Code Blue Alert At Dufief Elementary School On Monday

Unknown person entered the building

UPDATE: The woman who entered Dufief Elementary School on Monday and triggered a Code Blue Alert had asked to use the bathroom, said Dufief Elementary Principal Dorothy J. Reitz. Reitz updated parents about the event at a PTA meeting on Tuesday evening. Reitz said two women came to the office on Monday afternoon. They said they were waiting for a third person who was picking up a child from school. Both women signed in as guests and were given visitor passes. One woman asked to use the bathroom and she was instructed to use the faculty bathroom. The woman did not return from the bathroom after several minutes, said Reitz, and so they called a Code Blue alert, to ensure all students were accounted for, and she called the police. Reitz …

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Elementary Schools Hold Annual Halloween Parades

Parents watched kids show off their costumes on Friday afternoon.

Policeman, princesses, cowboys and superheroes filled North Potomac and Darnestown elementary classrooms on Friday. In celebration of Halloween, area elementary schools ended classes early for costume parades and classroom parties. At Stone Mill Elementary School, classroom teachers led the six hundred students in single file lines around the parking lot. Parents armed with cameras, and a few folding chairs, filled the front courtyard to watch the children walk by. Valerie Greenfeld, a mother of two Stone Mill Elementary School students, walked over from her house nearby the school. She has two older children who also attended Stone Mill and she said she looks forward to the parade every year. "It's fun to see all the other kids in the …

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Darnestown Elementary School Students Tour the World

Students learned about other countries at Darnestown International Night on Thursday.

Students and parents at Darnestown Elementary School toured exhibits and sampled cuisine from many different countries at the annual International Night on Thursday. Each exhibit, run by a parent volunteer, showed visitors about other cultures, which was the most important part said International Night Co-Chair Taina Litwak. "I think the most important part about the event is that the kids are reminded that the world is bigger than just Darnestown. There is a lot of variety of the way people look at the world; what we have and what we don't have," said Litwak. The event, which ran from 7 to 8:30 p.m., featured 16 countries and a United Nations table. Litwak started the United Nations table last year. "We used it as the last place students …

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Travilah Elementary Teacher Honored For Excellence

Carol Knoblach has been at Travilah since 1996

Carol Knoblach, a fourth grade teacher at Travilah Elementary School, was selected this September as one of the outstanding teachers receiving the Marian Greenblatt Excellence in Teaching Award. "The one reason that we are here is because of academics, and she is an amazing, amazing teacher and the children would follow her to the end of the earth," said Travilah Elementary School Principal Susan Shenk in an interview. "She has done an outstanding job of inspiring." Shenk nominated Knoblach as a veteran teacher. This requires that the teacher be full-time and spend the majority of her time teaching. The teacher must also have five years experience in Montgomery County Public Schools at the time of nomination. Knoblach was one of four …

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Travilah Elementary School Families Celebrate New School Year

The annual family picnic took place Friday

Travilah Elementary School kicked off the school year with a Back-to-School Picnic on Friday. The annual picnic, which took place from 5-8 p.m., hosted students and parents for a night of family fun. Volunteer Christine Zmuda planned the event for the fourth year in a row. She has a third grader at the school and another who recently graduated. “The PTA sponsors this event. We pay for the moon bounce, the DJ," Zmuda said. "This event is all about fun." Volunteer Maggie Meyer helped Zmuda run the event and ran a raffle table. The raffle table offered a host of prizes ranging from life size posters of the Twilight characters to a $50 gift certificate to a local area salon. A winner was chosen from a drawing at the end of the evening. Even …

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Mom in the Middle

Back to School Night - Again

Part One: Elementary School takes years

The first time you go to Back-to-School Night for your brand new kindergartener, it's a hoot. It's like getting to drive to the store on your own after earning your driver's license. You sit in the auditorium, anxious to be part of the larger school community. You love hearing the principal greet the assembled parents, and you hang on her every word while she introduces the teaching staff and tells you how great all the kids are. You're thrilled to learn about the PTA activities and willingly write a membership check. It's wonderful to meet parents of your child's classmates in the classroom. All of these people are your partners in parenting, after all. Your kid is spending hours a day in these rooms. You reminisce about your own …

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Garine Isassi

8:25 pm on Friday, October 15, 2010

Wow! thanks Cami.   more ›

Ridgeview Middle School Shares Major Construction Plans With Community

Montgomery County Public Schools conducted a community meeting to present details and answer questions

Plans for facility improvement construction at Ridgeview Middle School includes much more than the new heating and air condition system originally discussed.  At a meeting Monday night, representatives from Montgomery County Public Schools, the contractor and architect told community members the construction, which began in August, also includes aesthetic and security enhancements. Dr. Levine, the school's principal, opened the meeting with an introduction of the key planners in the project: Montgomery County Public Schools Construction Manager Craig Shuman and project Architect Rob Emard of the American Institute of Architects and Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) Accredited Professional at The Lukmire Partnership.   "…

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Author Seeks To Entertain and Inspire Students

Frank Monahan visits Stone Mill Elementary on Thursday

Children's author Frank Monahan will share his love of reading, writing, and his two adorable Basset Hounds with Stone Mill Elementary School students this Thursday. Monahan is the author of two books, "Stanley & Norman Bad Boy Basset Brothers" and "Stanley & Norman: Basset Brothers Backyard Buddies," which illustrate the adventures of his real life pups.   Kindergarten through second grade students at Stone Mill will be treated to a reading by Monahan and a picture slideshow of the real dogs behind the stories. Monahan will then spend another hour with third, fourth, and fifth graders discussing his writing process and answering questions about being an author. A former scientist, Monahan published his first book in 2008 and immediately …

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Cub Scouts Help Care For School Gardens

The Pack helps out annually to thank their elementary school for lending meeting space

On a recent Saturday at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School, ten boys spent the morning throwing around dirt. But there was no playing involved.  The ten boys, all members of Cub Scout Pack 1761, were working to spread mulch around the gardens and trees surrounding their school. For the past five years, this Cub Scout pack and their parents have mulched and weeded the school grounds each September. "We use the school facilities a lot," said Chris Brown, Pack 1761 Committee Chair.  "This is just one way of saying thanks to them." The pack meets in different classrooms throughout the school year and once a month the Cub Scouts hold a pack-wide meeting in the school's multi-purpose room, said Brown. On Saturday, Sept. 11, the ten boys …

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