Community and Schools Together, an initiative of DCPS

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Community and Schools Together, an initiative of DCPS

Community volunteers supporting Dorchester County's learners as they become college and career ready!

08/21/2017

If you’ve enjoyed following how the great folks in our community and the awesome young people in our schools work together for the benefit of Dorchester County, then join us on Dorchester County Public Schools’ main page. From now on, that page will be your one-stop-shop for all information about what’s happening schoolwise in Dorchester County. Come on over!

08/02/2017

If you are on your summer break from school and you have the opportunity to choose a free book, courtesy of The Maryland Book Bank, might you then be inspired to write and illustrate your own book too? That’s what was going on yesterday at the Pine Street Enrichment Camp at the Empowerment Center in Cambridge. Budding authors and artists worked on stories about lions, basketball, making friends, and Hungry Henry, among other topics. We appreciate the work being done by community organizations during this long summer to help support students’ academic skills and keep them fresh for the September school start. Thank you, community friends!

07/27/2017

Dorchester County Public Schools are blessed with a supportive community who each year work to ensure that individual students have the supplies they need for the new school year. This year, a few organizations have banded together as the Backpack Alliance of Dorchester County to provide “fair and equitable distribution of school supplies for students in Dorchester County”. They are taking donations of school supplies at locations around Dorchester County that will be given to schools for distribution to children who need them. Are you part of an organization – faith, civic, service or business - who has in the past run a drive among your membership, supporters or employees for school supplies or would like to do so this year? You are welcome to join in with the Backpack Alliance to ensure your support is coordinated with others and well-targeted. To find out more, contact Chareka Harris at The Judy Center at [email protected] or 410-221-5268.

07/18/2017

It’s a hot and STEAM-y summer, but a group of Dorchester County Public School students think that’s a good thing! Sixty-eight elementary-age youngsters from Sandy Hill, Maple, Choptank, and Hurlock Elementary Schools are enrolled in the Summer STEAM program being held at Maces Lane Middle School. STEAM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math, which pretty much sums up how these youngsters are spending their summer. A brief visit this week saw one group of youngsters working on computers, tablets, and building a robot; another group was recording the lengths of classmates’ jumps to calculate the mean, mode, and median scores; a third group was working with STEAM partner 4-H on goal setting and how substance abuse can prevent achievement. And everywhere there were lots of engaged and happy faces. STEAM also runs an after-school program during the school year for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. Interested parents, talk to your child’s school to find out more.

07/12/2017

A new face in a new place: welcome to Dorchester County’s new Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Diana Mitchell! Dr. Mitchell, now a Cambridge resident, is all about education, having been a teacher, assistant principal, principal and assistant superintendent and having worked at the elementary, middle, and high school level. We settled down to a Q&A about the important things in life . . . like reading and happiness and teachers who make a difference:
Q: What was your favorite book as a child? A: The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper. The book focuses on the outcomes of hard work and perseverance.
Q: What is your favorite book as an adult? A: One of my favorites is Engage Every Family – Five Simple Principles by Steve M. Constantino. The book focuses on how schools can engage parents on a higher level.
Q: What book are you now reading? A: I’m reading The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader by John C. Maxwell.
Q: What was your favorite subject in elementary school? In high school? My favorite subject in elementary was reading and language arts and in high school it was marketing.
Q: What’s your favorite memory as a child? A: My favorite memory is attending band camp during summer vacation.
Q: Who was your favorite teacher at school? A: I had so many! One that really stood out was Vincent P. Mitchell (no relation). He was my high school English teacher. He was so inspiring and made all books “come alive”.
Q: What was your favorite extracurricular activity? A: As a child, it was playing the flute. As an adult, it is gardening.
Q: What bit of advice would you give your 16-year-old self? A: I would tell myself to take more STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) courses.
Thank you for sharing, Dr. Mitchell, and every good wish for your success as Superintendent of Schools of Dorchester County. . . because your success will be our children’s success!

07/10/2017

Summer is for reading, and thanks to our friends at Robin Hood Shop, children can add to their personal libraries by choosing a free book from a variety of books supplied by The Maryland Book Bank when they visit with a parent or carer. Here is Jose, a soon-to-be 4th grader at Maple Elementary, making his big decision. Thank you to all in the community who are supporting youngsters' reading over this long summer break!

06/27/2017

Ever wish you had the gift of an extra hour or two in your day? So how awesome is it that Dorchester County Public Schools has been given the gift of 11,810 extra hours? That is the total number of volunteer hours contributed during this past school year. This means a lot of books read, field trips chaperoned, Character Counts lessons shared, fund-raising events staffed, photocopies made, books reshelved, school events supported, and more. Every hour given sent the crucial message to our children: You are important and we want you to succeed! Thank you, Dorchester County – 11,810 times!

06/14/2017

Do you know the “starfish story”? A youngster walks along a beach among thousands of stranded starfish, picking them up and tossing them back into the water. When an onlooker remarks about the futility of the effort in view of the numbers, the youngster picks one up, throws it back into the water and says, “I made a difference to that one.” That’s the way we view our volunteers: making a difference, one child at a time. THANK YOU to ALL our volunteers who have supported children and school activities this year! And we would especially like to recognize those who have volunteered over 50 hours each over the course of the school year! Those with 200+ hours service are Eileen Biava (C-SDHS), Paulette Meekins (MES), Cathy Tyler (HES), and Debbie Wheedleton (VES). Giving over 100 hours are Elaine Cephas (HES), Emily Collins (WES and NDMS), Michelle Sann (HES), and Jeff Webb (VES). Volunteers with 50+ hours of service this year are Julia Barker (SHES), Doris Brashier (MES), Jack Diehl (MES), Kim Donohoe (MES), Ginger Durkin (MES), Bessie Griep (MES), Christina Robbins (SDS), Christine Schultz (SDS), Mamie Smith (MES), Emily Stone (HES), Dianna Travers (MLMS), Tina Weber (MES), and Donna Weems (SHES). Thank you all!!

06/08/2017

Well, it’s a wrap, folks! The 2016-2017 school year is now one for the history books. So what was learned this year? We visited a few schools to ask – check out the photos for the answers.

06/06/2017

Our Dorchester County Public Schools volunteers work hard to support our learners, but few work harder than May’s Volunteer of the Month, Debbie Wheedleton. Ms. Debbie has spent over 230 hours this school year – that’s the equivalent of 34 whole school days! – listening to children in Mrs. Diffenbach’s 1st grade class at Vienna Elementary read. Due in large part to her effort, 100% of the first graders met their reading goal almost every single day throughout this school year. Thank you, Ms. Debbie, for such dedication to our young readers!

05/31/2017

Sooner or later, all of Dorchester County’s movers and shakers find themselves in the studios of WHCP - Cambridge Community Radio for an interview for the station’s Mid-Shore Midday program. Today it was the turn of ten Sandy Hill Elementary students, talking about issues of importance to the age six-to-nine crowd, particularly what’s on their agenda for the upcoming summer school holiday. Thank you WHCP and interviewers Diane Marquette and Susan Klise for introducing the students to the “backstage” of radio. The interviews will be aired on Mid-Shore Midday (12 noon to 1 p.m.) during the month of June.

Address

700 Glasgow Street
Cambridge, MD
21613

Website

http://www.dcps.k12.md.us/

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