Park your phone. Buckle up. Slow down. Be safe. Those were the messages Superintendent Kimberly Hill, and members of the Charles County Sheriff’s Office shared with La Plata High School student drivers this morning during the kickoff of the ninth annual We Care campaign. La Plata High School student drivers were greeted Aug. 31 by Sheriff Troy Berry, Hill and officers who passed out fliers reminding the teens of driving rules and driving safety. It was a safety message repeated at all county high schools where school resource officers, principals and staff members also stopped and passed out flyers to Read more…
High standards and expectations, striving to excel and putting your best forward in all you do are just a few of the lifelong lessons Master Cpl. Roger “Rhett” Calloway emphasizes in his North Point High School criminal justice classroom. He is well known among the student body as an instructor who not only pushes students to excel academically, but challenges them to be independent and responsible role models for their peers. Calloway has served as the lead instructor over the criminal justice program at North Point for the past eight school years and spends countless hours ensuring his students are Read more…
The Board of Education of Charles County has appointed Laurie Thorwart and Latasha Kindrick, both of White Plains, to fill vacancies on the Board of Education Ethics Panel. The appointees will serve the remainder of a four-year term that ends in June 2018. Kindrick and Thorwart join panel members William Olmstead, a La Plata attorney, James Cornette of La Plata, and Jessie Morris of Waldorf. The Board appoints the all-volunteer, five-member panel every four years prior to a Board of Education election. The ethics panel interprets ethics regulations and provides advisory opinions to Board Members and employees subject to the Read more…
The 2016-17 school year for Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) officially begins on Monday, Aug. 29 for students in grades kindergarten through 12. The school system expects more than 26,500 students to fill hallways and classrooms next week. These students will join the more than 2,000 teachers who reported back to class today and are busy preparing for another year of teaching and learning. CCPS is still working to fill classroom vacancies for the coming year. As of today, 197 new teachers have been hired for the school year. There are 41 vacancies, mostly in critical shortage areas like science, Read more…
The halls of John Hanson Middle School are quiet in mid-August. Even with a dozen of students scattered between two classrooms, there are sporadic bursts of conversation, the task at hand too engrossing for much chitchat. Instead of waiting for school to begin, Hanson’s four VEX Robotics teams get a head start on their projects over the summer. The 15 students in sixth through eighth grades meet from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. for three days in June and three in August. Other VEX teams around the county will likely start meeting in September — the first competition is set Read more…
The James E. Richmond Science Center and the Space Foundation hosted Space in the Community Aug. 10, a free event open to families looking to learn more about space and science. “Our goal is to get kids and families excited about space,” Elias Molen, space education specialist with the Space Foundation, said. “We want space to be incorporated in all subject areas in schools … art, math, language arts. Kids will pay attention and get excited about space. They’re awed by the abnormal, they are awed by the endless possibilities.” The free event was the first of its kind at Read more…
Travel through time with the Board of Education in a three-part educational lecture series exploring the history of the Board — and education in Charles County — over the past 100 years. The Board is celebrating its 100-year anniversary and has planned three presentations, starting with “Education: Then and Now” from 6-9 p.m., Sept. 2 at the Port Tobacco Courthouse and One-room Schoolhouse. The presentation begins at 6:15 p.m., followed by breakout sessions including a trip to the Port Tobacco one-room school, discussion about the changes in education, a hands-on lesson and more. Segregation and desegregation will be the focus Read more…
Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) is seeking community input and suggestions for the name of a new elementary school that will open for the 2018-19 school year. The school is planned on a site off Billingsley Road in White Plains, located near the Greenhaven Run and Worthington neighborhoods. The new school will be the school system’s 22nd elementary school. The CCPS School Naming Advisory Committee will consider submitted names and present options to the Charles County Board of Education, who will ultimately vote and select the school’s name. Board of Education policy requires that schools be named for a person Read more…
Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) is sponsoring a bus hotline for parents to call with questions about school bus routes. Call 301-932-6655 to access the hotline. The hotline is available Aug. 25-26 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Aug. 29-30 from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Parents can access bus routes through the School Locator feature available on the CCPS website. School Locator is designed to allow the public to enter an address and see which three schools – elementary, middle and high – an address is zoned for. It also indicates if the address is eligible for bus Read more…
The Board of Education’s next monthly meeting is Tuesday, August 9 at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building on Radio Station Road in La Plata. The public portion of the meeting begins at 12 p.m. The meeting is televised live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12 and is rebroadcast throughout the week. Board meetings are also streamed live on the school system website at www.ccboe.com. Select CCPS TV and then choose the Live Broadcast tab. The following is a tentative meeting agenda and is subject to change. Executive session – 11 a.m. Call to order – 12 Read more…