Anne Arundel County Public Schools Explained

Anne Arundel County Public Schools
Grades:PreK–12
Superintendent:Mark Bedell
State:Maryland
Zipcode:21401
Country:United States
Address:2644 Riva Road
City:Annapolis
Students:84,452
Teachers:5,930.13
Ratio:14.24

Anne Arundel County Public Schools is the public school district serving all of Anne Arundel County, Maryland. With over 85,000 students and 126 schools, the AACPS school system is the 4th largest in Maryland and the 39th largest in the United States. The district has over 5,000 teachers supporting a comprehensive curriculum from Pre-K through 12th grade.

Schools

AACPS primarily consists of 79 elementary schools (Pre-K or K, through grade 5), 20 middle schools (grades 6–8), and 15 high schools (grades 9–12). AACPS maintains 2 centers of applied technology, 3 charter schools, 3 special education centers, 1 alternative high school, 1 middle school learning center, and 1 center for emotionally impaired students known as the Phoenix Center.

Many AACPS schools have garnered recognition for their academic programs, with appointment as National Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence and Maryland Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence.[1] [2] These schools are marked below with symbols representing their National-level and Maryland-level awards.

Partial list of elementary schools

AACPS elementary schools serve students from Kindergarten to 5th grade. Some schools[3] also offer a Pre-Kindergarten program for younger students who are "economically disadvantaged or homeless".[4] Among AACPS's elementary schools are:

Public charter and contract schools

Chesapeake Science Point (CSP) is a magnet school for math and science. The school was founded in 2003 by the volunteer non-profit Chesapeake Lighthouse Foundation (CLF), after the Charter School Law (Bill 75) was put into effect in July 2003, authorizing the establishment of charter schools in the state of Maryland. Admission to CSP is via an application and lottery basis.

Monarch Academy Glen Burnie (MAGB) is another charter school in Anne Arundel County. Monarch Academy serves students in Kindergarten through eighth grade. It employs Expeditionary Learning, a project based learning model, and is located in Glen Burnie.

Monarch Global Academy (MGA) is a contract school in Anne Arundel County. Monarch Global Academy serves students in Kindergarten through eighth grades. It employs the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program in K–6 and a project based learning model in grades 6–8. It is located in Laurel, Maryland.

Other schools of note

Leadership

AACPS headquarters are in the Parole census-designated place, near Annapolis.[6] The Carol S. Parham Building houses the board of education,[7] school support departments, professional support facilities,[8] and meeting spaces.

The school system is governed by an eight-member board of education. Seven members of the board (representing each of the county's council districts) are elected to four-year terms (before 2018, these positions were appointed by the state governor),[9] and one student member is voted to a one-year term by the general student body.

The board appoints a superintendent of schools to administer the school system. The current superintendent is Dr. Mark Bedell, who has served in this capacity since 2022.[10] Previous superintendents include:

Pop-Tart controversy

Anne Arundel County Public Schools made headlines in March 2013 when school officials suspended 7-year-old Josh Welch for chewing a Pop-Tart pastry into a shape they thought resembled a gun and pretending to shoot his classmates. This was not the first time AACPS had dealt with this situation in that way, as 2 years earlier, a similarly aged student by the name of Sean House was suspended for the same reason. The Welch family, represented by attorney Robin Ficker, subsequently appealed to the district to have the two-day suspension removed from Josh's record, but the appeal was denied. The Welch family appealed the decision to the county school board,which upheld the suspension after a 2014 hearing.[19] The Maryland State Board of Education also ruled to uphold the suspension.[20] The suspension was again upheld in county circuit court in 2016, with an 11-page ruling that cited "the student’s past history of escalating behavioral issues" and confirmed that "a suspension was appropriately used as a corrective tool". Shortly after this ruling, the parents' suit was closed by mediation in the Maryland Court of Special Appeals with an "undisclosed settlement".[21] [22] Officials at the school and the county maintained that "the case was never about a pastry or a gun, but rather an ongoing behavioral problem. They said that the boy disrupted the classroom repeatedly and that the suspension was a last resort."

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Facts about AACPS . Anne Arundel County Public Schools . March 8, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080308073620/http://www.aacps.org/aacps/boe/ADMIN/PINFO/info.asp. March 8, 2008 . dead.
  2. Web site: About Blue Ribbon Schools . Anne Arundel County Public Schools . January 22, 2019.
  3. Web site: Pre-Kindergarten . Anne Arundel County Public Schools . February 10, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140212145415/http://www.aacps.org/earlychildhood/pre_kind.asp . February 12, 2014 . dead .
  4. News: O'Malley administration announces pre-K expansion bill . January 17, 2014 . Alex . Jackson . Capital Gazette . February 10, 2014 . https://archive.today/20140210121755/http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/general_assembly/o-malley-administration-announces-pre-k-expansion-bill/article_b888a3fc-c2b1-517b-8102-6db1f288d4fe.html . February 10, 2014 . dead .
  5. Web site: Ruth Parker Eason School . Anne Arundel County Public Schools . 10 February 2014 . Ruth Parker Eason is a public, separate day school located in Millersville, Maryland in Anne Arundel County. Our school provides a full day special education program for students ages 3 through 21 with moderate to severe disabilities. . https://archive.today/20140210105839/http://www.aacps.org/aacps/rutheasn/index.asp?reload . February 10, 2014 . dead .
  6. "2010 Census Block Map Parole CDP, Md. No. 4." (Archive) U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on October 6, 2012.
  7. Web site: Board of Education . Anne Arundel County Public Schools . January 22, 2019.
  8. Web site: Professional Growth & Development . Anne Arundel County Public Schools . January 22, 2019.
  9. News: Incumbents ousted in Anne Arundel's first school board race . Lauren . Lumpkin . November 6, 2018 . Annapolis Capital . January 22, 2019.
  10. Web site: Mark Bedell, ED.D., Superintendent . Anne Arundel County Public Schools . January 22, 2019.
  11. Web site: Mamie J. Perkins – Interim Superintendent . Anne Arundel County Public Schools . 4 November 2013 . Mamie Johns Perkins was appointed as interim superintendent of Anne Arundel County Public Schools on July 23, 2013. Her term ran from August 1, 2013, to June 30, 2014. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131112142701/http://www.aacps.org/html/press/super.asp . November 12, 2013.
  12. Web site: SUPERINTENDENT Kevin M. Maxwell, Ph.D . Anne Arundel County Public Schools . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060918115531/http://www.aacps.org/html/press/super.asp . September 18, 2006 . November 4, 2013 .
  13. News: Maxwell welcomed 'home' as Prince George's schools CEO . Sara . Toth . June 23, 2013 . The Baltimore Sun . January 22, 2019.
  14. News: Lawson a Low-Key Candidate for School Superintendent . Anita . Huslin . March 21, 2002 . Washington Post . January 22, 2019.
  15. Web site: Dr. Carol Sheffey Parham . Anonymous . March 9, 2011 . What's Up? Magazine . What's Up? Media. January 22, 2019.
  16. News: Anne Arundel School Superintendent Resigns . Graciela . Sevilla . October 27, 1993 . Annapolis Capital . January 22, 2019.
  17. News: Embattled Anne Arundel School Superintendent Quitting June 30 . Fern . Shen . January 18, 1992 . Annapolis, Maryland . Washington Post . January 22, 2019.
  18. News: Remembering Anne Arundel's 11th superintendent . Rick . Hutzell . July 13, 2013 . Annapolis Capital . Who was George Fox? No, not the Fantastic Mr. Fox nor the original Quaker. Fox was the first Anne Arundel County Public Schools superintendent. From 1916 to 1946, he brought the county school system out of the 19th century and is credited with allowing the creation of the first network of schools for African-American students. . January 22, 2019 .
  19. News: Judge upholds suspension of boy in pastry gun incident . E.B. III . Furgurson . Cindy . Huang . June 16, 2016 . Annapolis Capital . January 22, 2019.
  20. News: Judge upholds suspension of student who chewed pastry into the shape of a gun . Donna . St. George . June 16, 2016 . Washington Post . January 22, 2019.
  21. News: Pop-Tart Gun School Suspension Case Settled After 3 Years: Parents and Anne Arundel County Public Schools have settled over the suspension of a boy who may have chewed his Pop-Tart into a gun shape . Deb . Belt . October 25, 2016 . Patch . Patch Media . January 22, 2019.
  22. News: Resolution, years later, in boy's suspension over 'pastry gun' . Donna . St. George . October 25, 2016 . Washington Post . January 22, 2019.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Anne Arundel County Public Schools".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.