BCPS and CCBC launch new Direct Admit program for BCPS seniors | | |
BCPS Superintendent Dr. Myriam Rogers and CCBC President Dr. Sandra Kurtinitis held a joint press conference on February 6 to announce the new Direct Admit program, a simplified path to early admission, information, resources, and financial aid for many BCPS graduating seniors.
Inspired by similar, successful models from across the nation, Direct Admit guarantees every BCPS graduate with a clear next step to college and/or career — regardless of GPA or background.
This spring, BCPS seniors will receive a Direct Admit email in their BCPS account with instructions to complete a short confirmation form for acceptance. That will be followed by official CCBC admission information and next steps about advising, enrollment, and tuition-free opportunities they may qualify for, including Maryland and Baltimore County College Promise programs.
More information can be found in a BCPS news release.
| | | | Deziree "Dezi" McDonald-Singh, Grade 12, Chesapeake High School | | Shaping her future through the Baltimore County Emergency Services Training Program | | |
February is Career and Technical Education Month, a time to celebrate the wide array of opportunities offered for students to prepare for success in higher education and/or a rewarding career.
This school year, approximately 1,800 Team BCPS students are diving into exciting work-based learning opportunities, including Dezi McDonald-Singh, a senior at Chesapeake High School.
Dezi, who initially began her high school journey in the culinary arts magnet program at Sollers Point Technical High School later discovered the Baltimore County Emergency Services Training program. Open to high school juniors and seniors, participants can earn Emergency Medical Technician and/or firefighting certifications at no cost. The program application for the 2026-27 school year is open through March 2.
Learn more about Dezi, her journey, and her plans in a new BCPS Close-Up blog post.
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Annual Climate Survey continues
Stakeholders encouraged to participate
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The annual BCPS Climate Survey is open through Friday, March 6. Focusing on school climate and engagement, the survey is for all stakeholders: students in Grades 3–12, parents/guardians, community members, and all staff. It takes three minutes or less to complete and is anonymous.
Participation in the 2025 Climate Survey was the highest on record and included more than 68,000 student responses. However, parent/guardian participation was under 12,000. For all voices to be represented, BCPS encourages more parent/guardian participation in 2026.
Previous Climate Survey reports are available on the BCPS website; the annual reports may be found on the Key Reports page, and data displays are available on the Climate Survey public dashboard.
| | Baltimore County Dept. of Economic and Workforce Development and CCBC join BCPS in sponsoring student career expo | | Hundreds of BCPS high school students participated in the BCPS Student Career Expo, held on February 18 at CCBC Essex. At the event, students learned more about vocational careers and apprenticeship programs available in the area. The expo was sponsored by BCPS and its offices of Career and Technical Education and School Counseling, as well as the Baltimore County Department of Economic and Workforce Development and CCBC. More photos from the event can be found on Flickr. | | Latest episode of Parent University Show highlights student leadership and partnership with American Heart Association | | |
The latest episode of the Parent University show features a segment about student leadership (beginning at 00:26) and a segment about the BCPS partnership with the American Heart Association (beginning at (3:47).
The segment on student leadership focuses on the Baltimore County Student Councils hosting the Maryland Association of Student Councils' (MASC) annual Legislation Session on January 24 at Loch Raven High School. The event welcomed more than 400 students, advisors, and guests from across the state for a day of civic engagement, collaboration, and learning.
Students also took part in the important process of selecting the final two nominees for the State Student Member of the Maryland Board of Education, whose applications will be sent to Governor Wes Moore for a final decision. Abiola David Arowolo, a junior from Eastern Technical High School, was chosen as one of the finalists.
| | The Education Foundation, Ivy Bookshop support annual haiku contest | | |
BCPS students, from Kindergarten through Grade 12, are encouraged to enter. Students will be 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 6.
A winning haiku will be chosen at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Winners will be announced on Friday, April 17, International Haiku Day. Winners will receive a $100 Amazon gift card and special gift basket provided by The Education Foundation of Baltimore County Public Schools Inc., a $25 gift card from The Ivy Bookshop, and a framed print of their haiku and the artwork that inspired it.
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BCPS Superintendent Dr. Myriam Rogers earns national leadership award
Honor recognizes “exemplary talent, creativity, and vision”
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AASA, The School Superintendents Association, has named BCPS Superintendent Dr. Myriam Rogers as the winner of its prestigious annual Women in School Leadership Award.
Dr. Rogers was one of two finalists for the award, which recognizes exceptional leadership of “active, front-line female leaders who are making a difference in the lives of students every day.” The award was announced on February 13 during the group’s national conference in Nashville, TN.
Learn more in a BCPS news release.
| | Dr. Rogers, center, at the AASA national conference | | Dulaney High's Christina Donall Lebovitz named a Maryland Outstanding Music Educator of the Year | | | | |
The Maryland Music Educators Association has selected Christina Donall Lebovitz, a music teacher at Dulaney High School, as one of six Outstanding Music Educators of the Year. The award was presented during the 2026 MMEA Annual Conference on February 21.
At Dulaney, Donall, a National Board Certified Teacher, is the marching band director, advisor of the Tri-M Music Honor Society and the Music Production Club, technology liaison, and a track & field coach. She has been a drum major clinician since 2017 and serves as vice president of the Maryland Marching Band Association.
| | Pamela Chaney of Catonsville Middle School and Westchester Elementary School named Baltimore County School Psychologist of the Year | | |
The Baltimore County School Psychologists’ Association has selected Pamela Chaney as the 2026 School Psychologist of the Year.
Chaney, who currently serves students at Catonsville Middle School and Westchester Elementary School, has worked in elementary schools in the Catonsville Middle School feeder pattern for the past eight years.
An active member of the Baltimore County School Psychology Association and a Nationally Certified School Psychologist, Chaney is also a member of the BCPS Office of Psychological Services leadership core.
| | 10 BCPS high schools named to Advanced Placement School Honor Roll | | |
Ten BCPS high schools have been named to the 2025 Advanced Placement® Program (AP®) School Honor Roll. Rankings on this honor roll are based on the percentages of seniors taking AP exams and of those scoring a 3 or higher on the exams (which may qualify them to earn college credit).
The following BCPS schools have been honored:
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Platinum
- Eastern Technical High School
- George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology
- Western School for Technology and Environmental Science
Gold
- Hereford High School
- Towson High School
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Silver
- Catonsville High School
- Dulaney High School
- Pikesville High School
Bronze
- Franklin High School
- Patapsco High School and Center for the Arts
| | Dulaney High violinist Stella Wong named BCPS Young Soloist for 2026 | | |
The BCPS Office of Integrated Arts has chosen violinist Stella Wong, a Grade 9 student at Dulaney High School, as the 2026 BCPS Young Soloist.
As the Young Soloist, Wong will perform the third movement of the “Violin Concerto in E minor” by Felix Mendelssohn on Friday, March 27, at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, accompanied by members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) during the annual BCPS Side-by-Side Concert.
For nearly 40 years, the BSO has partnered with BCPS for the Young Soloist and Side-by-Side programs, which culminate in a performance at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall before an audience of 1,000 students. For Side-by-Side, talented students perform onstage next to BSO members.
To be selected as the year’s Young Soloist, students were nominated by their music teachers and perform a live audition onstage at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in partnership with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
| | A message from Dr. Rogers | | |
Dear Reader:
In January, I presented a $2.49 billion operating budget proposal for Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 to the Board of Education. I also provided highlights of the proposed budget request to elected officials, school and central office administrators, and stakeholders on Jan. 12.
During two Board of Education work sessions, members of the leadership team and I highlighted components of the system’s operating budget request and answered questions from the Board. On February 24, the Board adopted its budget request, which will then be submitted to the County Executive and County Council for approval.
The proposed budget maintains strategic investments in core priority areas that will enable our system to continue its forward progress and prioritize the recruitment and retention of our dedicated workforce through compensation enhancements. We are building upon the major investments made in Team BCPS over the past two years and are unwavering in our commitment to improve educational outcomes for all BCPS students and provide them with the opportunities and resources needed to meet their full potential.
The budget recommendation represents an overall $57.3 million increase in the General Fund budget (2.8 percent) and includes a projected increase of $19.9 million (2.0 percent) in alignment with the targeted increase that County Executive Kathy Klausmeier has pledged. The requested increase will support salary increases for all BCPS employees and help maintain operations at the highest level.
This is the third consecutive year where we were faced with a tough fiscal landscape because of the continued expansion and implementation of the state’s Blueprint initiatives and anticipated lower federal, state, and local revenue. To address these budget challenges, we put several budgeting elements in place for FY 27 including: no new initiatives unless required; hiring freeze for central office and non-school-based positions; review of all contracts for renegotiation/reduction/elimination; and zero-based budgeting. With these targeted efforts, we identified $62.1 million in cost savings and reductions to fund FY 27 priorities. These reductions include position reductions, costs offset to Title I and other grants, IT reductions, and modest changes to current staffing allocation formulas that will slightly increase class sizes. It is important to note that there will be no layoffs of BCPS school-based and central office staff. These cost savings are in addition to the $168.9 million in reductions that we have made over the last two fiscal years.
I look forward to collaborating with the Board of Education, County Executive Klausmeier and members of the County Council to develop innovative solutions to ensure maximum funding for our students and our 174 schools, programs and centers. Our students and families are counting on all of us to do what is right and that requires continued investment in our system.
Regards,
Myriam Rogers, Ed.D.
Superintendent
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PTA Council of Baltimore County | | |
Dear Reader:
In my February 2025 Partnership Spotlight column, I wrote about the kick-off of a new PTA Council of Baltimore County subcommittee created to increase outreach to our multilingual students and their families – the Multilingual Community Partnership (MLCP). The MLCP, led by BCPS educator Edwin Perez, is a subcommittee of our Family, School, and Community Partnerships Committee, chaired by Ramona Basilio. The MLCP’s founding mission is to advocate for multilingual students and their families at the BCPS school/PTA unit level.
At that time, events affecting our immigrant students and families led the MLCP to focus on immigrant advocacy, in particular students’ rights and safety.
Much has changed since February 2025. In addition to leading our MLCP, Edwin was appointed chair of our Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) committee. In his capacity as both MLCP chair and JEDI chair, Edwin has testified at Board of Education meetings and County Council meetings on the need to support and protect our immigrant and mixed-status students and families. We’re proud that our advocacy helped lead to the approval of two County Council bills aimed at doing exactly this – supporting and protecting those who face increasing challenges.
We’re also proud that Edwin Perez was personally invited by Lt. Gov. Miller to attend Gov. Moore’s February 11, 2026, State of the State Address. Edwin was selected because of his strong leadership and wide-ranging advocacy. We joke that Edwin wears many hats. We’re happy that PTA Council is one of them!
It’s important to restate the PTA tenet of advocating for all children and speaking for every child with one voice, recognizing every child’s value, protecting every child’s safety, and supporting every child’s learning and growth regardless of their origin, background, or immigration status.
Leslie Weber
President
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BALTIMORE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Engage. Empower. Excel.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dept. of Communications & Community Outreach, 443-809-5908
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