Dorchester County Public Schools -

Just a reminder that Friday, November 10, is an early dismissal day! Secondary teachers have report card prep and elementary teachers will be doing school-based professional development. #AllHandsOnDeckDCPS

There might have been a traffic jam on Egypt Road where Barbie cars and dragon cars, Hot Wheels cars and unicorn cars, all lined up to get into the Maple Elementary Drive-In Theatre! Maple organized two drive-in movie nights as House family events, one in October for the Houses of Sphinx, Hippogriff, and Griffin and one last week for the Houses of Phoenix, Pegasus, and Dragon. Parents and children designed and constructed imaginative ‘cars’ and ‘drove in’ wearing their child’s house colors to see Wreck-It Ralph and enjoy refreshments, all for family fun! #AllHandsOnDeckDCPS

Students from the nationally-recognized SkillsUSA chapter at Dorchester Career and Technology Center were off to the Maryland SkillsUSA Leadership Conference in Ocean City last week for two days of informative and interactive workshops. Jessica Cowgill, a North Dorchester High senior and student in DCTC’s Teacher Academy of Maryland program, is a Maryland state officer of SkillsUSA and part of the statewide team that planned and facilitated the event. Congratulations to the 30 students who became more effective members by earning their Statesman or Advanced Statesman Award by demonstrating their knowledge and understanding of the goals of SkillsUSA! Chef Charlene Zinnel is the chapter’s advisor. #AllHandsOnDeckDCPS

The Rotary Club of Cambridge made a stop at Vienna Elementary School last week as part of their annual program to distribute dictionaries to all Dorchester County Public Schools 3rd graders. Thank you, Rotarians, for your generosity to our schools! #AllHandsOnDeckDCPS

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Today is the start of National School Psychology Week, and we salute our School Psychology team and the important work they do! With the broad remit of supporting students’ ability to learn and teachers’ ability to teach, they partner with families, teachers, administrators, and other professionals to create safe, healthy, and supportive learning environments, strengthening connections between home, school, and the community. Thank you to our DCPS School Psychologists - • Kim Parker – North Dorchester Middle School, North Dorchester High School, Vienna Elementary School • Christy Lantz – Hurlock Elementary School, Cambridge-South Dorchester High School • Abby Pluta – Choptank Elementary School, Warwick Elementary School • Katie Scarpati – Maple Elementary School, Mace’s Lane Middle School • Emily Moore – Sandy Hill Elementary School, South Dorchester School #AllHandsOnDeckDCPS

The Board of Education will hold an Open Work Session on Thursday, November 9, 2023, 4:30 pm, in the Board Room of the Central Office of Dorchester County Public Schools, 700 Glasgow St., in Cambridge. The public is welcome. The agenda can be accessed online via Board Docs on the DCPS website at www.dcpsmd.org. The meeting will be livestreamed at https://townhallstreams.com/towns/dorchesterboe.

Is this the beginning of chess-mania? Ms. Jolene South, the Media Specialist at North Dorchester Middle School, found that students enjoyed relaxing with a few informal chess matches during lunch break so much that she had to expand the number of places available for players! She has already run one internal tournament (congratulations to winner Nate Twilley and runner-up Brandon Potter) and is hoping to get some matches going with players from North Dorchester High School next door. The youngsters are teaching each other how to play, and Ms. South can sometimes be enticed to a match. And non-chess players can often find a spirited game of Uno underway too! #AllHandsOnDeckDCPS

Congratulations to the Dorchester County Public Schools student-athletes who have qualified for the Cross-Country State Championships! North Dorchester High School freshman Adison Thomas placed 10th in regionals and C-SD junior Camryn Russum placed 13th, qualifying both as individuals for the girls’ state championship. Vikings Te’kai Drummond (6th) and Zy’Meir Wilson (15th), also juniors, were individual qualifiers for the boys. The C-SD boys team also qualified for the team event at States: sophomores Preston Adkins and Andrew Albert, as well as juniors Te’kai Drummond, Josiah Harris Zy’Meir Wilson, and Jacob Forkum will be running for gold. Clint Falduto is the boys’ coach and Lois Narr coaches the girls at C-SD while Bryan Waters is the girls’ coach at ND. Next stop for all these hard-working, hard-playing student-athletes is the State Championships next Saturday, November 11! #AllHandsOnDeckDCPS

Grandparents and ‘Grandfriends’ spent time this morning at Choptank Elementary School, enjoying a small breakfast before sharing an activity in their favorite little person’s classroom! #AllHandsOnDeckDCPS

Opportunities in the dental professions are growing, and 47 C-SD students were on hand at a recent event at the school to learn more about dental careers. Organized by C-SD Career Coach Ms. Sandy Shaw, the school welcomed Ms. Arlene Guagliano, Regional Oral Health Coordinator for the Maryland Department of Health, who discussed various roles in dentistry, along with educational requirements and the importance of dentistry in maintaining good health. Ms. Guagliano even brought along her friend Dexter the Dummy, enabling enthusiastic students to view his teeth and aspects of oral hygiene with the use of real tools, from the view of a dentist! #AllHandsOnDeckDCPS

Happy Halloween! From a Scrabble board to Spiderman, from the Spice Girls to superheroes – lots and lots of superheroes – DCPS staff and students have had you covered today! #AllHandsOnDeckDCPS

Today may mark the end of National Principals Month, but not the end of our gratitude and respect for the dedicated women and men who lead our schools! Today we salute Ms. Debbie Gibson, principal of Sandy Hill Elementary School. What does Ms. Gibson love about her role? “The best part of being a principal is being able to work with all the kids and watch them grow,” she says, adding, “I love working with our amazing staff and students to build a strong sense of community within our building and our Hives.” Thank you for inspiring all of Sandy Hill’s Bees, Ms. Gibson! #AllHandsOnDeckDCPS #ThankAPrincipal

Hurlock Elementary School’s bus loop turned into a real, live Candy Land on Friday evening with the annual Trunk or Treat event! School staff and students all dressed for the occasion, from Ariel, Sebastian, and friends from Under the Sea (aka the Kindergarten team) to skeletons, scarecrows, pirates, bats, and more. Activities included pumpkin decorating, a hayride, and did we mention candy collection? Thank you to the many community partners who helped make such a fun, family evening! #AllHandsOnDeckDCPS

A reminder that schools will be closed on Wednesday, November 1 for a Staff Professional Development Day. We’ll see you bright and early on Thursday! #AllHandsOnDeckDCPS

Students in our schools earn points for being respectful, responsible, safe, persistent, having a good attitude, and for achievement, which they can cash in to “purchase” items from their Class or School Store. In Ms. Jeanell Todd’s 4th grade class at Vienna Elementary, a few of the items for purchase include such fun items as bringing a stuffed friend to class, having your shoes off in the classroom, or . . . picking your teacher’s hair style. Ms. Todd picks up the story from there . . . “So far, six students have chosen “pick your teacher’s hair style’. I bring in my brush, hair ties, and accessories. The students then go to town brushing my hair, sectioning my hair, braiding it, or twisting it. Sometimes they request a friend to help them. As they work during breakfast time on my new ‘do, we chat, giggle, and bond with each other. Once they are finished, I take a picture of the hairstyle and a photo with them. I also wear a sticker all day saying “Hair By (student’s name) so everyone knows who gave me the beautiful hairdo. On Thursday, it was one of my boys’ turn to style my hair and he asked his friend to help him. I had misplaced my hair ties and only had two, so the boys came up with a new plan, deciding that my Days of the Week large binder clips would work perfectly. So, they did! Proud as punch they were, and so was I. Did I look silly? Yes. But I made a connection with those boys in the most unusual way, plus they were persistent and creative. I’m always proud of my hair displays but this one was just a little extra special. I’m now a bit worried about the next kid who chooses to style my hair . . . are they going to try to one-up those boys and make me look silly? Maybe, but it’s worth it!!” Yes, we have THE BEST teachers! #AllHandsOnDeckDCPS

Parents are our partners in education, which is why schools have activities like Thursday night’s Fall Literacy Night for Grades 3-5 at Choptank Elementary! Families began the evening with a communal supper, and then got down to business with a book about a pumpkin named Jack. Students and parents then took turns at four fall-themed stations to practice and reinforce literacy skills through fun activities, the last ending with a custom-made pumpkin dessert. In addition, there were guessing games, a book raffle, and an opportunity to become a member of one of the most important institutions in Dorchester County – the public library! Fun and learning for all! #AllHandsOnDeckDCPS

It's no secret – Mr. Jerome Stover loves his job as principal of Cambridge-South Dorchester High School! Why? “I have the opportunity to shape the educational experience of students, create a positive school culture and help students and staff reach their full potential – there are so many rewarding benefits of being a principal!” he says. We thank you for your leadership and boundless enthusiasm, Mr. Stover! #AllHandsOnDeckDCPS #ThankAPrincipal

Thanks to our partnership with Dorchester Center for the Arts, we were able to welcome experienced chalk artists into some of our schools today to share their craft with many of our secondary art students! Chalk artist Randy Segura worked at Mace’s Lane Middle School, Colin Cessna at C-SD, and Lori Antoinette and Ed Krell worked with North Dorchester High School artists, all helping to launch art students into the world of chalk art. These artists, plus some of the works completed today by our students, will be part of this weekend’s 2nd Annual Chalk Arts Festival to be held in the County Building parking lot in Cambridge. The students’ art exhibit will be in the atrium of the County Building. This family festival is free of charge, offering activities for all ages as well as live music, food, and art vendors, all sponsored by Dorchester County Tourism and Dorchester Center for the Arts. #AllHandsOnDeckDCPS

Open the doors, and they will come – in droves! Warwick Elementary welcomed grandparents into the school Wednesday afternoon to share an activity, some refreshments, and the book fair with their grandchildren - an opportunity to spend time with some of their favorite little people and get insight into their school lives. #AllHandsOnDeckDCPS