Teacher of the Year to be announced May 15
The Montgomery County Teacher of the Year will be announced during a virtual ceremony on May 15.
Three teachers were named finalists for the award in February — Annie Moore, kindergarten teacher at Farmland Elementary; Inge Chichester, world studies specialist at Sligo Middle School; and Rodney Van Tassell, social studies teacher at Winston Churchill High School.
The announcement of the winner will be named at 6:30 p.m. May 15 in a ceremony streamed on the MCPS website.
The winner is expected to be recognized during an in-person ceremony later in the year, and will be eligible to compete for a national teacher of the year honor.
Rumors of arts, PE class cancellations not true
Rumors that MCPS planned to cut arts, music and physical education classes from its fourth-quarter curriculum amid the coronavirus pandemic were sparked by a “miscommunication” and were untrue, a school district official said this week.
Last weekend, MCPS posted a document to its website detailing responsibilities of nonclassroom teachers while buildings are closed due to the pandemic. The message said art, PE and music teachers should assist classroom teachers with various duties. The document did not say they would still be required to teach their own classes.
When asked about the document by Bethesda Beat, school system spokesman Derek Turner said it was a miscommunication on the part of MCPS and that classes were not being canceled.
“All art, music and PE classes will continue as they have been,” Turner said. “What that document was trying to say was if those teachers had time to help other teachers, here’s what they should do. But what we’re finding is, systemwide, they don’t have extra time. We have fixed the document to reflect this.”
School board to meet Tuesday
The Montgomery County school board is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to receive an update on COVID-19’s impact on academics and make a decision about how to calculate second-semester grades for middle and high school students.
The virtual meeting will be streamed on the MCPS website and begins at 11:30 a.m.
The school board is expected to decide whether the second semester — made up of third- and fourth-quarter grades — will be calculated on a pass/incomplete scale. The school district decided last month that fourth-quarter grades will be distributed on that scale.
The board will also receive an update on remote learning and school building projects.
Winners of Choose Respect video contest announced
The winners of the county’s Choose Respect video contest were announced this week.
Choose Respect, which is expected to culminate in a festival in the fall, focuses on teen dating violence. The annual event is run by the county government, the Montgomery County Domestic Violence Council and MCPS.
Students submitted video public service announcements about the prevalence and effects of teen dating violence, voted on by their peers.
The first-place award was titled “I’m the Victim” from Northwood High School; second place went to “He Loves Me” from Roberto Clemente Middle School; and third place was titled “Our Memories” from Richard Montgomery High School.
The one-minute videos can be viewed on the Montgomery County government website.
