On March 23, 2017, the Board of Education of Calvert County Public Schools voted to approve the FY 2018 Operating Budget.
Dr. Daniel D. Curry, Superintendent, said, "We developed our budget based on four goals. We believe that the school system improvements outlined in the budget will enable us to maintain our tradition of excellence while moving forward."
The goals for the FY 2018 budget are:
• Continue to support high levels of student performance;
• Invest in students so that they are ready to graduate from high school and succeed in college, careers and the community;
• Expand technology in schools and create a more equitable school culture; and
• Provide a salary increase (step and a restored step) to employees in FY 2018.
The $203,059,631 budget includes salary increases, textbook upgrades, and additional technology, plus a collaborative distance learning program with the College of Southern Maryland and an enhanced teacher induction program. The budget calls for a county appropriation of $121,452,263, representing almost 60% of the costs.
BOE Recognizes Employees of the Month
The Board of Education of Calvert County Public Schools recently recognized Employees of the Month for the month of March.
The Employees of the Month for March are:
BEACH ELEMENTARY: Joel Helm, Mable Morsell
NORTHERN HIGH: Justine Novy, Carol Constantino
NORTHERN MIDDLE: Carli Martus, Elvis Ward
WINDY HILL MIDDLE: Robert Lusby, Kathy Jones
MT. HARMONY ELEMENTARY: Amy Tipton, Glenda Spragg
WINDY HILL ELEMENTARY: Joanne Harbaugh, Amy Hoggard
MUTUAL ELEMENTARY: Kim Coleman, Mary Miller
School system employees are recognized monthly at Board of Education meetings in accordance with Policy #6620. During the school year, the Board recognizes one support staff member and one professional staff member from designated schools, with each school scheduled for recognition one time per year. Central office support staff and teacher specialists are recognized in June. School and central office administrators are recognized in August.
Winners of the 27th Annual History Day
Calvert County Public Schools students continued the tradition of excellence in historical research at the 27th Annual History Day, held on March 18 at Calvert High. In their projects, students explored the 2017 theme "Taking a Stand in History." In each category, two students advanced to the Maryland History Day competition, which will take place on April 29, 2017 at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. In addition, ten special awards were presented to recognize achievement in specific categories.
The award for Most Outstanding Project in the Senior Division was presented to Darcy Perin of Calvert High for her documentary entitled "Dr. Seuss Went to War." Parker Nickels of Northern Middle won the Most Outstanding Project in the Junior Division for his research paper, "Cages to Classrooms: Elizabeth Fry's Stand Against the Atrocities of Prison."
National History Day is a highly regarded academic program for secondary students. Students choose historical topics related to a theme and conduct extensive primary and secondary research through libraries, archives, museums, oral history interviews and historic sites. After analyzing and interpreting their sources and drawing conclusions about their topics' significance in history, students present their work in original papers, websites, exhibits, performances and documentaries. These student works are entered into competitions in the spring at the local, state and national levels, where they are evaluated by professional historians and educators.
Math Counts Winners Head to State Competition
Tomorrow thirteen Calvert County middle school students will travel to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore for the statewide MATHCOUNTS competition.
These students qualified for the state contest last month by demonstrating their mathematical prowess during the tri-county Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO) MATHCOUNTS competition. Over 230 students from 24 middle schools throughout Southern Maryland spent over four hours working in individual speed rounds, team rounds, and an exciting single-elimination tournament. Along the way, they solved challenging problems in algebra, geometry, combinatorics, number theory, functions, statistics and probability.
The team from Northern Middle, coached by Carole Butler, qualified for the state contest with a second place finish. The team is comprised of Leo Johnson, Robert Martin, William Rathgeb and Nima Talebi.
The students who qualified as individuals are Ryan Parker from Calvert Middle; Isabel Bateman and Jade Durham from Northern Middle; Josh Ronn and Thomas Foulkes from Plum Point Middle; Kyle Wojciechowski from Southern Middle; and Bradley LeFever, Joseph Munley, and Owen Reed from Windy Hill Middle.
The top four individual competitors from each state competition receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the national competition in Orlando, Florida, in May.
Plum Point Middle Student Wins Calvert County Spelling Bee
For the second consecutive year, Anna Kleist of Plum Point Middle is the champion of the 30th Calvert County Spelling Bee that was held on March 14, 2017 at Calvert High School.
Concluding an unprecedented twenty-four rounds, Anna correctly spelled the word "algorithm" to win the contest, which included forty-seven students from the six Calvert County public middle schools and two private schools.
Second place went to Sadie Storm, also of Plum Point Middle School. Both girls were coached by English language arts teacher Iris Schaecher.
Anna, an eighth grader, will represent Calvert County at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May in Washington, D.C.
Carson Scholars Announced
The Carson Scholars Fund is pleased to announce that four students in Calvert County Public Schools have been named first-time Carson Scholars in 2017. In addition, eleven students are repeat winners.
The first-time winners are:
• Sara Bevard, Grade 5, Mutual Elementary;
• Christa Clark, Grade 11, Northern High;
• Molly Galdieri, Grade 5, Plum Point Elementary; and
• Margaret Giggey, Grade 11, Calvert High.
The repeat winners are:
• Kristen Almuete, Grade 12, Calvert High;
• Koy Greenwell, Grade 7, Windy Hill Middle;
• Alexandra Knudson, Grade 11, Huntingtown High;
• Morgan Lennon, Grade 11, Huntingtown High;
• Nevaeh Martin, Grade 6, Southern Middle School;
• Natalie Reardon, Grade 11, Calvert High;
• Tory Ridgeway, Grade 8, Windy Hill Middle;
• Hayley Spicknall, Grade 5, Barstow Elementary;
• Daniel Waldheim, Grade 11, Patuxent High;
• Ashley Whicher, Grade 8, Southern Middle; and
• Kyle Wojciechowski, Grade 7, Southern Middle.
Each year, the Carson Scholars Fund recognizes a select group of high achieving students in grades 4–11 who demonstrate outstanding academic achievement and humanitarian qualities. Students receive a $1,000 college scholarship award and the honor of being named a Carson Scholar.
Nationwide, 483 students were selected to be 2017 Carson Scholars. In addition, 872 students have renewed their Carson Scholar status. These previous scholarship recipients have maintained high academic standards and a strong commitment to their communities.
To celebrate their accomplishments, the Mid-Atlantic scholars will be recognized at the 21st Annual Awards Ceremony on Sunday, April 30, 2016 at Martins West in Baltimore, Maryland.
The Carson Scholars Fund is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) public charity founded by Dr. Benjamin Carson and his wife, Candy. The Carson Scholars Fund is dedicated to impacting the nation in a positive way by cultivating future leaders who are academically talented and socially conscious.