, March 6, 2013
The PARCC Assessment, part of the rigorous Common Core curriculum, is a series of computer-based tests for students in third grade through 11th grade.
Students will be tested for up to 10 hours under the new Partnership for Assessment of Readiness in College and Careers exams, which locally replaces the Maryland School Assessment. In a layout of the PARCC Assessment released Wednesday, third-grade students would be tested for eight hours and 11th grade students for nearly 10 hours. Every grade level in between will also participate. The computerized tests are part of the rigorous national Common Core State Standards curriculum. The performance-based component would run over five sessions—two for mathematics and three for English language arts/literacy, and the end of the year portion that would require four sessions—two for mathematics and two for English language arts/literacy. The …
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Students and parents should check on various web sites Wednesday to find out about school closings if the expected storm hits.
If the storm expected for Wednesday does actually hit the area, students often are notified, but they also can check web sites. For local public schools, Baltimore County can send out e-mails or it puts the status up on its web site. It's going to be the same situation with CCBC (Catonsville) and UMBC. These colleges put the status of how they'll be opening -- if it's late or closed -- on the front page of their websites. The storm is expected to start Tuesday night with some rain, but the big question is how much snow the area gets on Wednesday. Various predictions are saying 5-10 inches in the Baltimore metro area, depending upon a number of factors.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Nineteen Baltimore County Public Schools students secured slots as finalists for the national scholarship program.
County Executive Kevin Kamenetz and Superintendent Dallas Dance recognized 17 out of 19 local National Merit Scholarships finalists at a Thursday afternoon ceremony. "Statistically, you all are going to live well," Kamenetz joked. "When each of you are doing well in your life, I want you to remember who funded your education." The county executive noted that about 1.5 million juniors from 22,000 high schools applied for the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2011 Preliminary SAT. Of that number, 16,000 semifinalists—representing less than 1 percent of the now high school seniors in the nation—were selected as semifinalists in September 2012. Baltimore County Public Schools had 23 semifinalists. Dance noted that the …
Special education and Title I programs would suffer under the federal budget cuts.
If sequestration goes into effect Friday, Baltimore County Public Schools will be feeling a major pinch through job losses and cuts to program spending over the next two years as the system works to reign in spending. Various media outlets have reported that federal education funds would be strongly impacted by the $1.2 trillion in automatic federal spending cuts—mandated by the 2011 deficit reduction law—over a 10-year span that will occur absent Congressional intervention. Barbara Burnopp, chief financial officer for the school system, said BCPS officials anticipate taking an approximate 7 to 10 percent hit to the system's budget for the 2013 fiscal year, which would be around $4.6 million. However, a more precise figure will be provided…
Monday, February 25, 2013
Hillcrest Elementary School won the event held last weekend and will go on to the state finals.
Hillcrest Elementary School won the elementary school division of the 2013 Baltimore County Public Schools' Black Saga Competition, held last Saturday at Randallstown High. This event has students answering over 800 questions about the African-American experience. It starts in the fall each year when students begin to compete against teams from their own schools and counties before eventually moving to the state finals. That's where Hillcrest will be going now. Hillcrest also won the elementary school division last year. In this year's event, Hillcrest's Team 1 is the team that captured the title. West Towson's Team 1 took second place while West Towson's Team 2 was third. Sudbrook Team 1 won in the middle school division. The Maryland …
Friday, February 22, 2013
Retirement announcement follows promise to build a community reading lab at Battle grove Elementary School.
The six-time Pro Bowl Ravens center also used the occasion to announce his retirement.
The Baltimore County Police Homeland Security section is providing the school system with training on what to be aware of in case of a school shooting.
The Baltimore County Police Department is collaborating with the school system to provide staff with more training in dealing with potential school shooting situations. The heightened concern comes after an attack at Perry Hall High School and a gun incident at Stemmers Run Middle School earlier in the school year. "We are working on making sure that the leadership of the schools, principals, fully understand our protocols," said Dale Rauenzahn, executive director of school safety and security. "We have trained for many years on the active shooter scenario." Baltimore County police spokeswoman Elise Armacost said situational awareness that leads to a school shooting scenario and response training is now available to administrators by the …
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
The Maryland State Department of Education rejected the school system's original proposal earlier in the year.
Though his original proposal was rejected, Superintendent Dallas Dance said Baltimore County Public Schools won't adopt the "generic" state teacher evaluation plan. "We'll go back to the drawing board with our folks," Dance said. Dance has until May to present the Maryland State Department of Education with an alternate proposal. The primary point of contention is that the state department wants the school system to count Maryland School Assessment results as 20 percent of the rating measuring student growth. Baltimore County's plan calls for 10 percent. "We believe we have a model that works best for us," he said. Baltimore County's acceptance of federal funds through the Race to the Top Grant awarded to the state mandates the county to …
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
The decision comes after a contentious battle between area residents concerning the construction of a 700-seat elementary school.
The Baltimore County Board of Education again voted unanimously to approve the construction of a 700-seat elementary school at Mays Chapel Park. "I feel that my interest must lie primarily with the students of Baltimore County," said board President Larry Schmidt, a Mays Chapel resident, ahead of the vote. "I frankly don't know when a gathering of little children to learn has come to be such a perceived threat to one's way of life." The school is intended to alleviate overcrowding issues at elementary schools along the York Road corridor. Opponents of the project, primarily senior residents living in a condo community close to the site, argued that the school would bring about issues including traffic and environmental concerns. The …
NottinghamFamily
11:54 am on Monday, March 25, 2013
Excuse my incorrect phrasing. I meant to say "Today, putting your child in private school" instead of "public". more ›