Charles County Schools Open for Final Time under Richmond's Leadership
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Charles County Schools Open for Final Time under Richmond's Leadership
Waldorf, MD - 8/28/2012
By Andy Marquis
A middle school student from Benjamin Stoddert Middle School in St. Charles prepares to take on the school year ahead.
Charles County Public Schools opened on Monday and the opening was smooth. For students and teachers, after a hot summer break, it’s time to get back to the routine of books, computers, paper and pencils. Monday also marked the beginning of the final school year for Superintendent James Richmond.
Richmond, who will retire at the end of the fiscal year, has been seen as a visionary with grandiose ideas. Those ideas, which included the North Point High School for Science, Technology and Industry, have come to fruition with great success. As his final year begins, it is also a year that educators will reflect on the legacy Richmond leaves behind.
“Starting the first day of school brings on great excitement every year to see our returning students, returning teachers as well as our new students and our new teachers that are coming in to the county,” Westlake High School Principal Chrystal Benson said. “Some are coming in to the county with experience, some without experience so it’s a day of great excitement. We’re also excited about beginning the implementation stages of Maryland’s Common Core standards and all the rigor our students will have in the classrooms because of this.”
“With this being Mr. Richmond’s last year, Mr. Richmond has done great things for our county. He’s a man with enormous vision and we’re looking forward to him serving this last year and everything he will have in store for us. We know he’s a man who will continue to work until his very last day to benefit Charles County’s students.”
Chris Moorhead from Erie, Pennsylvania has been teaching for five years. He now teaches Business at Westlake High School in St. Charles. This is his first year in Charles County. “I’m very excited,” Moorhead said. “I couldn’t sleep last night. Maybe that was nerves.”
“Opening was a very smooth process,” William A. Diggs Elementary School Principal Sandra Taylor said. “I appreciate all of the parents complied because I asked that they allow their children to, whatever mode of transportation, that they come to school to please let them do that on the first day so children could be familiar with their bus stops or that the driver or they would know who they’re sitting next to so it’s easier for us to make sure children get home safely this afternoon.”
William A. Diggs Elementary School and Theodore Davis Middle School, both located in the vicinity of North Point High School in Waldorf, are a few of the latest examples of the James Richmond legacy in Charles County. The schools take on a greater focus on Science, Technology, Math and Engineering (STEM).
“He is going to be sorely missed and he has done such a wonderful job with all of the programs and things he has initiated and programs that he has supported,” Taylor said. “I don’t know what we’re going to do when he’s gone but I know they’ll do whatever is needed to make sure everything runs smoothly after his retirement.”
The end of the first day of school was met with jubilation and excitement. For teachers and students, 179 days of repetitive routine are ahead but the first day is behind them. This year, elementary school students will learn the basics, middle school adolescents will discover who they are and high school students will prepare for the next chapter of what will be their adult life.
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