WJ, MCPS fall on state report card, other MCPS news updates

Seyun Park and Gabby Davids • Dec 13, 2024

MoCo News Updates

WJ, MCPS fall on state report card

The Maryland State Department of Education released its annual report card on schools in the state on Dec. 3. MCPS as a district saw 50% of its schools obtain a 4 or 5-star rating, an increase of only 0.8% from 2023, a measure the district called “disappointingly flat.”

WJ itself ranked in the 76th percentile with a 4-star rating and a score of 65 points out of 100, a nearly 11 percentile drop from 2023 and a drop of 6.1 points on the 100-point scale. The largest factor in this drop was a sharp uptick in chronic absenteeism, with the “Students not Chronically Absent” score dropping from 8 out of 15 to 2.5 out of 15.

As recently as 2022, WJ was a 5-star school ranked in the top 10th percentile of schools in MD and had a chronic absenteeism score of 12.5 out of 15. While MCPS still leads state averages for schools, a press release from the district emphasized the steps the district is taking to improve student performance, including changes to curricula and continued implementation of the Chronic Absenteeism Action Plan.

Board approves contractor for boundary studies

The MCPS Board of Education approved a $1.12 million dollar contract with consulting company FLO Analytics for two upcoming boundary studies on Dec. 5. FLO will examine the boundaries in downcounty for the 2027 reopening of Woodward High School and in upcounty for the new Crown High School and an expanded Damascus High School.

Following concerns about diversity and community engagement at their first meeting on Nov. 21, the Board delayed their contract approval. With a slightly revised contract, the Board continued to press Superintendent Dr. Thomas Taylor and FLO representatives about their plan for community engagement.

In the updated contract, MCPS will conduct an internal program analysis of its distribution of programs countywide to supplement the two boundary studies. Up to 32 community meetings will take place (amended from the original 10), facilitated through the subcontractor Bloom Planning. With the contract approval, the next step in the onboarding process will be for FLO to present to the Board its plan for community engagement.

Snow days stay, virtual learning ruled out

This year, MCPS has decided to retire the usage of its “Code Purple,” an operational status that allows students to learn virtually at home during cases of inclement weather. In past years, Code Purple was an option the county left open for possible use, especially for inclement weather, but a tweet sent out by the district on Dec. 9 confirmed the absence of Code Purple this year.

Part of the difficulties with the usage of Code Purple was that, due to logistical and communication challenges, MCPS required itself to announce a Code Purple by noon the day preceding the closure. For this reason, MCPS never implemented a Code Purple between its introduction in 2022 and retirement this year.

The 2024-2025 school calendar set aside room for up to two snow days. If schools are closed for more than two days, make-up days would be required to meet the state’s minimum of 180 instructional days in a school year.

The other color codes for MCPS’ operating status are green (normal), yellow (two-hour delay), blue (early dismissal), orange (schools closed, offices open) and red (systemwide closure).

Board approves 2025-2026 school year calendar

The Montgomery County Board of Education confirmed the MCPS 2025-2026 calendar on Dec. 5. The first day of school will be Aug. 26, 2025, and the last day of school extends to June 17, 2026. There will be 181 instructional days, with a 12-day winter break, 10-day spring break and non-instructional days coinciding with major religious and cultural holidays like Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, Lunar New Year, Eid-al-Fitr and Eid-al-Adha.

As part of a new initiative by Superintendent Dr. Thomas Taylor, a new “Student Transition Day” will also occur on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. This non-instructional full day will be used to support students transitioning to their new schools or grade level in kindergarten or grades 6 or 9. Taylor brought the idea to MCPS from his previous job at Stafford County schools in Virginia.

Before the calendar was approved, MCPS conducted community engagement through surveys accessible via students’ Canvas dashboards, emails and focus groups.

Wootton principal placed on administrative leave

Wootton High School principal Douglas Nelson was placed on administrative leave following an alleged failure or delay in reporting a race-based incident. Specifically, on Dec. 2, the n-word was reported written on a desk, and, while reported to a teacher, the community was not informed until a letter was sent out on Dec. 6 by MCPS officials and Black Student Union leaders.

It is not exactly clear if the race-based incidents are directly the cause for Nelson’s leave, although typically, employees are placed on leave when they are undergoing investigation by MCPS. The incident also represents at least the second such race-based incident that was not properly handled. Students held walkouts earlier this year over a May incident where the n-word was printed 1000 times on a school copier, and an administrator who was notified did not take immediate action.

In the interim, Dr. Joseph Bostic, the principal intern at Northwood High School, will serve as the acting principal at Wootton. Bostic is a former MCPS Teacher of the Year. Nelson has served as Wootton’s principal since July 2022 and was previously an Assistant Principal at B-CC High School.

Story continues below advertisement

Donate to The Pitch

$481

$1000

Contributed

Our Goal

Your donation will support the student journalists of Walter Johnson High School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.

About the Contributors

Seyun Park, Editor-in-Chief

Senior Seyun Park triumphantly returns to The Pitch in his fourth and final year, this year as Editor-in-Chief, managing content both online and in print. When he isn't fixing tabs on Adobe InDesign, messing around with SNO widgets, or dropping horrible sports takes in class, you can find Seyun on the tennis court, crushing the daily New York Times games or fanatically supporting the Washington Caps and Nats. Seyun is also a 2024 National Scholastic Press Association Multimedia Journalist of the Year Finalist.

Gabby Davids, Layout and Design Editor

Junior Gabriella Davids' second year of The Pitch as a Layout and Design Editor. In addition to writing for The Pitch, Gabriella likes to listen to music 24/7 and hang out with her friends.

Comments (0)

Readers are welcome to comment. We reserve the right to moderate, delete, or edit comment threads as we see fit. Comments are monitored and spam comments will be deleted. Attacks on other commenters or Pitch staff members will not be tolerated. The opinions presented on this website do not represent the opinions of the WJ student body as a whole.

Share your thoughts...

All Sort: Newest