Board of Education briefs in November 8 Morning Herald

November 08, 2002|by PEPPER BALLARD

Achievement First contracts are approved

The Washington County Board of Education voted Thursday to approve $137,000 in Achievement First Fund for Educational Excellence contracts to pay for professional consultants and coaches, materials, workshops and site visits through the end of this school year at Hancock and Eastern elementary schools.

Hancock Elementary received $70,000 through a competitive federal grant project and Eastern Elementary received about the same amount through a state fund for educational excellence. Both programs require outside assistance to develop them.

Achievement First, a Maryland Department of Education literacy program, was put in place at Hancock Elementary this summer and will be put in place at Eastern Elementary this month.

Mini-grants awarded to county teachers, staff

The Washington County Public Schools Foundation Inc. awarded five mini-grants of $300 each to county teachers and school staff during Thursday's board meeting.

Representatives from Clear Spring High School, Marshall Street, Lincolnshire, Salem Avenue, and Paramount elementary schools were on hand to receive their awards and present spring projects ranging from helping students to better set goals to creating a math lending library for extra resources.

There were 25 applications for the mini-grants. The Grants Committee selected grant recipients based partly on creativity, student impact and potential for replication.

Wireless system will be installed at school

The Washington County Board of Education Thursday approved paying Ellsworth Electric Inc. of Hagerstown $36,500 to install a wireless system at Fairview Outdoor School.

The wireless system at the school will be made up of antennae and hardware for three connections within the dorms at the school. The addition of a wireless system will allow teachers and students to use laptop computers for lessons at locations inside the school and out in the field, said David Mundey, the school system's manager of technology hardware/ telecommunications.

Mundey and Chief of Operations William Blum also asked the School Board to consider finishing up technology projects at Marshall Street Elementary School and the Washington County Technical High School, which along with Fairview are the last three schools to have projects pending under a Technology in Maryland Schools grant.

Blum said schools are within budget to complete all projects. He said state, county and School Board funds supplemented the TIMS grant.

A total of $114,885 of work will be done at the schools.

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