An earthquake, a hurricane and a veritable tsunami of 2,500 new students couldn’t keep Montgomery County Public Schools from opening for the new school year Monday. Seven schools did remain closed as crews dealt with power outages from Hurricane Irene, and the county had to cancel Saturday’s back-to-school fair. But spirits remained high — and dry — at the county’s other 193 campuses, which welcomed a new superintendent and an updated “Curriculum 2.0” in the elementary schools.
“We are absolutely ready, and while it’s only the second hour, I can tell the kids are, too,” said Superintendent Joshua Starr, speaking at Brookhaven Elementary School in Rockville Monday morning.
Starr said he chose Brookhaven because it has grown 15 percent in three years while keeping achievement up on state exams. It’s a struggle the entire school system discusses every day as the populations of students living in poverty and learning English boom.
“You can choose to look at that as, ‘Oh my God, what a problem,’ or look at it as an opportunity,” Starr said.
Inside, Cecilia Johnson asked her kindergarten class to count how many stickers were in the “happy” column on her board.
“Sixteen of our friends were very happy to come to school today,” said Johnson, as her co-teacher helped the kids brainstorm how to move the remaining seven students over from “sad” and “scared.”
The concept of “Curriculum 2.0” is to go beyond the typically tested topics of math and reading to engage students in veins like creative thinking, science, physical education and technology.
“We’re trying to catch up to our kids,” Starr said.
County Council members also showed up for the first day. In June, the council and school board wrapped up a chilly budget season that left the school system with $107 million less in local funding than requested.
Both Council President Valerie Ervin and School Board President Christopher Barclay mentioned “tough decisions” made to invest in children, as a presentation by school officials highlighted the 6,000 students expected to flood MCPS in the next five years — and the need for construction dollars.
As it stands, 60 percent of the county’s elementary schools are over capacity, and about 8,000 students are learning in portable classrooms this year.
“We’ll need more classrooms, we’ll need more teachers, and we’ll need more support. And that takes planning and resources,” Barclay said.
