Calvert Public Schools – 100% Green Certified!
Once again, 100% of Calvert County public schools are certified as Maryland Green Schools.
The following seven schools were recertified this year: Appeal Elementary, Calvert Elementary, Calvert Middle, Huntingtown High, Saint Leonard Elementary, Sunderland Elementary, and Windy Hill Elementary.
Schools must report and document their efforts every four years to remain certified. To obtain recertification, each school must document its actions towards waste reduction, decreased pollution, habitat restoration, energy conservation, and creating healthy learning environments. Additionally, each school must demonstrate that the teaching staff is exposed to current environmental topics through professional development opportunities and must prove that the environment is used as a context of learning in the classroom.
According to the Maryland Association for Environmental & Outdoor Education, the Maryland Green School Program fosters an approach that incorporates environmental issue investigation with environmental best management practices, while promoting community awareness and involvement. Through this program, a school is able to cultivate environmental stewardship that matriculates outside of the school into the community.
Green School Specialist for the school system, Sheila Tayman, said, “This success is owed to the dedicated administrative staff, teaching staff, building service workers, and students. Without this orchestrated movement, the school system would not be able to maintain a 100% success rate. This success rate is a testament that our school system is moving towards a sustainable future.”
Board of Education Sets Tentative Dates for Redistricting Hearings
The Board of Education tentatively scheduled public hearings for proposed redistricting plans for Beach Elementary School on June 3 and June 4, 2013, at 7:00 p.m. at Northern High School in the Mary Harrison Center.
Three proposed redistricting plans will be presented at the hearings. The public will have the opportunity to comment on the plans at one of the hearings or citizens may submit written testimony to the Board.
Students who are currently assigned to attend Beach and surrounding elementary schools may be affected by redistricting.
The redistricting committee’s proposed plans will be available for public review on the school system’s website, in the school system’s central office, and at the potentially affected elementary schools no later than Monday, May 20.
The Board will discuss the proposed plans at its regularly scheduled meeting on May 23. At that time, the Board will decide whether to move forward with the public hearings on June 3 and 4 or whether to schedule the hearings for future dates. The Board will also decide on May 23 whether and when to implement redistricting.
Board of Education Schedules Additional Work Session
The Calvert County Board of Education will hold an additional work session on May 31, 2013.
From 9:00 until 10:00 a.m., the board will hold a Closed Session as permitted by the Maryland Open Meetings Act, Section 10-508(a) and Section 10-503 of the State Government Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland. The board will move to Open Session from 10:00 a.m.to 4:00 p.m. to discuss agenda items, including digital learning and legislation recently passed by the Maryland General Assembly.
The meeting will be held at SpringHill Suites, 75 Sherry Lane, Prince Frederick, MD.
The tentative agenda will be posted on http://www.calvertnet.k12.md.us five days prior to the meeting.
School System Sets the Last Day of School
The last day of school for Calvert County students will now be Tuesday, June 11, 2013. Schools will dismiss 2-hours early on June 11.
The last day for prekindergarten students will be Friday, June 7, 2013.
The last work day for 10-month employees will be Wednesday, June 12, 2013.
The school system would have had to use all five days added to the calendar for inclement weather, but the State Superintendent granted a waiver of the two days that were missed because of Hurricane Sandy.