September 16, 2025 Staff & Community Update: Highlights from the Superintendent’s September 2025 Press Conference
Watch the press conference
Dr. Myriam Rogers held a media availability today, September 16, to provide updates and information for Team BCPS.
First Month of the 25-26 School Year
- We are nearly one month into the new school year and it has been a strong start for our 110,000 students and 20,000 employees! Board members, elected officials, and the superintendent and her leadership team have visited schools throughout the county and have seen rigorous teaching in all content areas and highly engaged students and staff.
- Cell phones have been off and away and students are encouraged to continue to adhere to the outlined Off and Away plan and maximize their learning time during the school day.
- BCPS is moving in the right direction. According to recently released state data, BCPS students made gains in performance on the English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics state assessments. 80 BCPS schools saw increases in the percentage of students scoring proficient in both ELA and math. Students made gains on 14 of 16 English and math state assessment data points, and our rate of improvement in ELA exceeds the state. We are pleased that 9 out of 10 student groups improved performance in English and math. However, we still have more work to do to continue improving academic achievement for all students.
Attendance Awareness Month
- September is Attendance Awareness month, and Team BCPS is Here for It! We are calling on all members of Team BCPS to engage in the systemwide activities and spirit days planned for this month. On September 19, students and staff are asked to wear neon or bright colors to show that good attendance leads to success and even brighter futures! Details on the planned activities for the month can be found on the BCPS website.
- 120 BCPS schools further reduced chronic absenteeism last school year! We are seeing improvements in all zones, at all levels, and for all student and service groups. As a reminder, last year, the state recognized our system for making the greatest improvement in reducing chronic absenteeism across the state. Partnerships focused on student success are critical to the continued forward progress in BCPS. Let’s keep the momentum going and ensure that all our students are in school every day, on time!
- As a reminder, BCPS provides attendance reports every Friday so parents and caregivers can more easily track their child’s attendance throughout the year. We also send weekly grade reports on Fridays and want to encourage families to make it a point to review their child’s grades frequently. We hope these reports will help families support their children’s attendance and academic progress throughout the school year.
Community Engagement Events
Join us tonight at 6 p.m. at Pikesville High School for the annual BCPS Curriculum Night.
On Thursday, September 18, we will host the first of five community conversations on the BCPS Strategic Plan at Windsor Mill Middle School. The BCPS strategic plan will outline our goals, initiatives and strategies to advance student achievement and it is critical that we hear from our stakeholders as we move through this process of developing a new strategic plan for BCPS.
Dr. Rogers looks forward to providing updates throughout the year on the progress and accomplishments of Team BCPS students, staff and schools.