Salary step and scale increases, health insurance, St. Charles High School and learning resource teachers are among the Board’s priorities in a $342.7 million funding request sent this week to the Charles County Commissioners. The Board of Education on Feb. 11 approved its fiscal year 2015 operating budget, adopting Superintendent Kimberly Hill’s proposal for the next school year. The FY2015 proposed operating budget represents a 6.4 percent increase from this school year’s budget, or $20.7 million.  State funding is expected to increase by about $2.4 million, and the Board is asking the county to fund $19.7 million, or a 12.4 Read more…

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kimberly Hill congratulates Maria “Mollie” Johnson for 45 years of service to CCPS during a ceremony held Feb. 27.  The Board of Education on Thursday, Feb. 27, honored Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) employees for their years of service to the school system and children during a ceremony held at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building. Honored were those employees who have contributed to the school system with careers that total either 45, 40, 35, 30 and 25 years. Maria “Mollie” Johnson is the supervising pupil personnel worker (PPW) for CCPS and was honored for 45 Read more…

Eighteen teams from nine Charles County public schools competed in the 2014 College of Southern Maryland ‘s VEX League Robotics Challenge held Saturday, Feb. 8, at the La Plata campus. The challenge is part of CSM’s Institute of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (iSTEM), which provides programs to encourage students to pursue careers in STEM fields. Six CCPS teams qualified to compete in the VEX Robotics Maryland State Championship scheduled for March 8. Teams that earn the Excellence, Tournament Champion, Tournament Finalist and Design awards at the regional level automatically advance to the state event. Additional teams are invited to Read more…

Aashka Patel, a seventh-grade student at Milton M. Somers Middle School, earned the title of the county’s top speller at the Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) 36th annual Spelling Bee held Feb. 21 at Somers. Patel spelled the word “cynosure,” which means something that strongly attracts attention by its brilliance or something serving for guide or direction, to earn first place. As the Charles County winner, Patel advances to the 2014 Scripps National Spelling Bee scheduled for May 25-31 in Washington D.C. Stephen Duranske, a seventh grader at John Hanson Middle School, earned second place in the competition, followed by Read more…

Charles County Public Schools held their annual Winter Chess Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 22 at Thomas Stone High School. More than 175 students participated in the event, which is the largest turnout in recent years. The tournament is sponsored by the school system’s gifted education and instruction departments, and is open to any student in grades kindergarten through 12. The tournament follows a Swiss-style format in which each student plays four games. Students competed in five grade-level divisions and trophies were awarded to first- and second-place winners. Third-place winners received medals for placing, and all participants received a certificate for Read more…

Charles County Public Schools has procedures and guidelines for early entrance into the kindergarten program. Parents must request and submit an application by June 2 for their child to be tested for early kindergarten admission. The school system will begin to accept applications on April 22. Early admission for the 2014-15 school year is open only to children whose fifth birthday falls between Sept. 2 and Oct. 31, 2014, and who reside with a parent or guardian in Charles County. State law requires students entering kindergarten to be five years old by Sept. 1 in the school year in which Read more…

Registration for prekindergarten and kindergarten students begins Tuesday, April 22, at all Charles County public elementary schools. To enter prekindergarten for the 2014-15 school year, students must be four years old by September 1. To be eligible for kindergarten for the 2014-15 school year, students must be five years old by September 1. Registration for in-county students is conducted at the individual elementary schools. Parents can contact their child’s elementary school prior to April 22 to schedule an appointment with the registrar. To find out what elementary school your address is zoned for, use the School Locator feature on the Read more…

As part of Charles County Public Schools Job Shadow Day activities, eight fifth-grade students were selected to shadow members of the Board of Education of Charles County, as well as Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kimberly Hill, during the Board’s Feb. 11 meeting. Students were randomly assigned to each Board member and the Superintendent and experienced the meeting firsthand by sitting next to their assigned member in the Board room. During the meeting, students introduced themselves and had opportunities to ask questions and participate. The goal of their participation was to learn about the functions of the Board of Education and Read more…

The Board of Education of Charles County is hosting a joint work session with the College of Southern Maryland (CSM) on Monday, Feb. 24, at 6 p.m. in the Board room at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building. The following is a tentative agenda: Call to Order– 6 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance Introductions Work session Review of agenda Fact sheet Destination College Dual enrollment College and Career Readiness Act New initiative: Joint Telepresence classes offered via virtual classroom New initiative: Charles County Middle College Board-to-Board communications Adjournment Charles County Public Schools provides 26,400 students in grades prekindergarten through 12 with Read more…

Pamela Murphy has accepted the position of Executive Director of Human Resources for Charles County Public Schools (CCPS). Murphy has more than 16 years of senior management experience in public education human resources. She has held the positions of Senior Manager of Human Resources for Harford County Public Schools and Director of Human Capital for Baltimore City Public Schools. The Board of Education approved her appointment on Feb. 11. She starts in her new position with CCPS on Monday, March 3. Murphy said she is looking forward to working with staff and students in her new position. “I am excited Read more…