COVID-19 Outbreak at MCPS Elementary School - College Gardens ES in Rockville. Still on MSDE Dashboard. The Heights School added to List.

The Maryland Outbreak-Associated Cases in Schools database does not give any details about the COVID-19 outbreak at College Gardens Elementary School in Rockville, but we know that the elementary school is one of the privately run Equity Hubs being sponsored and paid for by MCPS, the Board of Education and Montgomery County Government.  

This is the fourth week this school has been on the Maryland Dashboard.

Who oversees these Equity Hubs? How were these locations selected? Were changes made to the ventilation for these select schools? How are COVID-19 outbreaks in Equity Hubs being supervised and handled? Is this the first outbreak at one of these "hubs" or is this just the first one being reported?

Annapolis Area Christian School Anne Arundel County 3 01/20/21

School of Incarnation Anne Arundel County 3 01/20/21

The Harbour School Anne Arundel County 3 01/20/21

Harlem Park Baltimore City 2 01/20/21

Bais Yaakov Eva Winer High School Baltimore County 37 01/20/21

Bais Yaakov School for Girls Baltimore County 3 01/20/21

Calvert Hall College Preparatory School Baltimore County 7 01/20/21

Talmudical Academy of Baltimore Baltimore County 48 01/20/21

Torah Institute of Baltimore Baltimore County 26 01/20/21

Sunderland Elementary School Calvert County 4 01/20/21

The Young School at Kendall Ridge Howard County 1 01/20/21

College Garden Elementary Montgomery County 2 01/20/21

The Heights School Montgomery County 4 01/20/21

Bishop McNamara High Prince George's County 9 01/20/21

Heritage Academy Washington County 2 01/20/21

Salsbury Christian School Wicomico County 2 01/20/21

As a reminder, the Maryland Dashboard uses the following criteria for reporting COVID-19 cases.  Not all cases are reported, only those that satisfy the following criteria.

  Note: This dataset reflects public and non-public K-12 schools in Maryland that have COVID-19 outbreaks. Data are based on local health department reports to MDH, which may be revised if additional information becomes available. This list does not include child care facilities or institutes of higher education.

Schools listed meet 1 or more of the following criteria:

    1) At least two confirmed COVID-19 cases among students/teachers/staff within a 14-day period and who are epidemiologically linked, but not household contacts; or

    2) Three or more classrooms or cohorts with cases from separate households that meet the classroom/cohort outbreak definition that occurs within 14 days; or

    3) Five percent or more unrelated students/teachers/staff have confirmed COVID-19 within a 14 day period (minimum of 10 unrelated students/teachers/staff).

Cases reported reflect the current total number of cases. Schools are removed from the list when health officials determine 14 days have passed with no new cases and no tests pending. Archival data is available through the COVID-19 open data catalogue.

These data are updated weekly on Wednesdays during the 10 a.m. hour. MDH is continuously evaluating its data and reporting systems and will make updates as more data becomes available.

 https://coronavirus.maryland.gov/pages/school-resources

COVID-19 Outbreak at MCPS Elementary School - College Gardens ES in Rockville. Still on MSDE Dashboard.

The Maryland Outbreak-Associated Cases in Schools database does not give any details about the COVID-19 outbreak at College Gardens Elementary School in Rockville, but we know that the elementary school is one of the privately run Equity Hubs being sponsored and paid for by MCPS, the Board of Education and Montgomery County Government.  

Who oversees these Equity Hubs? How were these locations selected? Were changes made to the ventilation for these select schools? How are COVID-19 outbreaks in Equity Hubs being supervised and handled? Is this the first outbreak at one of these "hubs" or is this just the first one being reported? 

Will MCPS put out a notification on this outbreak?

St. Mary's High School Anne Arundel County 5 01/06/21

Ohr Chadash Academy Baltimore City 2 01/06/21

Bais Yaakov Eva Winer High School Baltimore County 31 01/06/21

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Baltimore County 3 01/06/21

Rosedale Baptist School Baltimore County 6 01/06/21

Talmudical Academy of Baltimore Baltimore County 36 01/06/21

Torah Institute of Baltimore Baltimore County 6 01/06/21

College Garden Elementary Montgomery County 2 01/06/21

Esperanza Middle School St. Mary's County 3 01/06/21

Heritage Academy Washington County 2 01/06/21

Wicomico Day School Wicomico County 2 01/06/21

As a reminder, the Maryland Dashboard uses the following criteria for reporting COVID-19 cases.  Not all cases are reported, only those that satisfy the following criteria.

  Note: This dataset reflects public and non-public K-12 schools in Maryland that have COVID-19 outbreaks. Data are based on local health department reports to MDH, which may be revised if additional information becomes available. This list does not include child care facilities or institutes of higher education.

Schools listed meet 1 or more of the following criteria:

    1) At least two confirmed COVID-19 cases among students/teachers/staff within a 14-day period and who are epidemiologically linked, but not household contacts; or

    2) Three or more classrooms or cohorts with cases from separate households that meet the classroom/cohort outbreak definition that occurs within 14 days; or

    3) Five percent or more unrelated students/teachers/staff have confirmed COVID-19 within a 14 day period (minimum of 10 unrelated students/teachers/staff).

Cases reported reflect the current total number of cases. Schools are removed from the list when health officials determine 14 days have passed with no new cases and no tests pending. Archival data is available through the COVID-19 open data catalogue.

These data are updated weekly on Wednesdays during the 10 a.m. hour. MDH is continuously evaluating its data and reporting systems and will make updates as more data becomes available.

 https://coronavirus.maryland.gov/pages/school-resources

Breaking: COVID-19 Outbreak at MCPS Elementary School - College Gardens ES in Rockville

The Maryland Outbreak-Associated Cases in Schools database does not give any details about the COVID-19 outbreak at College Gardens Elementary School in Rockville, but we know that the elementary school is one of the privately run Equity Hubs being sponsored and paid for by MCPS, the Board of Education and Montgomery County Government.  

Who oversees these Equity Hubs? How were these locations selected? Were changes made to the ventilation for these select schools? How are COVID-19 outbreaks in Equity Hubs being supervised and handled? Is this the first outbreak at one of these "hubs" or is this just the first one being reported? 

Will MCPS put out a notification on this outbreak?

Severn School Anne Arundel County 4 12/30/20

St. Mary's High School Anne Arundel County 3 12/30/20

Ohr Chadash Academy Baltimore City 2 12/30/20

Bais Yaakov Eva Winer High School Baltimore County 27 12/30/20

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Baltimore County 3 12/30/20

Rosedale Baptist School Baltimore County 3 12/30/20

St. Mark's School Baltimore County 3 12/30/20

Talmudical Academy Baltimore County 36 12/30/20

Mount Aviat Academy Cecil County 5 12/30/20

Frederick Christian Academy Frederick County 10 12/30/20

West Frederick Middle School Frederick County 2 12/30/20

Windsor Knolls Middle School Frederick County 4 12/30/20

College Gardens Elementary Montgomery County 2 12/30/20

Esperanza Middle School St. Mary's County 3 12/30/20

Heritage Academy Washington County 2 12/30/20

Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic School Worcester County 3 12/30/20

 As a reminder, the Maryland Dashboard uses the following criteria for reporting COVID-19 cases.  Not all cases are reported, only those that satisfy the following criteria.

  Note: This dataset reflects public and non-public K-12 schools in Maryland that have COVID-19 outbreaks. Data are based on local health department reports to MDH, which may be revised if additional information becomes available. This list does not include child care facilities or institutes of higher education.

Schools listed meet 1 or more of the following criteria:

    1) At least two confirmed COVID-19 cases among students/teachers/staff within a 14-day period and who are epidemiologically linked, but not household contacts; or

    2) Three or more classrooms or cohorts with cases from separate households that meet the classroom/cohort outbreak definition that occurs within 14 days; or

    3) Five percent or more unrelated students/teachers/staff have confirmed COVID-19 within a 14 day period (minimum of 10 unrelated students/teachers/staff).

Cases reported reflect the current total number of cases. Schools are removed from the list when health officials determine 14 days have passed with no new cases and no tests pending. Archival data is available through the COVID-19 open data catalogue.

These data are updated weekly on Wednesdays during the 10 a.m. hour. MDH is continuously evaluating its data and reporting systems and will make updates as more data becomes available.

 https://coronavirus.maryland.gov/pages/school-resources

Superintendent Jack R. Smith Finds Space for Outside School #MCPS #ClassroomTrailers #Overcrowding

The Georgetown Hill Early School’s Rockville location had a fire last month, and there was a lot of damage. Since then, will be relocating to a nearby MCPS property.

“At the Board of Education meeting on February 25th, the Board approved a request to provide the Georgetown Hill Early School with a short-term lease”, said Montgomery County Public Schools Public Information Supervisor, Gboyinde Onijala.

That short-term lease, officials say will be at two relocatable classrooms at College Gardens Elementary School...

https://www.mymcmedia.org/georgetown-hill-early-schools-rockville-campus-gets-approval-to-relocate-after-fire/

MCPS - Still Ripping Off Students, Now with the Chromebook Excuse

Once again we remind Montgomery County Public Schools and the Board of Education that the Maryland Constitution guarantees ALL children a FREE PUBLIC EDUCATION.

Let's make this really simple:  If the CURRICULUM requires headphones, they are to be SUPPLIED for FREE by the public school system.

For College Gardens Elementary School students that means you do not have to pay $3 for headphones and you do not need to bring them from home.  If you need them for your classes, MCPS will be supplying them to you as part of their $2.4 BILLION dollar operating budget.  That's what those billions of dollars are for, that is Maryland law. 

In this specific example below, not only is College Gardens ES charging students for something that should be supplied for free, but College Gardens is overcharging students ($3.00) what MCPS is paying for these headphones ($2.75).  That's a rip off on top of a rip off with no accounting for where the extra funds are going. 

For readers that wonder why we track the expense accounts of administrators, here's why!   

How many headphones did Board of Education members "party" away last year? 2,398

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

January 28, 2015

Dear Parents/Guardians,

College Gardens has received chrome books for all students in grades 3 and 5. These are in addition to the 90 chrome books purchased by the PTA. With the use of the chrome books, students will need headphones. Students may bring their own from home or purchase KOSS headphones from the school for $3.00.

The chrome books are used in the classrooms to enhance creativity and collaboration in the classroom. All students will have access to a Google Apps for Education account. These accounts are secure to the learning environment and staff members are able to access their accounts. The staff and student accounts enable document sharing, collaborative work, and assessment opportunities in this cloud-based platform. For MCPS, participating students and staff are assigned an “@mcpsmd.net” G-mail like account. With this e-mail account students only have access to w-mail with people inside the MCPS system. Student progress and engagement will be monitored via a learning management system integrated into the platform that allows teachers to send information to students, offer real-time feedback, and monitor progress on activities.

As an added precaution to safeguard students, MCPS has enabled a feature of Google Search called “Safe Search” within our Google Apps domain. With “Safe Search” enabled, sexually explicit video and images are filtered from Google Search result pages, along with results that might link to explicit content when logged into their account. In essence, students’ internet searches are safer and more secure than if they were not using their accounts to conduct the same searches.

If you have questions or want additional information on the MCPS initiative to bring chrome books into the schools, please contact the Office of the Chief Technology Officer at 301-279-3581, or if you have questions regarding the use of chrome books at College Gardens you may contact me at 301-279-8470.

Sincerely,

Stacey Rogovoy

Principal

SR:cb

"We wanted to make sure he was reelected before introducing legislation."

Montgomery delegation split over permits for portable classrooms

By Glynis Kazanjian
For MarylandReporter.com

Two Montgomery County delegation leaders are at odds over a local bill that would strip the county’s two largest municipalities of their authority to rule on school construction projects.

The bill would grant the Montgomery County government sole authority to issue permits for new school buildings, remodeling projects and placement of portable classrooms. Currently, Rockville and Gaithersburg approve their own permits for school construction projects through their local zoning and building ordinances...

Read more: http://marylandreporter.com/2011/01/28/montgomery-delegation-split-over-permits-for-portable-classrooms/#ixzz1CLTiZnxW
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

City of Rockville sets Superintendent Weast straight on process

Below are documents obtained from the City of Rockville that show the correspondence between the City and MCPS from August 4, 2010 to December 8, 2010, regarding the placement of classroom trailers (portables) at College Gardens Elementary School in 2010.

Note the November 10, 2010 letter from the Mayor of the City of Rockville to Superintendent Jerry Weast where the Mayor points out to the Superintendent the failure of the Board of Education to take the action required to overrule the City.

Kudos to the Mayor for reminding the Superintendent that legally he can not decide to overrule the City of Rockville on his own.

  City of Rockville and Superintendent Jerry Weast correspondence by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Rockville Patch: College Gardens Debate Could Frame New Law

Marcuccio calls for collaboration; Some worry the bill cedes too much to the county

On the eve of the county school board's vote to overrule Rockville planners and bring portable classrooms to College Gardens Elementary School members of the county's delegation to the General Assembly debated a bill that could determine how such decisions between schools and municipalities are made in the future.

Introduced by county Senate delegation Chairman Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington, the bill would give the county government "exclusive authority to issue permits and enforce regulations and codes associated with the construction or remodeling of school buildings or the placement of relocatable classroom buildings."

The local legislation would apply solely to Montgomery County and must receive majority approval from delegation members in both chambers before being introduced in the General Assembly...

Board of Ed to Overrule City of Rockville

Superintendent Jerry Weast wants 2 more classroom trailers at College Gardens Elementary School.


The City of Rockville said no.


Superintendent Weast put the trailers on the school grounds anyway. He will have the Board of Education vote to open the trailers to children on Tuesday, December 7, 2010 in defiance of the City of Rockville.


The only thing interesting about this is that the Superintendent is actually asking for the Board of Education to take a public vote.  
What will the vote be? 8-1 in favor? 

College Gardens BOE Item 5.2.8

Apple Ballot Surprise #2: State to Strip Rockville of Permit Power on School Sites

Did you know you voted for this? Did you like Surprise #1? 


Well if you voted for the Apple Ballot on Tuesday you voted for legislation that would strip the City of Rockville of the power to issue permits for school buildings located within their jurisdiction.


Guess those Apple Candidates were so busy campaigning they forgot to mention they had filed this legislation until the day after the election.


MC11-11

Weast Ticked Off by Trailer Troubles

Below is the September 23, 2010, letter that Superintendent Jerry Weast sent to the City of Rockville announcing to them that he would be  placing two classroom trailers (shown in image to left) at College Gardens Elementary school despite the City's failure to issue a permit. The City of Rockville's response can be found in the Gazette article here. 

Weast letter to City of Rockville

Rockville Mayor and Council to Tour Overcrowded Elementary Schools with MCPS Officials

News Release

CONTACT:
Marylou Berg, Communication Manager, 240-314-8105
    

Rockville Mayor and Council to Tour Overcrowded Elementary Schools with MCPS Officials

ROCKVILLE, Md., October 25, 2010 - The Rockville Mayor and Council will tour four elementary schools within the Montgomery County Public Schools system in Rockville, starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 27, at Ritchie Park Elementary School. The Mayor and Council will meet at 8:30 a.m. at the Carver Educational Services Building, located at 850 Hungerford Drive. The following list outlines the schedule of events for the day:

• 9-9:45 a.m., Ritchie Park Elementary School, 1514 Dunster Road
• 10-10:45 a.m., Beall Elementary School, 451 Beall Ave.
• 11-11:45 a.m., Twinbrook Elementary School, 5911 Ridgeway Ave.
• Noon to 12:45 p.m., College Gardens Elementary School, 1700 Yale Place

In addition to the Rockville Mayor and Council, Board of Education member Laura Berthiaume (Dist. 2) of Rockville; James Song, director of MCPS Facilities; Bruce Crispell, MCPS Chief of Long Range Planning; and Kathy Steinberg, MCPS Intergovernmental Relations, will attend the tour. The Mayor and Council are going on the tour for a first-hand look at the overcrowding issues in Rockville, and to talk with principals about the challenges of overcrowding in their schools and what they are doing to manage it.

The Mayor and Council plan to gather information that will help their efforts to lobby the Board of Education on school overcrowding in Rockville. The Rockville mayor and all four council members will be present at the tour; therefore, the tour is considered a public meeting and is subject to all provisions of the open meetings act. 

Weast: MCPS Doesn't Need To Comply with City of Rockville Law

Weast says Rockville law does not apply to county schools
Adds two portable classrooms at College Gardens without permission
by Sean Patrick Norris | Staff Writer Gazette, Wednesday Oct. 20, 2010

Public schools Superintendent Jerry D. Weast told Rockville he is installing two portable classrooms at College Gardens Elementary School whether the city likes it or not.

In a letter sent Sept. 23 to the mayor and City Council, Weast said Montgomery County Public Schools is above Rockville law.

"MCPS is not obligated to comply with the regulations of a local jurisdiction, such as Rockville's APFO," Weast wrote, referring to the city's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance. "Please be advised that we are exercising our right not to comply."

To read the rest of this article, CLICK HERE.

No Bully Left Behind - wtop.com Part 4

No Bully Left Behind - wtop.com

Continuation of WTOP's Kate Ryan report on Bullying at College Gardens Elementary School in Rockville. Part 4.

No Bully Left Behind - wtop.com Part 3

No Bully Left Behind - wtop.com

Continuation of Kate Ryan's WTOP report on Bullying at College Gardens Elementary School in Rockville. Part 3.

No Bully Left Behind - wtop.com Part 2

No Bully Left Behind - wtop.com

Kate Ryan reports. Part 2

No Bully Left Behind - wtop.com Part 1

No Bully Left Behind - wtop.com

Kate Ryan reports. Part 1

...Children were slammed into walls," she says.

"There was repeated punching, hitting and kicking. There were enemies lists."
And this was, according to this mother's reports, inside the classroom at Montgomery County's College Gardens Elementary School in Rockville, a school with an excellent reputation and an acclaimed academic program...