FYI FROM CII
March 2016
AWESOME ACHIEVEMENTS
Elementary School
Middle School
High School
My Plate Garden
The FCPS MyPlate Garden Program won Outstanding Rural Community Development for creating a program that promotes hand-on education in agriculture and responsible citizens through community service opportunities.
Secretary Kelly Schulz nominated our Garden Program for the award and the RMC selected it as the award winner in this category. It also received Special Recognition Awards from U.S. Senators Mikulski and Cardin, as well as an Official Citation from the Maryland Senate.
DATA DIGS
After the initial secondary ELA “data dig,” a list of action items emerged. Literacy specialists/department chairs meetings became the vehicle for tackling these actions items while helping school-based literacy leaders and principals better understand the information data yields. For example, calibrating rubric scoring emerged early as a problem area when CRES scores were compared to PARCC scores. Based on this need, literacy leaders actually worked in teams to score student work in an effort to fully understand all aspects of the rubric and the rubric scoring process while actively collaborating with each other. In addition, principals joined their literacy teams during the last meeting to discuss data and produce school-based action items as well.
Secondary Mathematics
Secondary Mathematics has been looking at the connection between our students’ high school Benchmark scores and their PARCC scores. The Benchmarks have been written to mirror the PARCC exams in terms of the rigor and the standards that are covered. Input from teachers regarding the Benchmark assessments have been among the best sources of information for the purpose of improving these exams. We have made numerous improvements based on this input. We have promising data that suggests that students who do well on the Benchmarks are very likely to do well on the PARCC assessments also.
COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
STARTUP FREDERICK
Frederick County’s First-Ever “Startup Frederick Competition”
Frederick County Public Schools and the Chamber of Commerce are proud to announce a new partnership that will bring the excitement of “Shark Tank” to every classroom in FCPS. In this new competition, entitled “Startup Frederick," students will be challenged to present new business ideas to compete against their peers around the county for prestige and valuable prizes. This experience will bring the FCPS and the local community together to celebrate the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs.
Details for this student-led event are below. We are pleased to confirm guest speaker Rep. John Delaney and judges Danny Farrar, CEO/founder of Soldierfit, and Tammy Feaster, owner of Spherion. The final competition will be a great opportunity for our young entrepreneurs to network and pitch their ideas to the business leaders of Frederick. Please mark your calendars and come out to support this event.
Date: April 13, 2016
Location: Tuscarora High School
Open House: 5:00-6:00 PM (2nd & 3rd place winners from each school) Business Card Exchange with students.
Final Competition: 6:00-8:00 PM
Appetizers: Provided by CTC
Judges: Tammy Feaster: Spherion, Danny Farrar: Soldierfit
MC: Arielle Koselak from FHS/CTC
MLK Event
TRANSITIONS
Accelerated Achievement and Equity Department (AAE)
The offices of Special Education, English Language Learners, Advanced Academics and Minority Achievement form the new Department of Accelerated Achievement and Equity (AAE). This transition will take place throughout the remainder of this current school year.
“FCPS has consistently worked to make sure that all students have the opportunity to excel,” said Dr. Harris. “The new AAE department expands our focus on eliminating gaps in student achievement. It’s an outstanding and exciting development for the entire FCPS community.
Supervisor of Accelerated Achievement and Equity
Eric began his FCPS career teaching fifth grade at Whittier after working as a teacher in Montgomery County Public Schools from 1998-2004. In 2007 he transferred from Whittier to West Frederick Middle, where he taught grades 6 and 7. He transferred for the 2010-11 school year to Monocacy Elementary to teach fifth grade and was then promoted to assistant principal at Waverley. In 2012 he was appointed elementary social studies curriculum specialist. Mr. Phillips graduated from Morgan State University with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. He earned two master’s degrees from the University of Phoenix: one in curriculum and instruction in 2009, specializing in adult education, and the other in administration and supervision in 2010. Mr. Phillips won the 2014 Collins-Skinner Award for Elementary Social Studies Instruction and Leadership from the Middle School Council for the Social Studies and the 2015 Maryland Governor’s Citation for Frederick Mentors Program Award.
Supervisor of Advanced Academics
Margaret A. “Meg” Lee
Meg comes to us from Frederick County Public Schools where she is the Supervisor of Advanced Academics. In this role, Meg oversees a variety of programs for advanced and gifted students and immensely enjoys working with parents and teachers. Her best days are still spent in classrooms working with students – her favorite title will always be “teacher.” In particular, Meg enjoys the challenges of working with students who need specialized instruction and programming. Advanced Academics is a perfect fit!
Meg’s educational career began as a middle school language arts teacher and later a literacy specialist. She spent several years in the central office working with teachers as a professional development specialist before becoming an assistant principal. She moved to the Advanced Academics position in 2010. Meg has taught courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels for colleges and universities and has served as a student service learning fellow for the Maryland State Department of Education since 1999. Over the years, Meg has presented workshops at a variety of national conferences and has served as a consultant to several school systems across the United States. She has spent her recent free time co-authoring Mindsets for Parents with Mary Cay Ricci.
When she isn’t working, Meg likes to travel and explore new parts of the world with family and friends.
UPCOMING EVENTS
World Language Day 2016
Auidence: FCPS K-12 students, parents, colleges, community groups, businesses, everyone!
Prizes! Refreshments! Entertainment! Dancing! Information regarding software, courses, community programs!
Free registration and info:
DEWAYNE.CASH@fcps.org 301-644-5264
Saturday, Mar 5, 2016, 11:30 AM
Tuscarora High School, Ballenger Creek Pike, Frederick, MD, United States
Elementary Social Studies Fair
The 3rd Annual Elementary Social Studies Fair will be held at Tuscarora High School on April 2, 2016 from 9:30am-12:30pm.
Social Studies Fair Guide: https://goo.gl/xtZMw3
Registration is open: https://goo.gl/Qq2OCK
Saturday, Apr 2, 2016, 09:30 AM
Tuscarora High School, Ballenger Creek Pike, Frederick, MD, United States
Elementary Science Fair
The 35th Annual Elementary Science & Engineering Fair registration is now open. http://education.fcps.org/scienceelem/sciencefair
Please note that the location has changed to Tuscarora High School. This is an exciting change and will provide for an even richer experience for students and families.
Saturday, Apr 2, 2016, 09:30 AM
Tuscarora High School, Ballenger Creek Pike, Frederick, MD, United States
Secondary Science Fair
The 35th annual Frederick County Secondary Science and Engineering Fair will be held at Tuscarora High this year April 1-2, 2016 in partnership with the Frederick Jaycees, MedImmune, Inc. and Thermofisher. The top winner from the high school division will represent Frederick at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix. The top 10% of the middle school division will be eligible to participate in the national Broadcom MASTERS competition.
Registration is now open: http://education.fcps.org/sciencesec/sciencefair