Monday, July 21, 2025

BCPS named top school system in eastern U.S. for heart health fundraising

Thanks to fundraising efforts from school students, staff, and communities during the last school year, Baltimore County Public Schools has been recognized by the American Heart Association as its top performer in the eastern United States.



BCPS ranked 10th nationwide for its fundraising efforts through the Kids Heart Challenge and the American Heart Challenge.

According to the American Heart Association, 33 BCPS schools participated during the 2024-25 school year, including 12 community schools. Together, the schools raised $321,421 in lifesaving donations, with more than 3,180 students and families engaged in the programs.

BCPS Superintendent Dr. Myriam Rogers; Kate Poole, Senior Development Director, School Engagement, for the American Heart Association; and BCPS Chief of Staff Mildred Charley-Greene

Some 686 BCPS students also participated in Finn’s Mission, an American Heart Association program that teaches hands-only CPR, the warning signs of stroke, and other lifesaving skills.

The top five fundraising schools in BCPS are:



• Riderwood Elementary School – $34,947
• Prettyboy Elementary School – $27,902
• Honeygo Elementary School – $25,587
• Cromwell Valley Elementary Magnet School – $24,239
• New Town Elementary School – $22,088

More information can be found in a recent news release.

BCPS Partnership Fair brings together schools, offices, and current and potential partners

BCPS welcomed more than 90 organizations to its 2025 Partnership Fair, held on July 17 at Pikesville High School. At the event, current and potential partners met with more than 350 school representatives to discuss new opportunities to contribute to school and student success. BCPS partnerships augment staff capacity, enable innovative learning opportunities, and connect students to authentic learning and development through mentoring, volunteering, student work experiences, service learning, and scholarships. 

Partnership Fair participants included adoption support organizations, BCPS bargaining units, BCPS offices, county agencies, local cultural organizations, child advocacy groups, justice advocacy groups, area colleges and universities, education advocacy groups, disability service providers, youth empowerment groups, mentoring and tutorial services, financial institutions, health care providers, mental health service providers, faith-based organizations, sports organizations, and area nonprofits.

Photos from the event can be found in a new Flickr album.

Summer Stories: Dumbarton Middle student Nicholas Lake takes the stage at Camp Hippodrome

Nicholas Lake, who will begin Grade 6 at Dumbarton Middle School next month, flourished this summer at Camp Hippodrome. The free, weeklong camp, sponsored by The Hippodrome Foundation, teaches choreography, music, and acting to students who attend area public middle schools. The program culminates with a showcase performance on the big stage, with students singing and dancing in their small groups and all together.

In a new Summer Stories blog post, Nicholas discusses the camp, his interest in acting, and how it feels to be on the verge of starting middle school.

Every summer since 2018, BCPS has invited its students, teachers, and staff to share stories about their summer activities and adventures on the BCPS blog. The invitation to contribute to the Summer Stories series is extended again this year. To submit a blog post or suggest a story idea, please write to communications@bcps.org. We want to know about your summer jobs/internships/externships, vacations, creative projects, competitions, camps, and more!

BCPSfest is coming! BCPSfest is coming!

Save the date! BCPSfest, your favorite back to school festival, has moved to a new location! Join us!

Saturday, Aug. 16, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. 

New Town High School, 4931 New Town Boulevard, Owings Mills 21117

At BCPSfest 2025, let's celebrate the upcoming 2025-26 school year. Join us for fun hands-on activities; to learn more about BCPS and community-based programs and services; and to explore employment opportunities with BCPS. 

Summer Food Service Program continues

To reach as many children (ages 2-18) as possible, the Summer Food Service program, managed by the BCPS Office of Food and Nutrition Services, offers several ways to access free summer meals through Friday, August 15.

• Summer Meals TO-GO: Families can register to pick up summer meals at Carroll Manor or Kingsville elementary schools or Hereford High School. Each week, registered families can pick up boxes containing five breakfast meals and five lunches per child. 

• Organized program sites: Summer programs (including camps, day cares, sports teams, and religious groups) can register to have free breakfast and/or lunch meals delivered to their sites in Baltimore County. Last year, more than 300 programs participated. Registration is required, and participating programs must serve at least 25 children per day. 

• Baltimore County Public Library branches: Sixteen branches of Baltimore County Public Library are serving free lunches each weekday. These meals must be eaten on site. The list of participating branches and their mealtimes is available online.  

• BCPS Summer School: All students attending summer school receive free breakfast and lunch each day. No registration is required for these meals. Summer school (Monday through Thursday) continues through July 31.

In all four books recommended this week by our wonderful colleagues in the Baltimore County Public Library Collection Department, girls take on challenges, facing them head-on with great courage. The challenges they face vary greatly – from overcoming a language barrier to fighting ghosts, from becoming a spy to succeeding in quests to save a loved one. The recommendations are available in English and Spanish.

Please remember to stop by your local library branch to participate in the summer reading program, have them put together a Be Surprised Bundle for you, and take part in their many activities.

TalkingPoints, an engagement platform for multilingual students and families, is available to use throughout summer programs. Teachers, administrators, and schools can communicate with families in 100+ languages.

Make it a mentally healthy summer with Talkspace

This is a reminder that BCPS high school students (ages 13+) can access free virtual therapy or online support through Talkspace.

Talkspace has also shared a summer wellness "bucket list" that is good for teens and others.

• Take a beautiful photo and set it as your phone background.
• Go for a day without using the internet.
• Take daily or weekly walks.
• Try a new exercise, like yoga, and do it outside!
• Watch the sunrise and think about what you are grateful for.
• Devote some time to a meaningful friendship.
• Clean and organize your space.
• Get a good night's sleep.
• Make time to relax.
• Eat fresh fruit.
• Create a summer playlist.
• Read a new book.
• Jump in the water!
• Volunteer your time to help a family member or a community organization.

for your viewing pleasure

"Want/Need" by Tatiana Rivera, Kenwood High School, was featured in the 37th Annual High School Art Exhibition.

Artist statement:

In life, we are faced with wants and needs. This photograph represents the intersection of those two concepts. We need food to survive. We want easy access to technology. My photograph is meant to show how people feed their minds with technology, and that does nothing to nourish the body. In fact, the more we consume, our physical bodies are affected negatively and our mental health declines, too. This photograph was taken on my back porch on a rainy day. I placed the plate on a bench because I noticed how the wood grain was an interesting contrast to the shiny plate. The lighting was cool and gray due to the weather. I felt this was appropriate for the subject. The chocolates photo on the phone screen is a photograph I took last year. I included it in this image because I felt chocolates represent something that is liked by most people but it has very little nutritional value.

mission moment

from The Education Foundation of BCPS

Making an impact on our community 

Achievements from the 2024-25 school year

The latest Mission Moment blog post describes in numbers The Education Foundation's impact during the 2024-25 school year. Here are a few highlights:

• The Exchangerees (the foundation's educator resource centers) hosted 40 regular shopping nights and 64 exclusive shopping experiences. From across the county, 3,274 educators shopped the shelves for supplies and resources for 85,124 students. More than 22,000 books were adopted and $1.2 million in materials were distributed to our school communities.  

• Nearly $600,000 in donations were collected, including $36,759 in books, $37,465 in winter gear, $160,524 in school supplies, and $337,270 in other items.

• The foundation disbursed $231,616 for grants and special projects and $45,533 in scholarships to graduating seniors. 

Upcoming Board meetings

All are welcome to attend

Board of Education meeting

Tuesday, July 22, at 6:30 p.m.

At this special virtual meeting, the board will discuss personnel matters only. 

Board of Education meeting

Tuesday, August 12, at 6:30 p.m.

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