Schools - School System Honors

Baltimore County Public Schools has been honored with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2007 Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools (IAQ TfS) National Excellence Award for its exemplary efforts to improve indoor air quality for students, teachers, and staff. The IAQ TfS National Excellence Award is one of EPA's highest IAQ awards, presented only to U.S. school districts with exemplary IAQ programs and that have shown exceptional commitment to good IAQ management in schools. This year, the National Excellence Award was presented to only three school districts nationwide including Baltimore County Public Schools. EPA created the IAQ TfS program in response to studies drawing attention to the increasing age of the nation’s school buildings, a range of indoor air quality and related problems in school buildings, the alarming rise in asthma and allergies among schoolchildren, and the knowledge that indoor air pollutants can bring about a variety of health effects, from respiratory problems to headaches and nausea. The award was presented Thursday, December 6, 2007, at the 8th Annual IAQ TfS National Symposium at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C.

Baltimore County Public Schools and Superintendent Dr. Joe A. Hairston were prominently featured on “Visionaries of Visual Learning,” the premier episode (May 2007) of Visions of Innovation, a new online video series created by www.eschoolnews.com. This episode identified Baltimore County Public Schools as a leader in the educational use of video-on-demand technology.

For the second year in a row, the Baltimore County Public Schools Office of Purchasing has been honored with the Achievement of Excellence in Procurement award by the National Purchasing Institute. This prestigious award is now the standard benchmark for excellence in public and non-profit procurement.

Superintendent Dr. Joe A. Hairston has accepted invitations to serve on the National Superintendents Advisory Board for the College Board and the National Conference Board for AVID (Advancement Via Individual Achievement).

The Education Channel, the cable television station for Baltimore County Public Schools, recently received two Emmy Awards, two Aurora Awards, and one CINE Award thanks to its high-quality education programs. Since it was launched in 1983, The Education Channel, which airs on Channel 73 on Comcast Cable, has helped to meet the instructional and informational needs of the students, educators, and citizens of Baltimore County. Interactive instructional programming, commercial satellite downlinks, live telecasts and original taped programming now reach more than 200,000 homes and businesses. The Education Channel producer Todd Porter attended the Emmy Awards ceremony presented by the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences on June 16 to accept his recognition for a program entitled "Fossil Detectives" in the category of informational/instructional program or special. Porter also won an Aurora Platinum Award and a CINE Golden Eagle Award for his work on "Fossil Detectives." Aurora, an independent competition that was held in late April, identifies superior cable programs, documentaries, videos, and commercials. Founded in 1957, CINE is renowned for the Golden Eagles it awards for excellence in documentary and other informational film and video production. The Education Channel was honored with another Emmy when graphic designer Dan Shipp took home an animation award for a tape which compiled various projects, including his opening for the music program "Upbeat" and his video opening for the 2006 Superintendent's Annual Administrative and Supervisory Personnel Meeting. Producer John Bushman also won an Aurora Gold Award for "High School Sports Scene" under the category of entertainment/documentary sports program.

In September 2006, 129 of the 823 Maryland students honored as finalists and semifinalists in the Maryland Distinguished Scholar Program were Baltimore County Public Schools students. Only one other jurisdiction in the state was represented by a larger number of students. Designed as an incentive program to encourage Maryland’s brightest students to remain in-state for college, the Maryland Distinguished Scholar program offers $3,000 per year scholarships for up to four years to be used at any degree-granting institution in Maryland. Applicants in the achievement category are ranked on the basis of grade point average and SAT/PSAT/ACT test scores. Students nominated in the talent category must audition before a panel of professionals. National Merit and National Achievement finalists are automatically eligible for the scholarship.

For the second year in a row, BCPS has received the Meritorious Budget Award from the Association of School Business Officials International. In January 2006, BCPS received the award for its presentation of the 2005-2006 Annual Budget.

The National Purchasing Institute has awarded Baltimore County Public Schools the 10^th Annual Achievement of Excellence in Procurement Award for 2005. This prestigious award is earned by those organizations that demonstrate excellence in innovation, professionalism, productivity, e-procurement, and leadership. This prestigious award and recognition is tangible acknowledgment and validation of the Purchasing Staff’s dedication to outstanding customer service. In addition to the National Purchasing Institute, this award is also sponsored by the California Association of Public Purchasing Officers, Florida Association of Public Purchasing Officers, Institute of Supply Management, the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing, the National Association of State Procurement Officials, and the National Association of Educational Buyers.

On October 27, 2005, the Government Finance Officers Association awarded Baltimore County Public Schools the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the preparation and issuance of the fiscal year 2006 school system budget book. This is the second year in a row that BCPS received this honor. The Distinguished Budget Presentation Award is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting.

Baltimore County Public Schools showcased its schools and student success for a prestigious national audience during the conference of the National Federation of Urban and Suburban School District, held in Hunt Valley from October 9-12, 2005. The conference was hosted by the Board of Education of Baltimore County and Baltimore County Public Schools and brought together more than 100 conference attendees for three days of school visits, workshops, seminars, and discussions about both the challenges and the opportunities facing large urban and suburban school districts.

At the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Joe A. Hairston was presented with a 2005 Education Technology Think Tank Technology to Empower Community (ET3 TEC) Champion Leadership Award. Now in its 7th year, the ET3 TEC Champion Leadership Awards program honors those individuals from around the country who demonstrate inspiring leadership, exemplary service to the nation’s underserved youth, and excellence in the fields of community, educational, and economic empowerment. Dr. Hairston was nominated for the ET3 TEC Champion Leadership Award for his exemplary leadership in providing access to technological advances to enhance student achievement, including efforts such as extensive data warehousing and establishing a system-wide school-parent communication network.

The Adapted Physical Education Consultative Model in Baltimore County Public Schools was recently recognized by the United States Department of Education as one of the most effective service models for providing quality physical education to students with disabilities. Through a collaborative effort, the Office of Special Education and the Offices of Health Physical Education and Dance identify students who qualify for adapted physical education and provide appropriate services. Emphasis in the consultative model is to provide support, resources and information to physical education teachers, special education teachers, administrators, and parents.

Baltimore County Public Schools was named one of the "Best 100 Communities for Music Education in America" for 2006. The designation was made by the American Music Conference, the nonprofit affiliate of NAMM, the International Music Products Association that supports the benefits of music, music education and music making. The county school system also received this honor in 2004.The national survey to determine the best 100 communities for music education was conducted by Perseus Development Corporation and examined each district’s funding, enrollment, student-teacher ratios, participation in music classes, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program, participation in private music lessons, and other factors. The 2006 roster of top 100 communities includes school districts from 31 states. This year's survey was conducted jointly by the country’s top organizations devoted to music and learning including The American Music Conference, MENC: The National Association for Music Education, The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, The Music for All Foundation, The Music Teachers National Association, NAMM: the International Music Products Association, the National School Boards Association, the National Parent Teacher Association, Yamaha Corporation of America, and VH1 Save the Music Foundation.

At its January 2006 Annual Benefit and Recognition Breakfast, the Fullwood Foundation presented Baltimore County Superintendent Dr. Joe A. Hairston with its Superintendent of the Year Award.

Thomas Grzymski, president of the Baltimore County Board of Education, was honored with a 2006 award from the Achievement Initiative for Maryland’s Minority Students (AIMMS) Council.

Superintendent Dr. Joe A. Hairston was named winner of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE®) 2005 Award for Outstanding Leader. ISTE, a nonprofit membership organization, includes a network of 75 nonprofit organizations representing more than 85,000 education and technology professionals worldwide.

The Office of Communications and Department of Human Resources earned a Merit Award from the National School Public Relations Association for the development of a CD promoting Baltimore County Public Schools to prospective teachers.

Local, State, and Regional

More than 550 public education, higher education, business, government, and community leaders – including representatives of at least 11 of the state’s school systems –participated in the Baltimore County Public Schools High School Summit. The daylong Summit, designed to inspire thought and action to make high schools more relevant to students living in an increasingly global and technological world, is believed to be the first such summit in the nation to be organized by a local jurisdiction.

Baltimore County Public Schools had a major presence at the 2005 spring conference for MICCA, the Maryland association for educators using technology. More than 220 of the conference’s 1,700 participants were from BCPS. Forty-three Baltimore County teachers, central office staff, and administrators presented research, led workshops, or acted as presenters, among the 87 BCPS staff who volunteered to assist the conference. Staff members from four schools – Kingsville, Sandy Plains, Riderwood, and Norwood elementary schools – received grants during the conference, while three schools – Riderwood and Rodgers Forge elementary schools and Pikesville High School – were computer contest winners.

The Baltimore County Public Schools Office of Communications is always eager to hear about and promote good news about the system, schools, students, teachers, and staff. Please share achievements and good news by e-mailing communications@bcps.org. Every year, we celebrate BCPS achievements through Board of Education Recognition ceremonies (November, February, and April), Maryland State Department of Education School Achievement Celebration (January/February), Teacher of the Year (May), and the Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce Awards for Excellence in Education (May). Information about nominating individuals for 2005-2006 school year awards will soon be available online.

Awards - School System Honors