Monday, August 13, 2012
Superintendent Starr reorganizes staff and wants to give principals a direct line to him, the Gazette reports.
It's Dr. Joshua Starr's second full year as superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools and he's making changes. The Gazette reports that he reorganized parts of his staff in an effort to reach out to school principals. Back in April, former Northeast Consortium community superintendent Beth Schiavino-Narvaez was picked to head the newly created Office of School Support and Improvement, formerly the Office of School Performance. The office will "better align and coordinate direct services to schools and principals," according to a statement from the district. She will report directly to Starr, the Gazette reports, which is a shift from the previous position that served under a deputy superintendent. Starr told the newspaper that he…
Monday, June 18, 2012
Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Joshua Starr answered questions for Patch, evaluating his first year.
As Montgomery County Public Schools' 2011-12 school year drew to a close last week, Dr. Joshua Starr was closing the book on his first year as superintendent. Starr replaced Jerry Weast, who spent the previous 12 years in the role. Patch: You just wrapped up your first school year, and July 1, 2012, marks your first full year as MCPS superintendent. What did you hope to accomplish in year one, and do you think you were able to do so? Dr. Joshua Starr: For year one it’s really been about transition. And I took a pretty deliberate approach to transition planning, to entry and to help the community get to know me and by community I mean teachers and administrators and parents and kids and elected officials. I wanted them to get to know me …
Monday, April 2, 2012
MCPS Superintendent Joshua Starr recommended Rock Creek Hills Park as the site for a new middle school for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase cluster.
The Montgomery County Public Schools superintendent agrees that Rock Creek Hills Local Park in Kensington would be the best site to build a new middle school. According to the Gazette, Superintendent Joshua Starr announced his recommendation on Friday. The new middle school is needed in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase cluster to resolve overcrowding at Westland Middle School. The site selection committee recommended Montgomery County Public Schools build the new school at the Kensington Park at 3701 Saul Rd. on March 14. The committee listed North Chevy Chase Local Park (4105 Jones Bridge Rd.) as the alternate site. For more on what Starr said, read the Gazette.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
The MCPS All-Starrs will perform to raise money for black educators group.
Putting aside school matters for a moment, Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Joshua Starr will take to the stage for a fundraiser this weekend. Along with the, ahem, MCPS All-Starrs, the superintendent will perform at Saturday's fundraiser for the Montgomery County Alliance of Black School Educators at Richard Montgomery High School, The Gazette reported. The rest of the All-Starrs are Dana Tofig on vocals, Wayne Whigham on guitar, Erick Lang on the keyboard, Eric Minus on bass, Kisheena Wanzer on the drums, Jeanie Dawson on saxophone, Bennie Green at trumpet, and Phillip Barnes on trumpet and saxophone. The minimimum donation is $15, and the show starts at 5 p.m.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Request will go to the county executive in March.
The Montgomery County Board of Education voted to approve a $2.13 billion fiscal 2013 budget request Tuesday, asking for a 2 percent increase from 2012. The extra $41 million is the smallest request in more than decade, Superintendent Joshua Starr said, and will mostly go toward handling enrollment growth, covering employee benefits and purchasing materials. The fiscal 2013 request includes about $8 million for employee raises, which Starr said is needed after staff has forgone cost-of-living and step increases for the past few years. MCPS is asking for $1.39 billion of the total from Montgomery County, matching 2012's per-student spending of $9,759 per pupil. That number falls in line with Maryland's Maintenance of Effort law, which …
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
While no seats are left, you can join the discussion online.
There are no seats left for Superintendent Joshua Starr's book club event Tuesday night, but you can still tune in on TV or online. Starr will discuss Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink, and the author will join him to answer questions. The event starts at 7 p.m. at the Carver Educational Services Center, and it will be broadcast on MCPS TV and available for streaming on McpsBookClub.org. The Barnes & Noble in Bethesda will also host a watch party in its café, and you can RSVP to the event by e-mailing Crm2750@bn.com. During the discussion, Starr will answer questions from members of the audience and from viewers at home using e-mail and Twitter, where he tweets as @mcpssuper. In Drive, Pink argues that the …
Friday, January 27, 2012
Schools would put $230K to other uses.
Superintendent Joshua Starr wants to stop administering the TerraNova 2 test to second graders next year, planning to use the money saved to fund other school programs. The proposed cut is part of Starr's proposed amendments to his fiscal year 2013 budget request, and he will present the additions to the Board of Education on Feb. 14. Montgomery County Public Schools already administers three assessments per year to all students from kindergarten to second grade, and eliminating TerraNova 2 will allow MCPS to put the $230,000 saved each year on programs like pre-kindergarten education and staff engagement, Starr said. “While the TerraNova does provide some useful information, I believe we can assess student progress with existing tools and…
Thursday, December 29, 2011
The superintendent has chosen Drive, by Daniel Pink.
Superintendent Joshua Starr will host his second book club on Jan. 31, discussing Drive by Daniel Pink. The discussion starts at 7 p.m. at the Carver Educational Services Center, and it will be broadcast on MCPS TV. During the event, Starr will answer questions from members of the audience and from viewers at home using e-mail and Twitter, where he tweets under @mcpssuper. In the book, Pink argues that the key to motivating people is not simply rewarding success but instead engendering a sense of autonomy and purpose. This is the second of three book club events planned for the school year, and Starr has said that the discussions give him a chance to reach out to the schools' community, students and staff. "The book clubs will provide a …
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Superintendent is asking for $41.4 million more than last year.
Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Joshua Starr is asking for $2.128 billion in school funding for fiscal year 2013, a 2 percent increase over the previous year. Starr outlined his budget request before hundreds of people Wednesday night at a presentation at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, saying the increase in funds is necessary to handle MCPS's growing enrollment. The requested 2 percent is the smallest increase an MCPS superintendent has asked for in 12 years, Starr said, and most of that $41.4 million would go toward handling enrollment growth, covering employee benefits and purchasing materials. Starr said he intends to focus on professional development, interventions for struggling students and community …
Friday, November 25, 2011
The superintendent is reading and discussing books to share his educational philosophy.
Superintendent Joshua Starr will host his first book club event Nov. 29, when he'll discuss Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck. The discussion starts at 7 p.m. at the Carver Educational Services Center, and it will be broadcast on MCPS TV. Dweck will join the discussion via Skype, and Starr will answer questions from members of the audience and from viewers at home using e-mail and Twitter. This is the first of three book club events planned for the school year, and Starr has said that the discussions give him a chance to reach out to the schools' community, students and staff. "The book clubs will provide a less formal way for us to have a conversation about education and will provide an opportunity for me to share …
B Allen
2:49 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
What MCPS needs to do is get rid of the unions that drive the costs up, cut back on the number of "administrators", reduce the cost of doing business to allow more money to go to the education of our children. Also, if they get rid of the unions then those that are forced to join can put that money in an IRA or 401k instead of helping the union bosses getting their nice big incomes and them using… more ›