Monday, May 6, 2013
Students, parents and school organizations all have something to say about proposed changes to the HCPSS wellness policy.
Football fans aren’t likely to buy celery sticks in the stands, and Girls Scouts wouldn’t be Girl Scouts without cookies. But that's where some parents are saying Howard County Public Schools are headed with the Superintendent’s proposed changes to the school system’s wellness guidelines (policy 9090, Wellness Through Nutrition and Physical Activity). At issue for some parents is the addition of the requirement that foods available to students conform to HCPSS Nutritional Guidelines; guidelines which have not yet been spelled out. “Until guidelines are clearly defined,” PTA Council of Howard County President Christina Delmont-Small said at the April 11 Board of Education Public Hearing, “it is impossible for our organization or for anyone…
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Lauren Shen's doodle is a state finalist in the national Doodle 4 Google contest.
You never know what you’ll find if you point your browser to Google’s home page. On May 23rd it might be a doodle from a Howard County seventh grader. Burleigh Manor’s Lauren Shen is the Maryland finalist in the Web giant’s Doodle 4 Google contest, which gives young artists from around the country a chance to showcase their artistic skills on the Google home page. Google asked entrants to re-work the company's recognizable logo to depict it as their “best day ever.” Shen's drawing depicted Travel to Taiwan. “The day I arrived in Taiwan was my best day ever,” Shen wrote. More than 130,000 students, from kindergarten through 12th grade submitted a Doodle of their best day. Shen was chosen as one of 50 state finalists. Five national …
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
A forum on the state of education in Oakland Mills is scheduled for next month.
A forum on the status of schools in Oakland Mills is scheduled for May 7 and is hosted by the Oakland Mills Community Association. The event is scheduled from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at The Other Barn, 5851 Robert Oliver Place. Guests include: Questions must be submitted before the forum, according to an event flier. Submit them to Reginald Avery at rtavery@verizon.net or Fred Eiland communityorganizer@columbiavillages.org See more school news on Columbia Patch:
Sunday, April 21, 2013
The end of the 2012-2013 school year was recently announced by Howard County school officials.
Howard County public school students will be getting out of school this year a little earlier than expected. Earlier this spring, Howard County school officials said the last day, subject to change, would be June 18, 2013. Then, there was an unexpected snow day in March (remember ‘Snowquester?) and, as of April 8, school officials said the last day of school would be one day later, June 19. On Friday afternoon, Howard County released a new date for the last day: June 14, 2013, a day set earlier because the school system received a waiver from the Maryland Department of Education for three inclement weather days taken during Hurricane Sandy and at other points in the school year. And that date is still subject to “additional modifications…
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
The America’s Most Challenging High School rankings is published by the Washington Post.
All 12 of Howard County’s public high schools made the list of America’s Most Challenging High Schools, published annually by the Washington Post. A total of 123 Maryland high schools were on the national list, which had a total of 1,933 high schools ranked Rankings were based on index scores that were calculated based on the number of college-level tests given at the school in 2012 divided by the number of graduates that year, the Post said. Do you agree with the rankings? Tell us in the comments below. The publication also took into account the percentage of students who qualified for lunch subsidies and how many graduates passed at least one college-level test during high school, according to the Post. High School/Location/National …
Monday, April 15, 2013
Matthew Winner is applying his interest in video games to pioneer new ways to teach students math.
In the middle of the library at Longfellow Elementary, a second grade student held a black Nintendo Wii controller and was swinging it methodically at a virtual ping-pong ball as it bounced back and forth on a projector screen. "Now that you've reached 20 points, you only have 30 more seconds to get as high of a score as possible," said Matthew Winner, the librarian, to the student. There were about 15 other students in the room, cheering on the young boy as the volley continued. "That's it! You're done!" said Winner, "Now note the score yellow team, 57." Nearby, the two other second graders that made up the yellow team wrote the 57 along with their other scores of 12 and 6 on pieces of paper. Then they added the scores together, for a …
Monday, March 18, 2013
HCPSS was honored with an award for transparency.
The Howard County Public Schools System recently received an award for its website’s transparency. The Sunshine Review, a non-profit entity that gathers and distributes informations on local governments, gave a yearly Sunny Award to the HCPSS. Howard County’s school system was one of two Maryland school systems to receive a Sunny Award for its website, the other being the Anne Arundel County Public Schools System. “The Sunny Awards recognize governments that make transparency a priority,” said Sunshine Review President Michael Barnhart in a release. “The winners of the Sunny Awards are cities, counties and school districts that proactively share the public information that empowers citizens and keeps government accountable to the people.” …
Thursday, March 14, 2013
A Long Reach High senior has spearheaded efforts to remove the trays from schools.
Every year the Howard County School System purchases 5,000 cases of polystyrene trays. Each case contains 500 trays, so that’s about 2.5 million trays used by students every year, according to data provided by the school system. Each year, all these trays, used daily in the schools’ cafeterias, eventually make their way to the Howard County landfill, according to the school system. The trays don’t leak, they’re reasonably strong, and they’re cheap, but they are also resistant to decomposition due to their oil-based structure. The school system is actively looking for ways to replace the trays with something more environmentally friendly, but is running up against a federal 'Buy American' provision as well as the high cost of decomposable …
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Government officials on 'liberal leave.'
The Howard County Public School System has cancelled school today as the snowstorm dubbed 'Snowquester' began dumping what the National Weather Service predicts will be up to 10 inches of snow on the area. Accordig to a statement released by the school system, in addition to classes, "All evening activities in schools, both school-sponsored and community-sponsored, are canceled. This includes high school athletic practices and games." Howard County government officials are on 'liberal leave,' meaning employees with time off can take the day off. Howard Community College will also be closed, according to its website. This article has been edited.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Find out how your teen can participate in talks about bullying.
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Monday, February 25
There will be a series of forums on bullying in March hosted by the Howard County public school system to talk about how it is affecting the overall school climate. Each of the four forums are for high school and middle school students, and the sessions are limited to 50 students each. (Students can sign up here.) The forums will be facilitated by student leaders and school officials will use the information to inform an anti-bullying task force. A waiting area for parents will be available at the events; however, they are just for students, school officials said. The forums are scheduled on the following dates and schools: Thursday, March 7, 6:30-8 p.m. - Elkridge Landing Middle School Thursday, March 14, 6:30-8 p.m. - Reservoir High …
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