A baseball player can spot a kindred spirit even among more than 70 middle school students scattered around the grounds of Regency Furniture Stadium. On the opening day of Badges for Baseball, a three-day long camp that focuses on baseball skills while reiterating the importance of sportsmanship and teamwork, Southern Maryland Blue Crabs hitting coach Jake Opitz led practice in the batting cages. Each hitter gets six pitches. After Mattawoman Middle School seventh grader Cameron Coffey solidly connected with the first two, Opitz asked, “You play baseball?” “Yeah,” Coffey replied. “You should,” Opitz answered. Then Bryce Djossou, a seventh grader Read more…

Even among the fourth- to sixth-grade set, summer brain drain is a concern. “When you stay home and you’re not active your mind is not as sharp,” said Gabriel Tellez, who will start sixth grade at Theodore G. Davis Middle School in August. “You could forget what you learned,” Kaelan Perkin, who will join his friend Tellez at Davis at the start of the school year, chimed in. To ensure their brains are engaged and taking in new information, the boys signed up for the Polar Explorer camp held at the James E. Richmond Science Center at St. Charles High Read more…

Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) Superintendent of Schools Kimberly Hill today announced the addition of Michael L. Heim to her executive leadership team as the new assistant superintendent of supporting services. Heim is a longtime employee of the school system, first joining Charles County Public Schools as a classroom teacher in 1997, and said he is honored for the opportunity to lead supporting services. “I am excited to have this opportunity to lead supporting services as we move forward with maintaining and renovating our current facilities while looking into the future to build new facilities to meet the challenges of Read more…

Charles County Public Schools is offering sports physicals this summer to student athletes. Physicals will be limited to the first 100 students and are done on a first come, first served basis. The fee is $25 and cash is the only accepted form of payment. Physicals will be at Henry E. Lackey High School on Saturday, July 23 from 8 to 11 a.m. The registration form is on the Charles County Public Schools website under the athletics section at http://www.ccboe.com/departments/athletics/sportsphysicals.php. Forms can also be obtained at each high school. The parent section of the form must be completed and signed Read more…

Some are players, some are fans, others just needed something to do over the summer. All are among the more than 90 elementary school-aged kids out on the fields of St. Charles High School for a football camp led by members of the Charles County Sheriff’s Office. Helmed by 16 school resource officers (SRO), the camp was held June 22 to 24 for students in third, fourth and fifth grades, with some sixth graders sprinkled in. “We want to give back to our community that we serve,” said Officer Patrick Mann, an 11-year veteran of the sheriff’s office who has Read more…

The Board of Education of Charles County is holding a public work session at 6 p.m., Monday, June 27 in the boardroom at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building. The meeting will be televised live on the Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) website at ccboe.com and broadcast on Comcast Channel 96/Verizon FiOS Channel 12. The following is a meeting agenda and is subject to change. Executive Session – 5 p.m. Call to order – 6 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance Public Forum Work Session Seat allocations Policy 6000 revisions Adjournment Charles County Public Schools provides 26,300 students in grades prekindergarten through Read more…

Superintendent Kimberly Hill is temporarily reassigning new middle school students moving into high growth areas in the Milton M. Somers Middle School zone. Students moving into new homes in the St. Charles neighborhoods of Gleneagles South, Gleneagles North, Villages of Wooded Glen and Villages of Piney Reach after July 15 will attend Benjamin Stoddert Middle School rather than Somers. The moratorium affects only students moving into newly constructed homes, and not already attending Somers. The moratorium is temporary and intended to limit growth at Somers, which is over capacity, until the school system conducts a comprehensive middle school redistricting. The Read more…

The Board of Education on June 14 met its new student representative for the coming school year, North Point High School rising senior Da’Juon Washington. He was sworn in as the Student Board Member at the start of the Board’s monthly meeting by Board Chairman Virginia McGraw. Washington may have been familiar to the Board members as he served as the student liaison for North Point during the 2015-16 school year. In his first report to the Board as the Student Board Member, Washington said he looks forward to working with the group. “I am extremely thrilled to serve as Read more…

Each year, Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) honors outstanding support services personnel in the areas of instructional assistant, building service worker, secretary, information technology, maintenance, central office support and food service. After nominations are received and judged, a person is selected to represent one of seven categories. This year, Juin Lai, media instructional assistant at Henry E. Lackey was named the outstanding instructional support employee; Veistella Milstead, assistant building service worker and night manager at Milton M. Somers Middle School was named the outstanding building service employee; secretary to the principal of C. Paul Barnhart Elementary School Susan Pond was Read more…

Superintendent Kimberly Hill today announced the appointment of two new school principals, eight principal transfers, seven vice principal appointments and 12 vice principal transfers. New principal appointments include: Ben Kohlhorst from vice principal at John Hanson Middle School to principal at C. Paul Barnhart Elementary School William Miller from vice principal at Mary B. Neal Elementary School to principal at Mt. Hope/Nanjemoy Elementary School New vice principal appointments include: Matthew Deegan from administrative assistant at North Point High School to vice principal at Theodore G. Davis Middle School Shayna Gold from teacher/administrative assistant at the F.B. Gwynn Educational Center to Read more…