Monday, June 16, 2025

Staff, students, and families are invited to stay connected while schools are out as we provide important updates and reminders with the BCPS Summer Connect campaign! Follow along on Facebook, Instagram or X (formerly Twitter).

Clean Green 15 celebration awards $43,000 to 27 BCPS schools, kicks off the 2025-26 competition

Pinewood and Catonsville elementary schools win grand prizes

Award presentation to

Catonsville Elementary School

Award presentation to

Pinewood Elementary School

An event on June 11 at Padonia Park Club served as the closing ceremony of the Clean Green 15 Litter Challenge program's 2024-25 school year and kick off for 2025-26. During the ceremony, 27 BCPS schools earned a total of $43,000 in grants to support school-based environmental projects and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics resources. This year's grant prize winners, each receiving $3,000, were Pinewood Elementary School (for having the most volunteers) and Catonsville Elementary School (for having the largest cleanup results). A complete list of prize winners can be found in a recent news release.

For 11 years, the annual Clean Green 15 competition has challenged schools and volunteers to engage in quick, 15-minute (or longer) local litter cleanup events. The program, which is an environmental awareness partnership among BCPS, the Office of the Baltimore County Executive, The Education Foundation of BCPS, Inc., and the Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection and Sustainability, has engaged more than 58,000 BCPS students, staff, and community members since its inception. Together, those participants engaged in more than 4,000 hands-on litter cleanups and removed more than 373,000 pounds of litter from Baltimore County’s school grounds and communities.

More photos from the event can be found on Flickr.

Vision to Learn partnership supports students at 4 schools

This year, BCPS partnered with Vision to Learn to supplement the vision screening program in four community schools - Baltimore Highlands Elementary, Deep Creek Elementary, Johnnycake Elementary, and Sandy Plains Elementary.

The Vision to Learn partnership provides screening for students in Grades 2, 3, and 5. The partnership supplements the work BCPS does countywide to screen students in PreKindergarten, Kindergarten, and Grades 1 and 4. 

Caregivers of all students in PreKindergarten through Grade 5 who did not pass their vision screening were notified of the opportunity to sign up for a free vision exam and glasses, if prescribed, by Vision to Learn staff. This year, at the four schools, 348 students received free eye exams, and 311 students received free glasses.  

"Vision problems are common among children and can cause significant health and educational losses for students, so every additional student served generates long-term benefits well beyond their school years," said Dr. Nolan O'Dowd, director of the Clinical Services Bureau at the Baltimore County Department of Health.

More photos from Sandy Plains Elementary and photos from Deep Creek Elementary can be found on Flickr.

Photos from Sandy Plains Elementary School

Full house gathers to enjoy All-County Honors Dance Ensemble Gala Concert

Shared recess leads to informal mentoring at Mars Estates Elementary School

What happens when PreKindergarten and Grade 3 students find themselves having recess at the same time? According to community school facilitator Jenifer Crisp, what happened at Mars Estates Elementary School is that informal “mentorships” developed “organically.”

At Mars Estates, the PreKindergarten and Grade 3 classrooms are on the same hallway, so these students regularly see each other. When the students found themselves outside together once each week, many 3rd graders started interacting with and supporting the younger students. 

“Our 3rd graders love supporting our PreK students!” Crisp says. “They have so much fun mentoring ‘their students.’ They run around together, draw with chalk, and play games. When the Grade 3 classes worked on writing narratives, many of the students shared what they wrote with their PreKindergarten buddies. It was a great end-of-the-year activity.” 

Summer Food Service Program begins Monday, June 23

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 Monday, June 23 – 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 will serve free lunches each weekday. These meals must be eaten on site. The list of participating branches and their mealtimes is listed online.  

• BCPS Summer School: All students attending summer school will receive free breakfast and lunch each day. No registration is required for these meals. Summer school will take place from July 7-31, Monday through Thursday.

Around the county

Baltimore native and Miami Heat forward Haywood Highsmith visited Pikesville Middle School and spoke to students about what it takes to reach what might seem like impossible goals.

Everyone belongs in Team BCPS!

Before the school year comes to an end, please help us spread the word about opportunities for middle and high school students to participate in the fall interscholastic athletics season! New athletic registration information is available on the BCPS website. Questions? Call the Office of Athletics at 443-809-2328.

Special collaborative performances highlighted in newest episode of "Entertainment Blvd"

The latest episode of BCPS-TV's "Entertainment Blvd" showcases two collaborative performances: the opportunity Cromwell Valley Elementary Magnet School students had to play their recorders and sing and dance onstage with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Hereford High School dancers hosting and performing with dancers from a high school in England.

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!

BCPS seeks volunteers for next school year: Applications due June 16!

Volunteers help create positive and enriching experiences for BCPS students. Online applications should be submitted by Monday, June 16, to express interest in volunteering in our schools for the 2025-26 school year. We look forward to growing our team of dedicated volunteers and seeing the difference they make!

Newest episode of the Parent University Show now available for viewing

The newest episode of the Parent University Show explores the work nonprofit Empower4Life does to support BCPS students with needed resources and encouragement. The episode concludes with a review of the end-of-the-school year checklist.

for your viewing pleasure

"Mono No Aware & Kuebiko" by Jayci Teal, Lansdowne High School, is featured in the 37th Annual High School Art Exhibition, on display at The StarTUp at Towson University through Monday, June 30. This artwork was named a finalist in the awards sponsored by Azreal, Franz, Schwab, Lipowitz & Solter, LLC.

Artist statement:

This piece weaves together mono no aware and Kuebiko, embracing the beauty of impermanence and the quiet wisdom of stillness. The creatures, their forms shifting like memories, exist in a world between past and present, watching as time slips away.

Mono no aware (物の哀れ) is the gentle ache of knowing nothing lasts forever -- the way light fades, colors shift, and even the strongest of figures blur with time. Their fragmented, vibrant bodies reflect this transience, a reminder that change is both loss and beauty.

Kuebiko (久延毘古), the scarecrow god who cannot move but sees all, teaches that wisdom is not in the chasing of time but in understanding it. The creatures, with their many eyes, do not resist the flow of the world; they witness it, accept it, and exist within it.

Through folklore and abstraction, this piece invites reflection on what it means to see, to remember, and to let go.

mission moment

from The Education Foundation of BCPS

Foundation associate director completes Leadership Baltimore County program

On June 4, Dr. Heather Wooldridge, associate director of The Education Foundation of BCPS graduated from Leadership Baltimore County.  



Wooldridge was one of 51 graduates who spent the previous 10-months participating in educational and interactive sessions to learn more about how Baltimore County works, meet its leaders, understand the community’s challenges and opportunities, and how to affect positive change in the region. In addition, each member of the class participated in a 360° leadership assessment and one-on-one executive coaching sessions. More about the program can be found in a new Mission Moment blog post.

The full meeting and administrative appointments can be viewed online.

A word from Dr. Rogers

June 16, 2025

Dear Reader:

Today marks the end of the 2024-25 school year for more than 110,000 BCPS students.

As they leave our classrooms, we thank them for their attention, engagement, diligence, and curiosity. We thank their families and our community members for unwavering support.

And we thank the incredibly talented staff of BCPS for another school year focused on the academic achievement and personal wellbeing of our students.

At the end of every school year, many of our staff members earn local, statewide, regional, and even national honors. This recognition is well-deserved. Across the county and in our central offices, BCPS staff demonstrate every day their ability to weather challenges and continue moving forward.

I wish our students, staff, and graduates a summer filled with laughter, new adventures, and continued learning.

Regards,

Myriam Rogers, Ed.D.

Superintendent

Upcoming Board and community advisory group meetings

All are welcome to attend

Central Area Education Advisory Council meeting

Monday, June 16, at 7 p.m.

Meeting details

Board of Education meeting*

Tuesday, June 24, at 6:30 p.m.

*This date is for a possible special virtual meeting to discuss personnel matters only