Monday, March 3, 2025

Hundreds gather for Black Excellence districtwide celebration

More than 140 BCPS students and 300 family and community members gathered at Loch Raven High School on February 22 for the districtwide celebration of the BCPS Black Excellence Program.

This year, 18 elementary and seven middle schools hosted Black Excellence clubs, which facilitate students learning more about Black history and culture through book studies, knowledge competitions, and/or independent research. At the districtwide celebration, family and community members could view the students' work and discuss it with them.

In this year's school-based knowledge competitions, the following schools earned honors:

More photos from the event can be found on Flickr.

BCPS graduation rate rises for second consecutive year

Dropout rate improves

The four-year cohort graduation rate for BCPS students rose – or the second year in a row – to 85.84 percent, according to data released by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) on February 25. The graduation rate for the Class of 2024 increased by nearly one percentage point from the previous year’s rate of 84.99 percent.

The four-year graduation rate improved for nearly all student groups, broken down by race/ethnicity. Hispanic/Latino and multilingual students reported the largest increase in graduation rate, with Hispanic/Latino students achieving a 6.69 percentage point increase and multilingual students achieving an 8.31 percentage point increase.

Among schools, the largest gain was at Parkville High School with an increase of 9.35 percentage points, followed by Owings Mills High School with a 5.13 percentage point increase over the last year. Woodlawn High School also made significant gains for the second year in a row. Its graduation rate rose to 84.09 percent, an increase of 5.03 percentage points from the previous year.

The deadline for the 2025 Team BCPS Haiku Contest is this Friday

New this year, $100 Amazon gift cards for the three winners

The 2025 Team BCPS Haiku Contest challenges BCPS students to describe, in just 17 syllables, what story they see in a piece of artwork, what the artwork makes them think and feel.

BCPS students, from Kindergarten through Grade 12, are encouraged to enter. Students are asked to write works inspired by a piece of student artwork selected from among 10 pieces. Entries for the annual BCPS Haiku Poetry Contest will be accepted online through 4:45 p.m. on Friday, March 7.

A winning haiku will be chosen at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Winners will be announced on Thursday, April 10, and will receive prizes from The Ivy Bookshop as well as a framed print of their haiku and the artwork that inspired it. New this year, one of the prizes each winner will receive will be a $100 Amazon gift card and special gift basket provided by The Education Foundation of BCPS Inc.

BCPS celebrates National School Social Work Week 2025

To celebrate National School Social Work Week, March 2-8, BCPS presents brief profiles of five of its many talented and dedicated school social workers.

All five school social workers profiled have earned the designation of Maryland Licensed Certified Social Worker – Clinical (LCSW-C). This requires receiving a master's degree or doctorate degree in social work, passing the Association of Social Worker Boards clinical qualifying exam, and amassing 3,000 hours of supervised clinical social work experience. 

Amanda Dellheim

Holabird STEM/Middle School

Alexandra Padley

White Oak School

Wendy B. Pitts

George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology

Rebecca Rock

Crossroads Center

Nick Stengel

Berkshire Elementary School

Spaces still available for BCPS music and dance camps

Registration for BCPS dance and instrumental music camps continues. Both camps will be held at Nottingham Middle School from 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m., on Wednesday, June 25, Thursday, June 26, and Monday, June 30, through Thursday, July 3.



The BCPS Broadway Theatre Connection summer program and visual arts camp are full, and the waitlists for those programs are closed.

New this year, all camps will feature a focus on introducing students to creative careers; a new counselor-in-training option for students entering Grades 11-12 next school year; and limited funding to support camp costs for students who attend Community Schools. All camps will cost $182 per student.

Bus transportation is available. Fee waivers are available for students who do not have permanent or adequate housing. 

Summer Dance Intensive

Summer Music Camp

Recent student and staff honors

BCPS students earn 1,141 Maryland Regional Scholastic Art and Writing Awards

Carver Center student Hannah Kellogg nominated for special national writing honor

BCPS students from 14 high schools and one middle school have earned 1,141 awards from the 2025 Maryland Regional Scholastic Art & Writing Awards recognition program – 45% more than the number of honors earned in 2024 (787) and more than three times as many honors earned in 2023 (347).  

In total, in 2025, BCPS students earned 32% of all art awards and 42% of all writing awards in Scholastic’s Maryland region.

Hannah Kellogg, Grade 10, George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology, has been named an American Voices nominee. Her flash fiction work “The Sound of Rotting” has been honored as one of the top five Scholastic writing submissions in the region and will be considered for a National Medal. 

More details can be found in a recent news release.

Perry Hall High Spanish teacher Edwin Pérez appointed mid-Atlantic region director of National Education Association's Hispanic Caucus

Also inducted into Maryland Hispanic Heroes Hall of Fame

Edwin Pérez, a Spanish teacher at Perry Hall High School, has been appointed to serve as Mid-Atlantic Region Director of the National Education Association (NEA) Hispanic Caucus.

He also has been inducted into the Maryland Commission on Hispanic Affairs' Maryland Hispanic Heroes Hall of Fame.

Last year, Pérez was named the 2024 Latinx Educator of the Year by the Latinx Education Collaborative.

Baltimore Highlands teacher Bridget Jordan nominated for National LifeChanger of the Year Award

Bridget Jordan, an English language development teacher at Baltimore Highlands Elementary School, has been nominated for National Life Group’s 2024-25 LifeChanger of the Year award. This award program recognizes and rewards outstanding K-12 educators who are making a difference in the lives of students by exemplifying excellence, positive influence, and leadership. 

As a nominee, Jordan is now eligible to earn one of 17 prizes, ranging from $3,000-$10,000, to be shared with BCPS. Learn more about Jordan by viewing her profile, and learn how to help her win on the National LifeChanger website.

2025-26 Baltimore County Outstanding Young Women's Leadership Cohort meets with state lawmakers, hosts Women Empowering Women Conference

The 2025-26 cohort of the Outstanding Young Women's Leadership program recently visited Annapolis to meet with state lawmakers and hosted a women’s empowerment conference in which BCPS Superintendent Dr. Myriam Rogers served as a panelist.

Each year, a junior from each BCPS high school is selected to participate in the Outstanding Young Women's Leadership program based on her scholarship, leadership, and character. These young women participate in various leadership development activities and networking events with local professionals and leaders.

The Outstanding Young Women's Leadership program began in 2020 through a partnership between Towson University's Women's Leadership Collective, founded by Dr. Nancy Grasmick, who is Towson University's Presidential Scholar, and BCPS. First Financial Federal Credit Union sponsors the program, and numerous First Financial staff volunteer as mentors to the students throughout the program. 

2025-26 Baltimore County Outstanding Young Women's Leadership Cohort

Catonsville: Aiman Butt

Chesapeake: Gabrielle Abbe

Dulaney: Noelani Shimomura

Dundalk: Daisy Uroza

Eastern Tech: Cayden Wilson

Franklin: Miye'a Ayler

George Washington Carver Center: Derrian Bolden

Hereford: Grace Berquist

Kenwood: Ciera Bullock

Lansdowne: Giaolinh Nguyen

Loch Raven: Katelyn Fullerton

Milford Mill: Kayla McMurray

New Town: Jabria Shavers

Overlea: Ibukunoluwa Enufo

Owings Mills: Amina Waweru

Parkville: Raquel Martinez

Patapsco: Hailey Johnson

Perry Hall: Delaney Evans Pikesville: Jillian Potler

Randallstown: Sumaya Laguda

Sollers Point: Stef Gonzalez Munguia

Sparrows Point: Mar Pastor

Towson: Anisa Kalil

Western Tech: Germaine Essen

Woodlawn: Esther Elisha

Nominate an outstanding teacher for the Baltimore Ravens and M&T Bank Touchdown for Teachers honor

The Baltimore Ravens and M&T Bank invite community members to submit nominations for the 12th annual Touchdown for Teachers program, which recognizes local teachers who provide outstanding service for their schools and communities. Nominations are due by Friday, April. 4.

The grand prize winner will receive $5,000, payable to his/her school or district, and a classroom visit by a Ravens coach or player, accompanied by mascot Poe. Two remaining finalists will each receive $1,000 in grant funds, payable to their school or district.

Coming next week: 2025 BCPS Job Fairs

Join our team!

Register for next week's BCPS CCBC College Fair

Families invited to meet authors at county library branches

Presentations related to Battle of the Books program

Families are invited to Baltimore County Public Library branches to enjoy presentations by several authors. The authors will be speaking about their books, all of which are featured in the library's Battle of the Books program for elementary and middle schools.

Fifty-one BCPS elementary schools and 17 BCPS middle schools participate in Battle of the Books. These schools host fun competitions where students read from a list of 10 books and answer trivia questions. Each Baltimore County Public Library branch will facilitate a battle for local schools to compete against each other. 

*Please note that dates, times, and locations of author appearances have been updated.

"Self-Portrait" by Alyssa Hughes, Grade 11, Dulaney High School. This artwork was featured in the 2024 BCPS Art is for Everyone! exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

mission moment

from The Education Foundation of BCPS

Education Foundation earned 2024 Top-Rated Nonprofit Award from GreatNonprofits

The Education Foundation of Baltimore County Public Schools Inc. earned the GreatNonprofits Top-Rated Nonprofit Award for 2024. The GreatNonprofits Top-Rated Awards is the one and only people’s choice award where volunteers, donors, and people served by nonprofits are asked to share stories of inspiration, express their appreciation, and potentially help nonprofits earn a spot on the prestigious GreatNonprofits Top-Rated Nonprofits List.

A selection of testimonials about the foundation and information about how to help the foundation win this award again for 2025 can be found in a new Mission Moment blog post.

A video of the meeting and details about the administrative appointments can be found online.

A word from Dr. Rogers

March 3, 2025

Dear Reader:

Last Tuesday, the Board of Education voted to approve a $2.98 billion budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026. The approved budget request includes a $126.4 million increase over the current general fund budget to address the significant needs of our 110,000 students and support the recruitment and retention of Team BCPS staff. The budget request also includes specific investments to support ongoing efforts to improve outcomes in English language arts, mathematics, English language development (formerly English for Speakers of Other Languages), and special education.

Additional highlights of the Board’s approved budget request include:

• Increasing the number of special education teachers, paraeducators, and additional adult assistants.
• Preserving current class size staffing allocations across all grade levels.
• Expanding full-day PreKindergarten classes.
• Prioritizing and maximizing infrastructure efficiencies and cybersecurity.

I want to thank the Board for their comprehensive review of the proposed budget. Over the past several months, Board members have fully engaged in the budget process, and I know they carefully weighed the growing needs of our system and ultimately voted to approve a budget request that will sustain our positive momentum as we work to strengthen student achievement.

Now, the work continues with our county partners. As I previously shared, we are amid an exceptionally difficult budget landscape for both the county and state. What we had anticipated to be a more favorable budget season has quickly proven to be even more complex than FY 2025. The county executive has indicated her commitment to supporting our school system, despite the uncertainties about state and local funding, as we strive to provide a world-class education for all students. Our budget teams are working closely together to develop innovative solutions to ensure maximum funding for our students and our 176 schools, programs and centers. Any potential changes to the budget request that may have an impact on compensation, staffing allocations, or other significant areas of operations will be presented to the Board of Education.

The County Executive will present her recommended FY 2026 Operating Budget to the County Council in April. The County Council will then have an opportunity to review the proposed budget for BCPS and make a final determination.

I encourage you to stay engaged in this process. The County Executive is hosting budget town hall meetings where Team BCPS families can provide input into the budget planning process and share why a fully funded budget will help BCPS fast forward.

For more information, please visit the Operating Budget, Budget 101, and Budget Investments at a Glance webpages.

Thank you for your support.

Regards,

Myriam Rogers, Ed.D.

Superintendent

Upcoming Board and community advisory group meetings

All are welcome to attend

Southwest Area Education Advisory Council meeting

Monday, March 10, at 7 p.m.

Virtual meeting details

Topic: Risk management and facilities management

Board of Education meeting

Tuesday, March 11, at 6:30 p.m.

BCPS headquarters/Greenwood, 6901 N. Charles St., Building E, Towson 21204

Central Area Education Advisory Council meeting

Monday, March 17, at 7 p.m.

Virtual meeting details

Topic: Student wellness – nutrition and mental health