The month of May brings a variety of color into our lives. Birds, flowers, and brightly colored clothing all herald the arrival of the season of the year when things grow and prosper. It is also a time when we gather together to celebrate the accomplishments of our students and reward them with the fruits of their labors – a diploma.

The focus of Montgomery Public Schools is to prepare students for life. We do that by creating pathways for students. Some, like our Advanced Placement programs and the new International Baccalaureate path that begins this fall, offers students a direct bridge to college. However, not all of our students are interested in a traditional degree. And there are plenty of jobs for those bright young minds – high paying jobs.

You have just brought home your bundle of joy from the hospital. Your heart is filled with love and your head is filled with thoughts of diapers and getting the youngster to sleep through the night. It is likely that the last thing on your laundry list of things to worry about (including the laundry) is how to pay for college. However, it is something you might begin thinking about as soon as your baby takes a nap.

By now you may have seen the renderings of the new high school on the eastside of Montgomery. The new high school will be on the access road between Ray Thorington Road and Taylor Road near Taylor Road. The site is beautiful and the new school will be impressive. The school has been a dream for many years and we are pleased to say we will soon break ground on the site and expect it to open by the fall of 2013.

Every New Year brings a batch of resolutions – lose weight, improve your financial situation, get organized, stop smoking … the list goes on and on. Unfortunately, statistics show that while about half of us make resolutions, only three percent of those are kept.
Change takes commitment. And while I hope you keep every resolution you make, there is one that is worth all your effort – spend more time with your children.

It seems like the school year just began, and we are already preparing for the winter break.

The schoolyard bully has been around as long as there have been schoolyards. However, in recent years bullying has escalated from mild verbal attacks and pushing to real violence and attacks through cyberspace that too often have tragic consequences. Montgomery Public Schools has a variety of tools we use to help minimize bullying including Peer Mediation, Character @ Heart, and many others.

AYP – it is another label in the alphabet soup of educational jargon. Most non-educators, and some educators, don’t understand fully its meaning or why school systems are judged by it.

Albert Einstein was right, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Solving problems requires change and while there may be discomfort in change, it is necessary for growth. As I end my second year as superintendent of Montgomery County Schools, the list of changes – all focused on our goals – is yielding significant positive growth.