St. Mary's Co. Public Schools News Briefs


St. Mary's County Science And Engineering Fair To Be Held Feb. 3 & 4

The 52nd Annual St. Mary's County Science and Engineering Fair will be held on February 3 and 4, 2012 in the cafeteria at Great Mills High School. The fair will be open to the public on February 4 from 1:00 - 3:30 p.m. The awards ceremony, which is also open to the public, will begin at 3:30 p.m. in the school's auditorium. The snow dates for this event are February 10 and 11, 2012. Rules and entry forms are available to all students in St. Mary's County at the Science and Engineering Fair Board's website (www.sm-sef.org) or at the St. Mary's County Public Schools website (www.smcps.org/students-parents/popular-links/st-marys-science-a-engineering-fair).

The deadline for registration is Friday, January 13, 2012.

Students, Teachers, and Administrators Selected to Participate in the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference

Nicholas Oliver, a STEM student at Great Mills High School, was selected to present his project, Sole Survivor, as part of the Future Leaders Pavilion at the I/ITSEC Conference in Orlando, Florida from November 28 - December 1, 2011. The I/ITSEC (Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education) Conference is sponsored by the National Training and Simulation Association (NTSA) and includes participation from the U. S. Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and industry. This conference promotes cooperation among the armed services, industry, academia, and various government agencies in pursuit of improved training and education programs, identification of common training issues, and development of multiservice programs. Nicholas Oliver and his teacher/mentor Allen Skinner were sponsored to attend this conference by General Dynamics Information Technology located in California, Maryland. Great Mills High School is one of eight high schools in the United States selected for participation in this prestigious event.

Additionally, Nora Wichrowski, STEM teacher at Great Mills High School; Jake Heibel, Principal of Great Mills High School; and Tracey Heibel, Supervisor of Instruction for Science and STEM were honored to be selected as part of the America's Teachers at the I/ITSEC program at the conference. The goal of this program is to familiarize teachers and school administrators who are connected with STEM programs with the growing field of modeling and simulation. St. Mary's County Public Schools was one of only three school systems in the United States selected for participation in this program.

Board of Education Redistricting Effort

Based on the capacity of and enrollment at the elementary schools, Dr. Michael J. Martirano, Superintendent of Schools, appointed a redistricting committee as outlined in policy JCAA to review options and provide a recommendation on relieving the overcrowding at Evergreen Elementary School by utilizing the available capacity at Town Creek Elementary School.

The committee met from November through December 2011. The committee consisted of 33% staff members and 67% community members. The committee reached consensus on the proposed boundary alignment plan on December 5, 2011. The plan was then presented to the superintendent of schools on December 16, 2011.

-- The recommendation is to reassign St. Mary's Crossing and Settlers Landing, which are both planned unit developments and just beginning site work and/or construction, from Evergreen Elementary School to Town Creek Elementary School. This plan redistricts no current students.

-- The redistricting plan will be presented as an information item to the Board of Education of St. Mary's County (BOE) on Tuesday, January 10, 2012.

-- The BOE will hold a Public Hearing during their meeting on Tuesday, January 24, 2012. The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m., in the Board of Education meeting room located at 23160 Moakley Street, Leonardtown.

-- The BOE will take action on the redistricting recommendation on Wednesday, February 8, 2012, during their regularly scheduled meeting.

-- If the BOE approves redistricting, letters will be mailed to affected families in April 2012.

Questions may be emailed to redistrict(at)smcps.org or directed to Mr. J. Bradley Clements, Chief Operating Officer, or Mrs. Kimberly Howe, Coordinating Supervisor of Capital Planning and Green Schools, at 301-475-4256, x 6. St. Mary's County Public Schools is closed beginning December 23, 2011 and will reopen January 2, 2012. All questions received during that time frame will be responded to as soon as possible once the offices reopen on January 2, 2012.

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