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June 4, 2023

Chestertown Spy

Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Chestertown

Education Ed Homepage Education Ed Portal Lead

Building African-American Minds by Building an Academic Center: A Chat with Dina Daly and Bill Ryan

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Since Building African American Minds (BAAM) opened its doors to the Easton community, the organization’s founders, Derek and Dina Daly, and its board directors have taken on several significant projects that would test any new organization. From establishing a campus on Jowite Street, adding classroom space, and, more recently, completely funding the gymnasium, BAAM has proven its tenacity in getting things done.

The latest case is BAAM’s project to build a state-of-the-art academic center to fulfill organizations tion’s long-term vision of providing learning opportunities to the entire community. From pre-k to seniors, the idea for the new building is to offer life-altering education programs for all ages.

The Spy asked Dina, BAAM”s executive director, and its board president, Bill Ryan, to chat about the almost $10 million facility and the powerful arguments of why this is so important to Easton in the decades ahead.

This video is approximately fiver minutes in length. For more information about BAAM or make a donation to the project please go here. 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Empowering Youth Through Teamwork and Skill-Building: Rising Tide and CBMM Shipyard Apprentice Program Join Forces

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A crowd of proud parents, family members, and friends gathered earlier this week at the front deck of the Van Lennep Auditorium on the campus of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM) to launch the latest completed project for the Rising Tide after-school program, a 12-foot St. Michaels scow nicknamed ‘Pickle.

PICTURED ON THE DOCK l to r: Jack Perry, Kendall Wallace. In the boat, l to r. James Heinz and Ilijah Jenkins. Photo by George Sass 

The nineteen local 6-9th graders have been meeting three times a week since January putting in a combined total of 630 hours on tasks typically meant for trained adults. The teens collected the material, created the frame, added the planks, assembled, sanded, painted, and prepared the boat for the water.

Congratulations and fun awards were handed out to the students and volunteers by Workshop Education Manager Kendall Wallace, who, together with Youth Program Coordinator Sophie Stuart, oversees the Rising Tide projects. A ceremonial (and mostly unwilling) drinking of pickle juice preceded the boat’s launching (minus the sails).

It was a landmark day for Rising Tide, constructing from a design developed and built in St Michaels in the 1930s and 40s. The scow was associated with the Miles River Yacht Club and was initially created for budding sailors learning to sail.

The project was also a first for the CBMM Shipyard Apprentice program, which partnered with Rising Tide by selecting Megan Mitchell, an apprentice, to lead the students in building the boat. Mitchell, finishing up her four-year State of Maryland certified apprenticeship, sees this appointment as the final step in connecting everything she’s learned. “Part of this is building a portfolio of capstone projects that I can present to a possible employer showing my capability in building a small boat from start to finish and managing a team of individuals of various skill levels.”

“The skills Meghan is bringing to this program,” says Jill Ferris, CBMM’s Senior Director of Engagement, Learning, and Interpretation, “are all aspects that shipwrights can integrate into their work profession. So giving her a chance to bring it all together has been a great opportunity. And combining both programs makes it a laboratory for learning in so many different regards.”

But the ‘laboratory’ extends beyond the maritime. Previous Rising Tide projects for CBMM have included a hydroponic garden and much-needed picnic tables. Last fall, Rising Tide built a couple of stand-up paddleboards, one of which was auctioned off to help support the program. However, with the expanded number of students interested in the program in the last couple of years, building a boat became a possibility.

The idea for constructing the scow began several years ago at CBMM’s annual fundraiser when the museum auctioned off the design plans and the opportunity to have a scow built. The winner symbolically returned that opportunity to the museum with the condition that it be made sometime in the future. Due to its simple design, the boat was seen as a good teaching tool, and this has been the first opportunity, after COVID, that CBMM has been able to make good on that promise. The idea is to, once again, auction the St, Michaels scow, but this time the boat rather than the design. 

Both the teens involved in this endeavor and their adult supervisors are enthusiastic about the outcome that goes beyond the boat. Wallace looks back on their discussions about the contrast between the historic and modern building methods, the teamwork they experienced, and the workshop safety abilities they acquired.

Stuart pointed out that they may not even realize some skills they learned. “Like a lot of the kids in this age group, math is the last thing they want to be doing,” she said. “But when it’s shown in a practical application and why it’s important, they don’t mind, and they retain those skills.” 

Besides math, the teens also use creative thinking and engineering applications and relate them to real-life situations where mistakes are permissible and knowledge is acquired through hands-on experience. If you ask the teens, they may not always appreciate the extent of this knowledge, but they all agree on the value received. 

Lila McDermott, who wants to be a graphic designer, is grateful for the experience. “Learning how to read, design, and plan things is a good skill to have,” she said.

Jack Perry, a rising 10th grader, who has been with the program for a few years, says, “[The program] has given me a knowledge and understanding of carpentry and woodworking. It’s also a good way to sink some time after school into a worthwhile community project.” His ‘takeaways’–Teamwork, social skills, and cooperation.

Ilijah Jenkins also has been involved with the program long-term, but this is his first time building a boat. “One thing I learned,” he said, “was to have good communication and trust because you got to trust your partner when we’re using dangerous tools. And you also have to use communication to know that you’re using it correctly.”

Ella Eckholm is new to the program and signed up because her mom and Stuart are friends. “I went, and I just fell in love with it. I liked doing it; it was really fun.”

What is next for the Rising Tide, which starts again in September, is still being considered. “Our projects are very student-driven,” said Wallace, “because they engage with it. I don’t have to convince them it will be a good project if they come into it wanting and willing.” 

At this point, the plan is to continue to expand on the skills they learned this semester. Said Wallace, “We have a pretty good group of students who are going to stick by us for a few years. So maybe we can do something similar that can use some of the steps we already know and then learn some new skills together.”

Ferris sees the scope of Rising Tide as one in rhythm with CBMM’s philosophy, “To have a sixth grader who envisions a career in engineering, and who is getting a chance to actually put some of the principles into practice and try on different skills is our goal. My hope, for this project and for every project we do, is that the people we’re connecting with get what they need out of it. That’s the ultimate success.”

Rising Tide is free, funded through CBMM, and made possible by donations and volunteer support. Rising Tide meets after school from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at CBMM. Transportation is offered from the Easton YMCA and St. Michaels Middle/High School.

 

 

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Washington College Names Finalists for Nation’s Largest Undergraduate Writing Prize

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Queen Cornish, A.J. Gerardi, Sophia Rooks, Virginia, Eylie Sasajima, and Amara Sorosiak

Washington College has named the students on its short list for the Sophie Kerr Prize, the nation’s largest literary award for a college student, valued at nearly $80,000 this year. The winner will be announced at a ceremony this Friday, May 19 after the finalists all read from their work.

Four of this year’s five finalists submitted portfolios with several pieces for consideration, and the fifth submitted a 96-page play, an adaptation she wrote of John Gardner’s Grendel. While all of them are writers, the students have varied involvement across campus, including as a varsity athlete, a podcast host, editors of the College’s student-run journal, Collegian, and a student who has conducted several ethnographic research projects during their time at Washington.

Elizabeth O’Connor, associate professor of English and acting chair of the English department, announced the five graduating seniors who are finalists for this year’s prize: Queen Cornish of Wilmington, Delaware; A.J. Gerardi from Wayne, Pennsylvania; Sophia Rooks of Williamsburg, Virginia; Eylie Sasajima of Spring Grove, Pennsylvania; and Amara Sorosiak from New Milford, Connecticut.

“The finalists demonstrate Washington College’s longstanding strengths as a unique community for the literary and creative arts that also fosters critical thinking and writing across all disciplines. The writers represent areas of study that include English, creative writing, journalism, editing & publishing, theatre, anthropology, and environmental studies,” O’Connor said. “The committee was particularly impressed by the range of work submitted in the portfolios: poetry, short fiction, excerpts from novels, essays and creative nonfiction, an entire play, oral history and ethnography, and even a graphic novel. In reading through these portfolios, we all were struck by the expansive vision of literary production that emerges from the minds, hearts, and hands of these young writers.”

The Sophie Kerr Prize is named for an early 20th century writer from the Eastern Shore of Maryland who left a generous bequest to Washington College with the stipulation that half of its annual proceeds would fund a literary prize for a student. The other support made possible by Sophie Kerr’s gift funds visiting scholars and writers, scholarships for promising students, library books, internships, and research, all in the fields of literature, writing, and publishing.

The prize is awarded each year to the graduating senior who has the best ability and promise for future fulfillment in the field of literary endeavor. In the past, the prize has been awarded for both creative and critical writing alike. Student winners are chosen for their literary excellence, regardless of genre. The portfolio students submit for consideration for the Sophie Kerr Prize typically includes the full range of writing that students pursue at Washington College, including fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, screenplays and drama, journalism, editing, scholarly criticism and research in all disciplines, and even song lyrics.

Watch Friday night’s ceremony live at youtube.com

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Washington College Academy of Lifelong Learning Expanding to Summer

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For the first time, the Washington College Academy of Lifelong Learning (WC-ALL) will be offering summer programming, starting at the end of May. Organizers hope the new classes and simpler enrollment options will introduce the opportunities through WC-ALL to a broader audience.

There are two courses, one in-person and one online, and a number of single session learning opportunities, all of them free for WC-ALL members, but with a new option for non-members to pay per course as a way to try out what WC-ALL offers.

The changes come as Washington College is making new efforts to expand WC-ALL and engage members of Chestertown and surrounding Eastern Shore communities with the College. In a simple but important step, one of the summer opportunities is a campus tour, free to both WC-ALL members and non-members. Shane Brill, the lifelong learning and communications coordinator running WC-ALL at Washington, will lead 90-minute tours of campus on three different dates during the summer.

“We’re hosting summer campus tours to introduce people to the College and invite them to return for fun learning experiences,” Brill said. “Then individuals can sample WC-ALL with affordable a la carte programs, and our streamlined fee structure makes the benefits of annual membership accessible.”

The two courses this summer are A Short Guide to Trees and Tree Identification (in-person in June) and Why We Meditate: The Science and Practice of Clarity and Compassion (online in July). There are also two lectures as part of the summer programming: WC-ALL Table Talks presents Fabulous Fearsome Fentanyl with retired cardiologist Ray Vergne and Learn@Lunch! Averting Armageddon on the Fourth of July: The story of the Kargil War in 1999 with former advisor to four U.S. presidents and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution Bruce Riedel.

Vice Chair of the WC-ALL Council Jeff Coomer will be teaching the tree course and is working closely with Brill to increase WC-ALL engagement. Coomer is a Washington College alumnus, chairs the WC-ALL Curriculum Committee, and has taught a number of courses on Buddhism, Stoicism, and poetry.

“We’re hoping this summer’s courses and talks will be just the beginning of a new range of offerings aimed at introducing more people to the joy of lifelong learning that’s at the heart of WC-ALL,” Coomer said. “I’ve designed the course I’ll be teaching on trees to be both informative and fun for the people taking it.”

Register for WC-ALL summer courses here:

The potential for deeper engagement with WC-ALL extends beyond this summer, of course. WC-ALL courses are taught by experts from both the College and the community, like Coomer, and proposals for courses are being accepted through June 15.

“As WC-ALL expands its on-campus and virtual offerings, we’re searching for instructors to join our ranks,” Brill said. “We invite individuals with expertise and passion for a subject to consider submitting a course proposal for the fall semester.”

Fall will feature two six-week sessions, mostly with four to six classes meeting once per week at 4:15 p.m. Interested instructors can submit a course proposal at washcoll.edu/wc-all-proposal.

To learn more about the fall offerings once they are selected, potential students can attend WC-ALL’s Showcase of Fall Courses from 3 to 5 p.m. on July 20. Registration for the fall will open on that date.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Miscommunication Delays Approving Blueprint Education Reform Plans

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Approval of local plans for reforming Maryland’s public schools will be delayed until July because state education officials are taking additional time to assess them.

The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB), which met in person Thursday for the first time since December, could’ve begun approving some plans this month.

Board Chair Isiah “Ike” Leggett said the delay stems from “an unforced error” in communication, and that it is especially important to rectify any misunderstandings when dealing with a multi-billion-dollar plan to reform Maryland’s education structure.

“This is a major transformation. The Blueprint is not just simply dotting the I’s [and] crossing the T’s,” he said. “We are…making a huge change as it relates to education. We anticipate some challenges and disagreements.”

The miscommunication involves the process for assessing each Blueprint plan from the state’s 24 local school systems.

The state Department of Education continues to review school system documents based on “Criteria for Success” which emphasize early childhood education, recruiting and retaining high-quality and diverse teachers and leaders, ensuring that students are prepared for college and careers, and providing additional resources for students.

By state law, the department provides recommendations on the Blueprint plans and the accountability board grants final approval.

According to a timeline the department released Wednesday, plans would be reviewed between Wednesday and Monday and the department would submit recommendations to the accountability board by Tuesday.

If the state needs additional time to review plans — or plan revisions — beyond next week, review periods are scheduled for May 31-June 5 and June 21-June 26.

“MSDE’s Blueprint implementation team members have proactively engaged with AIB staff regularly and with great frequency since the AIB became operational to facilitate continued and appropriate collaboration…” according to a statement from the department. “The State Board [of Education] and MSDE remain committed to working with the AIB within the current statutory framework to deliver transformative educational outcomes for all of Maryland’s children and to help make Maryland the best place to live, learn, and succeed.”

Rachel Hise, executive director for the accountability board, said information has been shared. However, some Blueprint feedback has gone directly to local school systems (also referred to as local education agencies or LEAs), creating a “two-step process.”

“The hope was that the MSDE feedback and the AIB feedback would be given to the LEAs at the same time…so that there would be one revision process,” Hise said after the nearly two-hour meeting. “Now, there will be a two-step process and the potential that the AIB may ask LEAs to revise their plans again after they’ve revised them for MSDE. We’re trying to avoid that as much as possible.”

There also lies a small “quirk” in state law.

Blueprint plans can be reviewed but cannot be approved in the month of June, to avoid confusion about funding when a new fiscal year begins July 1.

“The month of June is like a no go in the statute,” Hise said.

The board isn’t scheduled to meet again until June 8.

Meanwhile, the board approved a $76,747 expenditure to hire Ad Adstra Inc. of Montgomery County to transcribe all of this year’s Blueprint plans into Spanish.

Hise said school districts reported that Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language behind English.

The goal will be to review future long-term contracts with Ad Adstra or other companies to transcribe future Blueprint plans and other documents into more languages, board members agreed.

Thursday marked the first meeting for Justin K. Robinson, whom Gov. Wes Moore (D) appointed to join the seven-member board.

Robinson currently serves as the only educator on the board. He teaches eighth grade math and helps mentor other teachers in Prince George’s County public schools.

By William J. Ford

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Gunston School Embraces Artificial Intelligence for Learning

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Gunston School, a private school just outside of Centreville, like so many other things in its long history, seems to be at the forefront of integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into its curriculum. In this interview with Head of School John Lewis and graduating senior Damian Rene talk about school’s unique approach to AI and find a way to weave this new technology into every subject and discipline, while also providing a specific strand for students who have a deep interest in computer science, such as Damian.

The school sees AI as a learning tool rather than something to avoid. Lewis said, “We should really embrace it as more of a learning tool rather than this thing to kind of stay away from.” The birth of the Internet sparked similar reactions, but the school recognizes its potential in the classroom.

AI has been around for a while, but it has exploded recently due to public access. Students can generate anything from essays to theses, research papers, and practice problems. Damian presented a sample assignment for Lewis’s AP class as part of the trustee presentation. Lewis said it was a good encapsulation of the assignment, but students should not rely on AI as a 100% accurate resource.

Gunston’s approach to AI is focused on teaching students critical thinking in the age of AI. Lewis cited the example of maps and how students need to learn directionality, even though they can rely on GPS. The school wants to bring fundamental concepts into analog format so that students understand the deep structure of the concept before using AI tools.

Damian provided two examples of AI’s potential for learning. One was creating a marketing campaign for Gunston using specific terms. The other was generating an essay assignment, which the AI tool completed. Lewis said the school needs to rethink what it expects from students in terms of production and the teaching of writing.

Gunston is still at the first steps of AI integration. The school has an internal team dedicated to exploring the technology and formulating additional training and professional development for faculty. Lewis acknowledges that some people know how to use AI, but the vast majority of Americans have no idea of its potential.

The school aims to teach critical thinking in the age of AI and bring fundamental concepts into analog format before using AI tools. Gunston is at the first steps of AI integration and plans to offer training and professional development for faculty in the upcoming summer and fall.

This video is approximately 5 minutes in length. For more information about the Gunston School please go here.

Editor note: The introduction copy to this Spy video interview was produced by ChatGPT-3.5.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

McGee Named Kent County Teacher of the Year

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In thanking her family and her colleagues for being honored as the 2023 Teacher of the Year, Mary Jessica McGee took time to highlight the work of all her fellow educators in Kent County Public Schools.

Kent County Public Schools recognized teachers and staff Thursday, March 30 at its 2023 awards celebration.

The annual awards program honors the Teacher of the Year, Support Employee of the Year and the school system’s Promising Educator.

Superintendent Dr. Karen Couch joins this year’s Kent County Public Schools award winners for a photo. From left are Promising Educator Jodi Bortz, Teacher of the Year Mary Jessica McGee, Support Employee of the Year Bethsheila Hunley and Dr. Couch.

Superintendent Dr. Karen Couch opened this year’s ceremony in the Kent County High School auditorium, thanking all the school-based honorees for their service.

“Thank you for inspiring our students and thank you for dedicating your career to the service of others,” Dr. Couch said. “By your actions, you change lives. You make the world a better place, one day at a time, one student at a time.”

Kent County Public Schools Supervisor of Human Resources Dan Hushion served as the ceremony’s emcee, introducing the winners of the awards for each building.

Mary Jessica McGee

A special guest then opened the envelope to reveal the name of this year’s overall winner.

Francoise Sullivan, vice president of the Kent County Board of Education, announced McGee as the Teacher of the Year.

McGee dedicated her award to “all of the teachers, all the support staff, all of you who work with kids every single day in our schools.”

“I see you. I see you holding that hand. I see you giving that nudge,” McGee said. “I see you. You have the most important job in the world.”

She told the roomful of educators to never forget that their work matters.

“And it matters to each and every one of those children you are with every single day,” McGee said. “So I see you and I’m very, very proud of you.”

The school-based Teachers of the Year are Laura Morrone, H.H. Garnet Elementary School; David Jachimowicz, Rock Hall Elementary School; Roberto Copeland, Kent County Middle School; and Timothy Kelleman, Kent County High School.

McGee will go on to compete for Maryland Teacher of the Year.

Jodi Bortz, music teacher at H.H. Garnet and Rock Hall elementary schools, received this year’s Promising Educator Award. The award is given to a teacher in the first years of their career in education.

Katelyn Boardman, a teacher at Rock Hall Elementary School and last Year’s Promising Educator Award winner, made the announcement.

“Wow, I never thought I could be here or be a teacher,” said Bortz, thanking her colleagues at Garnet and Rock Hall.

Also nominated this year for the Promising Educator Award were Taylor Johnston, H.H. Garnet Elementary School; Brooke Joyner, Rock Hall Elementary School; and Tykeya Jones, Kent County Middle School.

Bortz is a career-changer, having left the corporate world before joining Kent County Public Schools in 2021.

“Jodi goes above and beyond with our students, teaching before and after school,” Hushion said, reading the letter of nomination Garnet Principal Brenda Rose submitted on behalf of Bortz. “She continues to be a champion in support for the arts in Chestertown.”

Transportation Secretary Bethsheila Hunley, a member of the Kent County Public Schools Central Office team, was honored as the Support Employee of the Year.

“Her pleasant voice and very polite demeanor has given our parents a sense of peace when they have had to call about an issue they may have had,” Hushion said. “She is the first person at work every day, showing up very level-headed and always striving to do the right thing.”

Hunley’s name was announced by Kent County Board of Education member Trish McGee.

“It’s a well deserved honor. Congratulations,” Trish McGee told Hunley.

The school-based Support Employees of the Year are Theodosia Parker, H.H. Garnet Elementary School; Tracy Piasecki, Rock Hall Elementary School; Chanelle Copper, Kent County Middle School; and Joann Miller, Kent County High School.

Hunley said it was an honor to be named Support Employee of the Year and thanked Supervisor of Operations Joseph Wheeler for his support.

“I am thankful for being allowed to be a part of Transportation,” Hunley said. “The bus drivers, the aids, the attendants and the secretaries in the schools — all of you have made this journey a very pleasant journey. And I thank you all.”

Karen Carty, the 2022 Kent County Teacher of the Year, gave a keynote address and spoke about her year competing for Maryland Teacher of the Year, including a visit to the White House.

The most important aspect of the experience for Carty was the connection she made with the 23 other Teachers of the Year from Maryland’s school systems.

Carty thanked the evening’s honorees from each of the buildings, saying they all deserved the recognition they were receiving.

“Each and every one of you makes Kent County Public Schools the great place it is,” she said. “Thank you for working so hard. Thank you for motivating our students and guiding them to become the people that are meant to be.”

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Making Sense of the Mid-Shore 2022 Education Report Card

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March 9 saw the release of the 2022 Maryland School Report Card, which is designed to help stakeholders measure student achievement in public schools throughout the state. In schools of the upper and mid-shore—Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbot Counties—children’s Math and English Language Arts results were commendable for the most part. Nonetheless, some real challenges exist as well.

As communities around Maryland begin using the metric as an important data point, the Spy was eager to help our readers understand the history of the Maryland School Report Card and how to decipher yearly results.

Brief History

On December 10, 2015, President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act, the federal K-12 education law that replaced No Child Left Behind. The ESSA laid out expectations of transparency for parents and communities and required every state to develop a concise and easily understandable “state report card” accessible online.

Each state submitted a consolidated plan detailing how the law would be implemented as well as how the state would hold schools accountable for student performance. In Maryland, parents, school personnel, superintendents, community leaders, advocacy groups, the Board of Education, and MSDE staff collaborated to create an accountability system that measured relevant, actionable aspects of school performance. The plan was submitted to the US Department of Education and approved in early 2018.

The first Maryland School Report Card was released later that year. The state was able to produce two years of report card school results (2018 and 2019) before the pandemic hit.

What’s in the Card

Each school has a report card that includes a star rating (one is lowest, five is highest), percentile rank, and total earned points percent. The data also includes student group separation of report card indicators, equity information, progress toward meeting targets to close achievement gaps, and improvement from the previous report card.

On average, a five-star school has a Math proficiency of 53.8% and an ELA proficiency of 71.8%. In a one-star school, Math proficiency is 1.1% while ELA proficiency is 6.3%.

Maryland Results Overall

Of the state’s 1,316 schools, 16% had five-star ratings, 32% had four-star ratings, 33% had three-star ratings, 16% had two-star ratings, and 3% had one-star ratings. This means that almost half of Maryland schools earned four or five stars.

Scores for the Mid-Shore

Among the twelve schools in Queen Anne’s County (7,440 students), 8% earned three stars while 58% earned four stars and 33% earned five stars. QAPS’s proficiency results were:

Elementary – 44.9% Math, 57.2% ELA
Middle –        23.8% Math, 59.1% ELA
High –           39.9% Math, 47.6% ELA

The eight schools in Talbot County (4,533 students) earned five stars (13%), four stars (50%), and three stars (38%). TCPS’s proficiency results were:

Elementary – 23% Math, 43% ELA
Middle –        13% Math, 39.9% ELA
High –           22.3% Math, 56.2% ELA

Caroline County’s nine public schools (5,551 students) earned either four stars (33%) or three stars (67%). CCPS’s proficiency results were:

Elementary – 24.6% Math, 44.1% ELA
Middle –        13.9% Math, 36.9% ELA
High –           21.7% Math, 46.7% ELA

The five schools in Kent County (1,786 students) earned either four stars (40%) or three stars (60%). KCPS’s proficiency results were:

Elementary – 20.5% Math, 35.4% ELA
Middle –          8.2% Math, 34.9% ELA
High –            21.4% Math, 48.4% ELA

In Dorchester County’s eleven schools (4,573 students), 27% earned four stars, 27% earned three stars, 36% earned two stars, and 9% earned one star. DCPS’s proficiency results were:

Elementary – 16.4% Math, 29.2% ELA
Middle –          9.4% Math, 27.8% ELA
High –            13.2% Math, 42.8% ELA

Graduation Rates

While Talbot County had the best graduation rate at 95%, it had fewer students enrolled than did Queen Anne’s, whose rate was 94.21%. The other rates were as follows: 92.65% for Kent, 85.21% for Caroline, and 81.57% for Dorchester.

Overall, Queen Anne’s County Public Schools displayed the highest performance of the counties analyzed, but second-place Talbot County saw improvement in English Language Arts scores since the last report card. Kent County also showed improvement in ELA, as did Dorchester County, the only one of the five to earn one or two stars (45%). However, DCPS significantly trailed everyone else, whose scores in both ELA and Math were in line with the state average.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Dorchester Public Schools and Blueprint for Maryland’s Future: A Chat with Superintendent Dave Bromwell

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It seems like it’s always a positive thing when your public school superintendent has had some former tie with their school district before being in this significant leadership position. But rarely is it the case when that superintendent has not only spent their entire professional career in a county’s schools but attended those same schools starting in the first grade through high school. And it is more frequent than one might guess that those rising to these positions come with a teaching background in the system before being appointed.

But that is indeed the case with Dorchester County’s Superintendent David Bromwell’s remarkable story. From elementary school until he entered college, David’s journey has allowed him to see not only some of Dorchester County’s best days but also some of its most challenging in a lifetime of being a student and educator.

That long view has clearly helped Bromwell as he now enters his third year as the chief executive of the county’s schools. And it also has given him a particular perspective on where DCPS has been and where it needs to go as the superintendent works with the local school board and his staff to implement the state’s massive education reform act, commonly known as Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.

For David, the challenges facing the DSPS have certainly been fully impacted by the COVID years and the significant toll it took on students across the country. Nonetheless, Bromwell is clear that for him and many teachers who have served with him over decades, the greatest impact that the school district was the loss of significant industries like Airpax Corporation and Western Publishing, which resulted in the county’s loss of almost 15,000 well-paying jobs and the eventual loss of students entering Dorchester schools it caused.

In the Spy’s first interview with Superintendent Bromwell, he talks about some of those changes and his concerns as the school district begins the Blueprint’s new vision and works closely with the County Council and the State to make sure Dorchester County can fund this transformational moment.

This video is approximately 12 minutes in length. For more information about Dorchester County Public Schools please go here.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Addressing the Workforce Shortage Crisis: A Chat with Chesapeake College President Cliff Coppersmith

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Every time the Spy prepares to interview Chesapeake College president Cliff Coppersmith, we anticipate that the final video will be around five minutes. But since we began interviewing Cliff in 2018, we’ve never succeeded in that modest goal.

The reason is that President Coppersmith has a special way of taking a subject like dual enrollment, for example, and makes it sound so dang engaging. This unique skill was no doubt developed while he was still a college history professor early in his career.

With our most current chat, Coppersmith applies that skill to the challenges related to workforce education, and he doesn’t hesitate to use the word “crisis” in the same sentence. Up and down the Eastern Shore, there is an unprecedented gap between high-paying trade job openings and qualified young people to fill those positions.

This sobering dilemma is finally getting real attention from the federal and state governments, not to mention the five Mid-Shore counties that support Chesapeake College. With a new stream of project support grants at all levels, the Wye Mills community college has never been more serious in recruiting, educating, and sending into the workforce some of our best non-college-bound teenagers a real chance to live and work where they grew up.

This video is approximately nine minutes in length. For more information about Chesapeake College please go here.

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