St. Mary’s County Public Schools opened for the 2010-2011 school year on Wednesday, August 25 to much anticipation and excitement by all – students and faculty and staff alike. As is customary in St. Mary’s, Board of Education Staffers and Faculty along with some area dignitaries toured every school in the district in order to welcome students and teachers back to school and to wish them well.
School Superintendent, Dr. Michael J. Martirano along with school board member Dr. Sal. Raspa and Sen. Roy Dyson started the day at Spring Ridge Middle School and then toured Great Mills High School, Lexington Park Elementary School and Fairlead Academy before coming to Baynet Radio and TheBAYNET.com to talk about his hopes and dreams and excitement for the students in the coming year.
“My hope and dream for St. Mary’s County students is that everyone is working hard together to reach goals and to work toward graduating. My ultimate hope and focus is that every student be given the opportunity to graduate,” said Martirano.
During his impromptu interview, Martirano discussed the curriculum and how teachers are working hard to minimize the natural summer regression by assigning summer projects to keep students focused on school and to keep their minds sharp and in focus toward their education.
“Maryland is one of the top school systems in the country and because of that received the ‘Race to the Top’ stimulus grant to help further that effort. I”d like to think St. Mary’s County Public Schools were big part of that effort. All the academic indices show that St. Mary’s is in the top quadrant in almost every category,” said Martirano.
The superintendent also stated that he is to have students achieve more by providing a better math education. “I want our students to be competitive in math and we’re working to have math taught every year from Pre-K through Grade 12.”
Martirano also discussed the new school policy that restricts the use of cell phones by students to non- teaching hours. “The policy is not designed to be a punishment for students, but rather to keep them focused on their education. The goal is to graduate every student and keeping them focused will help. We feel that cell phones are necessary for safety of students, but that they should turn them off and keep them out of sight while they are supposed to be focused on studies.”
For more on new school policies, visit www.smcps.k12.md.us/
