From the Harford County Board of Education:
The Board of Education of Harford County met in an open business meeting on Monday, September 12, 2011, in the Board Room of the HCPS/A.A. Roberty Building and took the following the actions or received the following presentations:
Superintendent Robert Tomback introduced recent staff appointments: the new Principal at Edgewood Middle School, Ms. Patrice Brown, and Assistant Principal at Deerfield Elementary School, Ms. BangTam Miller.
Approved the Consent Agenda: Affirmation of Monthly Contract Awards (Goal 4)
Minutes of Previous Meetings: August 8, 2011
Award of School Bus Contracts
Ryan Transportation, Anderson Bus Service (Goal 4)
2011 Comprehensive Maintenance Plan
Personnel Report (Goal 3)
Decision on Electricity Supply Contract (Goal 4)
Approved the Prohibition of Gang Related Activities Policy.
Approved the promotion of Mr. Jake Little to Coordinator of Title I Supplemental Education Services and Parent Involvement.
Received a presentation on the 4th Quarter Financial Report.
Received a presentation on Continuous Improvement of the Quality of Classroom Instruction and Supervision.
Received a presentation on the Educator Effectiveness Academy, a component of the Harford County Public Schools Race to the Top initiative.
· During the Superintendent’s Report, received information regarding: the New Teacher Orientation Conference which 91 new hires attended through the perspective of new teacher Nikia Durden, first grade teacher at Churchville Elementary School; the Emergency Preparedness Process by Chief of Administration Joe Licata and Assistant Superintendent of Operations Cornell Brown; and, enhanced communication features to include a revised school system website, mobile website application, HCPS Facebook page, and Twitter (@HCPSchools).
The Communicator says
What happened to the Edgewood Middle School principal? I think he was from Chicago?
Caspertfg says
What happened to the retired school administrator they hired part time to mentor the imported principal at EMS? I heard that she was making 50K plus ( part time). But don’t worry, she is now on the Board of Education and they surely will not make that mistake again (- ????
????? says
She is on the Board of Education!!!!
concerned Parent says
Gotta love the dagger. The lady you are referring to is a very talented lady and knows her “stuff”. I was sorry to see her have to give up her position of being a mentor. She has a vast knowledge of the way principals and administrators need to treat children and parents. I am not going to mention her name because she knows who she is and what she stands for. If you can do the job….THEN APPLY!!!!!!!!!!! BTW have you ever met her?
dismayed says
The previous principal is now mentoring new principals in Baltimore County. In his words, he is working to become a superintendent. Help us all! This guy is such a loser and has no knowledge of how to lead a school. He like to high five and chest pump the male students. He likes to talk about the “hot” girls in his school. The new principal was very close to Dr. Rudolph. Again, poor leadership reigns at EDMS. The only ray of hope is the new Instructional Facilitator, Mike Thatcher. He is a great guy that will support students and staff…..finally. All the best Mike in your efforts to bring a bit of sanity to the school. If you double how bad it is, just check out the number of staff that left the school since June.
AbingdonTeacher says
Dismayed,
As a teacher in the Edgewood Community for several years, I cannot let your disparaging remarks about EDMS go without responding. The ignorance of your comments is both laughable and disappointing. The former principal moved on to a bigger position within Baltimore CITY schools. He told his staff he would not leave his position for any other school as a principal, only for a position that would further his career goals. He stuck to his word. In his years at EDMS he provided the same support to teachers looking to further their career goals and always encouraged them to work toward bigger and better things.
The leadership team that has been in place for the last several years is one of the hardest working and most dedicated in the county. HCPS made a great decision by promoting in house, which will allow the positive trends seen in the school to continue. Mr. Thatcher comes to EDMS with a great reputation within the district and will only add more talent to the leadership team. To say that poor leadership reigns at EDMS is just flat out wrong, and to say that only “one ray hope” exists out a staff of over 100, and student popluation over 1000, is insulting.
As for your comments about staff members leaving since June, we are just like any other profession. Teachers move, get married, have kids, make moves to further their own careers, or find that EDMS just isn’t the place for them. The number of teachers that have chosen a new place to work is not a reflection of the current mood within the Edgewood community.
The positive track that EDMS has been on for the last several years continues to gain momentum as the leadership team and faculty work tirelessly to empower students to achieve at higher levels, every day. The trend will continue, regardless of those people still in the county that just can’t see a rt 40 school in a positive light.
It’s ok that we don’t have your support, we don’t need it.
Observer says
AbingdonTeacher, please tell me, then, that what I saw with my own eyes at EDMS last school year is an aberration: The inmates were completely running the asylum, paying absolutely no attention to the adult in the room; and when said adult appealed to the administration for help, it was THE ADULT who was sent packing, not the kids!! This is NOT the way you run a school!! And the principal was said to want to know who the adult in question was; yet even though provided specific contact information for and by the adult in question, the principal made no effort whatsoever to contact that adult to learn why his administration let the kids ignore all efforts to bring order to the classroom, to say nothing of actually participating in the lesson material for the day. Furthermore, when the adult was invited to take the rest of the day off, the administrator issuing the invitation was asked directly, “Are you saying the rest of these classes are as bad as this one?” and the direct answer was, “They’re worse.” You cannot convince me this was a well-run school when the administration allowed the kids to do whatever they pleased and to flout all authority brought to bear upon them. And I will have you know that your correspondent is a horrified product of the Willoughby Beach Road schools, going back to the days when we had junior high schools in the county, not middle schools — and when administrators dealt swiftly and decisively with recalcitrant students, not gave them free rein — or more accurately, free reign — in the classroom.
Mommie Dearest says
I too am a grad of EHS and a fellow grad of mine ended up teaching at Edgewood Middle School. He finally retired a few years ago–luckily he was able to do so. The horror stories he conveyed to me echo the posts above. He said the students had absolutely zero respect for the faculty and the administration didn’t even attempt to try to establish any sort of control. He said he felt that something terrible was going to happen there and he was going to get out before it did. How sad. And it doesn’t sound like it’s going to get better any time soon.
JC says
The MSA scores from last year would suggest otherwise. You should be begging for parental support not driving some away with curt comments.
Cdev says
Since only 2 middle schools made AYP would the same be true for the other schools too!
HaveBeenThere says
I have walked the halls, and taught in classrooms of EDMS for several years. It is saddening to hear things like this about such a great school, but sadly most are true. The teachers and staff of EDMS are wonderful. I too, feel victim to the admin and politics of the classroom, I was treated better in the private sector with a Masters, plus and had to leave. Change does not come from promoting teachers to admin positions that have never taught anywhere else. I have heard statements like “I am sorry I could not make confirmed parent/guardian contact regarding the suspension. Welcome the student back to your class today, the student will do better.” Some have called the PBIS program a great fallacy, Edgewood proved this. Students wanted only to get RAMS to earn prizes not the true goal of using PBIS data to alter daily routines to best meet student’s needs. In my time at EDMS I saw a turnover of greater than 80%, retirement counted for a very small number percentage, I saw teams of teachers go away over summer. To conclude, how do you promote quality education with mostly first year teachers?
DISMAYED says
To Abingdon Teacher I only commented on the leadership team, not the teaching staff. The teachers are my heroes. They work very hard to educate students while combating poor behavior, lack of administrative support, and limited parental involvement. I only wish this school success and academic improvement. I honestly feel they don’t have the needed leadership to make that happen. PLEASE, make a liar out of me.
AbingdonTeacher says
So now we can judge an entire school based on what seems to be an incompetent substitute teacher who was rightly removed from the classroom for not maintaining control, and the thoughts of a retired teacher who has not been in the building for several years. If this is what you base your opinions on, then my curt comments are not driving away support, EDMS would never have support to begin with.
Let me say it again….. there is NO lack of administration support at EDMS. Quite the contrary. I have been through several administrations at the school and have never felt more supported in my instruction, discipline, and professional learning. The school has a clear and focused mission, and the administrators provide the support necessary to achieve it. The school has never experienced an 80% turnover rate from year to year, but entire teams of teachers do not simply disappear over the summer. Do we have a younger teaching staff, of course. Is that a detriment to our students, not by a longshot. Spend a few days and come watch some of these “young” teachers in action. You’d be highly impressed by what you see, just as the content supervisors are when they come to observe teachers in our building.
The numbers don’t lie. While some categories were missed in this last go around with AYP, almost all of those categories saw positive growth, just not quite enough to meet the measure. Those categories that have seen a slide are being addressed, but the overall academic performance of EDMS has improved dramatically in the last 3 years. During the same time frame, behavior issues have declined dramatically. This is hard data, shared with the public and reported to the Board of Ed. Teachers that retired years ago are in no place to speak to the current trends within the building. It’s not the same old EDMS, by far.
We have an extremely supportive community of parents. As like any school, we wish we had more support, and we continually strive to increase that support by educating members of the community on exactly how they can help us out. The community has responded and attendance at our 5th grade orientations, open houses, Back-to-School Nights, Parent-Teacher Conferences nights, and many other school activities has gone through the roof.
For years I have fought against the negative public perception of my school, often without a leg to stand on. Now my feet are firmly planted in a successful middle school, surrounded by a supportive administration, a talented staff, and an exciting group of students that challenges me to be a better teacher every day and that cares about their success.
I am sorry if my comments come off as “curt”, but I am tired of seeing the eye rolls and hearing the sighs when I tell people where I teach. I do my best to tell the story of my school to whoever reacts that way so they can begin to know the real EDMS.
Observer says
I happen to know this particular substitute: Not only NOT incompetent, but also highly desired by numerous teachers in HCPS; in fact, being encouraged by many current faculty members and teachers of teachers to make a career in the classroom. And this substitute has NEVER been as abandoned by a school administration as at EDMS, not even at CEO where a walkie-talkie in every classroom is standard equipment for teachers.
Sorry, AbingdonTeacher: You have a much longer way to go to convince us that things are under control at EDMS, especially since Dr. Rudolph seems to have made a rather hasty exit, considering that there are still very recent news stories floating around indicating he wanted to go to China with Dr. Tomback, and now he’s not even working for HCPS. In fact, when I first read of a new principal at EDMS, I searched the Internet looking for where Dr. Rudolph had gone; and I will thank you for clarifying that. However, a Google search indicated that as recently as five days prior to the announcement at Monday’s BOE session of Ms. Brown’s appointment, Dr. Rudolph was still listed as principal on the school’s Edline page; and just that fast, he’s out of there. That sounds like beating feet to me.
DISMAYED says
I don’t make these type of comments without first hand knowledge. I spent a large part of my educational career in the Edgewood schools. Currently, I still work in the county. I stand by my concerns. I know for a fact that a first year teacher asked for assistance from the principal and IF, only to be told that she “could handle it”.She resigned over the summer, along with several other teachers.
Edgewood Middle should be happy to have you as a teacher that is as dedicated and proud of their profession. I wish you well and hope you enjoy a successful school year.
Say wah? says
Sooooo………..gang related activities are just now prohibited?
Cdev says
Apparently you did not actually read the attatchment. There has been a written policy in place since 2005!