If you ever doubted the phrase “Teaching is a work of heart,” meet Ms. Kaila Lindsay, kindergarten teacher at Sandy Hill Elementary School, and her students. This past week, Ms. Lindsay gifted each of them their own personal ‘pet’ that she had crocheted, each one unique to the child for which it was intended. The pet came with an ‘Adoption Certificate’ upon which the child was asked to draw the pet’s picture and include their ‘signature’ as owner.
There’s also another phrase in the education world: “Children don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” We are grateful to Ms. Lindsay, and all our teachers who go above and beyond every day to show their students how much they are cared for, and that school is a good place to be. <3 #ThisIsWhoWeAre #DCPS23NoMore
Congratulations to the young artists whose designs were chosen to appear on the front of Superintendent Dr. Thompson’s holiday cards! The winning designs were created by 2nd grader Adalynn Haugh of Vienna Elementary (shown with art teacher Ms. Renee LeMire); Kali Johnson, a 3rd grader at Hurlock Elementary (shown with art teacher Ms. Christina Edwards); Elisabeth Claggett, a North Dorchester Middle School 8th grader (shown with art teacher Mr. Lee Shores); and North Dorchester High School 10th grade student Adrien Sinkeldam (not pictured – art teacher Ms. Jennifer Powell). #DCPS23NoMore
A reminder to DCPS families: Friday, December 20, 2024 is an early dismissal day for students and the beginning of Winter Break for your excited children and our excited (and tired) staff! Schools are closed December 23 through January 1. We look forward to welcoming everyone back, rested and revitalized, on Thursday, January 2, 2025. #DCPS23NoMore
Maple Elementary School’s Mrs. Raven Mills (pictured left) is Coast Country 103.9 and 106.3’s Teacher of the Month! Radio personality April Brilliant visited the school earlier this week to celebrate 2nd grade teacher Mrs. Mills and present her with a $100 gift card from Vernon Powell Shoes along with an Apple Award to display. Congratulations to another DCPS star teacher, always going above and beyond for her students, and thank you to Coast Country and all those who voted for Mrs. Mills for the recognition! #DCPS23NoMore
Rumor has it that Santa is especially generous at homes who leave out cookies for him made by Chef Charlene Zinnel’s culinary elves at DCTC! #DCPS23NoMore
Yes, that's North Dorchester Middle School Assistant Principals Mr. Adam Wilson and Ms. Linda Barnes, along with Principal Mr. Vaughn Evans, celebrating the season by breaking out their matching candy-cane-onesies during Holiday Spirit Week! #DCPS23NoMore
Meet C-SD Senior Isabel Barr, who has been selected as Dorchester County’s student page to the 2025 session of the Maryland General Assembly! As a student page, Isabel will spend two weeks in Annapolis while the General Assembly is in session, providing support to the Delegates and Senators. Her time in Annapolis will provide great experience, as Isabel hopes to attend the University of Maryland at College Park next year, majoring in political science. Her career aspirations are to become a paralegal or legal analyst working for a District Attorney, with the ultimate goal of working for the federal government in D.C. Congratulations, Isabel! #DCPS23NoMore
Coming soon: the DCPS Annual Scholarship Fair, hosted by the Office of Student Services! This event will be held on January 22, 2025, 5:30 to 7:00 pm, at Dorchester Career and Technology Center. Community scholarship providers <3 and Seniors from North Dorchester High School and Cambridge-South Dorchester High School will have an opportunity to meet and consider whether they may be a good match. College-bound Seniors: make a note of this date! Scholarship providers: if you have not yet received your invitation or want to find out more information, contact Mrs. LaSina Branch, Supervisor of School Counseling, at branchl@dcpsmd.org or 410-901-6944 x3638. #DCPS23NoMore
At last night’s Board meeting, members of the Board of Education voted on the school calendar for the 2025-26 school year. Schools will open on Tuesday, September 2, 2025 (with our usual staggered start for different grades) and close on June 10, 2026 with June 11-15 to be used as make-up days if needed. The public is invited to comment on the calendar by sending comments which will be shared with the Board to harringtonn@dcpsmd.org before January 15, 2025. Please note that comments made on this page will not be included – please email them to the address above! #DCPS23NoMore
Santa Claus has nothing on Hertrich Family of Automobile Dealerships! Earlier this week a Hertrich elf (aka Mr. Pat Papineau from Hertrich Chevy GMC in Easton) visited three of our schools with something special in his sack for three winning teachers in Hertrich’s Cash for Class initiative. Principal Mr. Charles Treft accepted a $1000 check on behalf of Ms. Ramona Gullette, 6th grade Computer Science Discoveries teacher at Mace’s Lane Middle School, to be used for a computer science project; North Dorchester Middle School Media Specialist Ms. Jolene South received $1000 to put toward creating an outdoor classroom; and Ms. Jill Creighton, Hurlock Elementary School teacher, was delighted to be awarded $1000 for a Video Game Truck incentive for students. These are just three of 98 Cash for Class awards Hertrich is making this year throughout the Eastern Shore and Delaware. Thank you, Hertrich, for supporting these teacher-led projects in Dorchester County! #DCPS23NoMore
Dorchester County Public Schools are dismissing two hours early today, Wednesday, December 11, 2024, due to the forecast of high winds this afternoon and evening. All after-school activities today have been cancelled. Winter concerts for South Dorchester School and Vienna Elementary School scheduled for this evening have also been cancelled.
It was the Cambridge Christmas Parade over the weekend, and here are a few of our DCPS kiddos enjoying representing their schools on a cold winter’s night! Congratulations to all who took part, and especially those recognized by the judges: North Dorchester Middle School won 1st place among middle school bands, Mace’s Lane Middle School was 2nd, and Choptank Elementary School (whose students aspire to be middle school students soon!) was 3rd. The C-SD Viking Dance Team was recognized as Best School-Sponsored Club. #DCPS23NoMore
The regular monthly meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Thursday, December 12, 2024, at Dorchester Career and Technology Center, 2465 Cambridge Bypass in Cambridge, with the open session beginning at 6:00 pm following the conclusion of the closed session. The agenda and related documents will be found online via Board Docs on the Dorchester County Public Schools website at www.dcps.k12.md.us. The closed session will discuss personnel, an update on legal issues, discussion of a possible land transfer, restructuring Board Meeting agendas, and goals. The public is welcome to attend the open session. If you are unable to attend but would like to submit comments electronically to be included in the minutes, email them to comments@dcpsmd.org by 2:00 pm on Wednesday, December 11. The meeting will be livestreamed at https://townhallstreams.com/towns/dorchesterboe.
Won’t you be our new friend? We’re the PreK-3 class at Vienna Elementary School and we still have a few openings for new friends to join us this year! We have so much fun every day! We’re a part of the school, so we are here during school hours, 8:30 to 3:35 and a bus is available to bring us to school. There are lots of toys to play with, we learn rhymes and hear stories, have math activities, and lots of running around during outside play. We rest in the afternoon, and many of us fall asleep for a little while. We have breakfast, lunch, and a snack while we’re here and kind and well-trained grown-ups to keep us safe and help us learn. For more information or to schedule a visit, contact Ms. Julie Lewis at 410-228-4747 x1035 or lewisju@dcpsmd.org.
Youngsters love to give as well as receive, but with limited money and transportation many find it hard to ensure they have a surprise to give their loved ones during the holiday season. It’s Holiday Shoppes, like this one at North Dorchester Middle School, to the rescue! Students can “spend” points earned since the start of school for good effort, behavior, and attendance to purchase gifts for family and friends. Shopping was in full swing this week, thanks to donated stock, volunteer elves to wrap gifts and provide other help, and Chief Elf Ms. South overseeing events in the Media Center. It’s all about the joy of giving! #DCPS23NoMore
Yesterday was Report Card Day here at Dorchester County Public Schools . . . not for our students, but for our schools! North Dorchester Middle School and Mace’s Lane Middle School each gained a star, and the rest of our schools held steady. There was districtwide improvement in the percentage of students proficient in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics, as well as improved performance levels by students in those subjects. Students are accessing a well-rounded curriculum, and there was an improvement in attendance and graduation rates. In short, these results are a positive first step in the direction of #DCPS23NoMore.
The school star ratings are determined by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) in which schools earn between one and five stars based on multiple indicators, including non-academic measures. Elementary and middle school indicators include Academic Achievement, Academic Progress, Progress in Achieving English Language Proficiency, and School Quality and Student Success. High school indicators are Academic Achievement, Graduation Rate, Progress in Achieving English Language Proficiency, Readiness for Postsecondary Success, and School Quality and Student Success. More detailed information regarding specific schools’ results can be found at https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/.
School star ratings in graphic below: C-SD 2; Choptank 2; Hurlock 3; Mace's Lane MS 2 (up 1); Maple 3; North Dorchester High 3; North Dorchester Middle 3 (up 1); Sandy Hill 2; South Dorchester 4; Vienna 3; Warwick 4.
The holiday season is officially here, with the North Dorchester High School Choral Ensemble’s annual visit to the Tidewater Inn to perform at the Festival of Trees, benefiting Talbot Hospice! Thank to performers Kevin Banda-Perez, Zach Bozman, Ashlynn Burton, Jayden Coleman, Anna Colquhoun, Cailey Condon, Ryan Dodd, Savannah Elzey, Valery Esquea Ascencio, Alex Fonseca Gonzalez, Kendall Foxwell, Chloe Grubbs, Kyla Jones, Aniyah King, John Lankford, Dasaiya Macer, Alexus Myers, Nicole Parker, Maryalice Rebert, Hailey Stivers, and choral teacher Karen Mercer for opening this season of beautiful musical performances on a high note! #DCPS23NoMore
Congratulations to the students who picked up an easy prize! Students in 6th through 12th grades were challenged to write a paragraph – just one! – in any of their classes using the ACES (Answer, Cite, Explain) strategy and enter a prize drawing. Jason Cruz Martinez (10th grade) in Ms. Rank’s English class at C-SD won the grand prize a $40 gift card to Cambridge Premier Cinema. Zye’Meria Pinder (10th grade) from Ms. Thomas’ math class at C-SD and Kylie Spalding (9th grade), a student in Ms. Enciu and Ms. DeLashmutt’s math class at North Dorchester High each won $20 gift cards to Cambridge Premier Cinema. The next challenge? Inquiry, using Costa’s 3-2-1 chart. Don’t know what that means? Ask your teacher! #DCPS23NoMore
Earlier this week we saw gratitude-in-action as the Dorchester Career and Technology Center SkillsUSA members pictured below, along with their Cosmetology teacher Ms. Jenny Budd, spent the morning at the Cambridge VA clinic, thanking veterans for their service in a ‘sweet’ way by distributing packages of M&M’s. Here at Dorchester County Public Schools we are thankful for the freedoms we enjoy in this country and for those willing to put their lives on the line to protect freedom for everyone. Happy Thanksgiving Day! #DCPS23NoMore
No, that wasn’t a storm in Vienna, just the thunder of hundreds of feet of students, families, and staff Turkey Trotting around the school earlier this week! There were no prizes for fast times in this Trot, but all participants were part of a raffle with lots of great prizes being offered, including (of course) a turkey dinner. Congratulations to top prize winners Cole Condon (3rd), Charles Coulbourne (1st), and Chance Blades (2nd)! And, yes, that’s Superintendent Thompson in the middle of a group of students, combining two of his favorites: running and kids! #DCPS23NoMore
