Charles public schools to host Teacher Job Fair
Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) is holding its third teacher job fair from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Aug. 30 at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building in La Plata. Interested teacher candidates can register online at https://www.eventbrite. com/e/charles-county-publicschools-teacher-job-fair-tickets-37217688107.
During the fair, candidates will participate in on-site interviews. Candidates should bring a copy of their resume and teaching certificate, if applicable. Minimum requirements include a bachelor’s degree and candidates must meet certification requirements as established by the Maryland State Department of Education.
The Starkey building is located at 5980 Radio Station Road in La Plata. Candidates should go to the school system website at http://www.ccboe. com/jobs/currentopenings. php?category=Instructional to complete a job application.
NAACP to host community conversation
The Charles County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will present a town hall meeting, “A Community Conversation: We Are One,” 7-9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 31, at True Gospel Church Ministry, 132 Smallwood Village Center, Waldorf. For more
The Costa Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) Series Tournament will be at Smallwood State Park, 2750 Sweden Point Road, Marbury, from Thursday, Aug. 24, to Saturday, Aug. 26. As many as 350 pros and co-anglers will compete in the Costa FLW Series Northern Division finale on the Potomac River.
Anglers will take off from the Smallwood State Park at 6:30 a.m. each day. Weigh-ins will be held at the park beginning at 2:30 p.m. each day. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
The tournament, presented by Plano, is the third and final regular-season event of 2017 scheduled in the Northern Division. Pros will be casting for a top award of up to $40,000 cash and a new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The Costa FLW Series consists of five U.S. divisions — Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southwestern and Western. Each division consists of three tournaments with competitors vying for valuable points that could earn them the opportunity to fish in the Costa FLW Series Championship. The 2017 Costa FLW Series Championship is being held Nov. 2-4 on Kentucky Lake in Paris, Tenn.
For complete details and updated information, go to www. FLWFishing.com.
Debris removal services offered for residents impacted by storm in Dentsville area
The Department of Public Works is providing support to residents affected by the Monday, Aug. 21, storm event in the Dentsville area of the county. Vegetative debris removal is now available through Tuesday, Sept. 5.
Homeowners are encouraged to bring their limbs and branches to the side of the road to be removed by Department of Public Works staff. To participate in this program and arrange for pickup service, call 301-932-3440.
For more information on the county’s debris removal efforts, contact the Department of Public Works at 301-932-3440. Citizens with special needs may contact the Maryland Relay Service at 711, or Relay Service TDD: 800-735-2258.
School unpaid meal charge guidelines, procedures updated
Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) has procedures that guide how the school system handles unpaid meal accounts. Superintendent’s Rule 3842 outlines how the school system handles negative meal account balances. The rule applies only to students who pay full or reduced prices for meals. The guidelines do not apply to children who receive free meals from CCPS.
Parents/guardians are expected to ensure that their child’s meal account is properly funded. CCPS will first notify parents through email and voicemail when a child’s account is empty, or has a $0 balance. Parents can sign up to use My Payments Plus, an online prepayment system used by CCPS, to fund breakfast and lunch costs for their children.
Students with no money on their meal accounts receive an initial credit from CCPS and the amount varies depending upon the grade level of the child. Elementary students receive a $25 meal credit, middle school students receive a $15 meal credit, and high school students receive a $10 meal credit.
Credits are given only for students who attempt to purchase meals and have no money on their account. Once a student uses all of the credit, they will receive an alternate main entrée until their account balance is paid. Payment of the account includes the credit given by the school system.
Elementary school students will receive a cheese sandwich as their main entrée selection until the account is paid. Middle and high school students will receive a cheese sandwich as their entrée selection for up to three school days. Once the student has received three alternate meals, no other meals will be served until the account is paid.
CCPS notifies parents through email or voicemail when meal account balances are negative. Letters are sent home weekly with elementary school students and monthly for middle and high school students who have negative account balances.
Alternate meals include other items served with breakfast and lunch, such as fruit, a vegetable and milk. Unpaid meal charges may be carried over at the end of a school year to the following school year. Students with delinquent debt may be ineligible to participate in extracurricular activities, including promotional ceremonies, clubs, sports and other activities.
CCPS will make reasonable efforts to collect unpaid meal charges classified as delinquent debt. Contact the Food and Nutrition Services Department at 301-392-5570 or
your child’s principal with questions about alternate meals and unpaid meal balances. Parents can sign up for My Payments Plus at https://www2. mypaymentsplus.com/ welcome. The Rule is posted on the CCPS website, under the parents section of the main menu, at www.ccboe.com.
CCPS launches online integrated gradebook, student information system
Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) is launching a new online gradebook program this school year for parents, students and teachers to track academic progress, attendance, class and locker assignments, testing data, homework and more. The system is called YouVue and replaces the Edline gradebook as well as an aging student information system used by CCPS for nearly 40 years. YouVue includes parent access, called ParentVUE, student access, or StudentVUE, and teacher access, called TeacherVUE.
CCPS is printing account activation letters for each parent/guardian on file for all students. Parents must pick up their account activation letter from their child’s school and provide photo identification. Parents with two or more children attending CCPS schools only need to pick up one activation letter.
Several schools are holding orientation events the week of Aug. 28 through Sept. 1. Parents can pick up their account activation letters at orientations. A list of orientation dates and times, separated by school, is posted at http:// www.ccboe.com/pr/ schools-plan-orientationevents-for-parents-students-2/.
Schools will also provide activation letters at open houses planned for September and October. A list of open house dates and times is posted at http://www.ccboe.com/ pr/open-houses-plannedfor-schools-centers-2/. Schools will also create additional opportunities for parents to pick up their activation letters.
Parents with more than one child enrolled in CCPS only need one account to access data for all of their children. Only parents with educational rights on file with CCPS will be able to access their child’s data in the new system.
Student record data, such as name, home address, school, grade level, class schedules and course history will be live in the system on Aug. 29. The gradebook feature of the system will be live for parent access in mid-September. Teacher training on the gradebook component of the program begins this month and continues after the start of the school year.
Teachers and administrators will also use the system to mainstream discipline and health records, medical conditions for students, and eligibility for participating in extracurricular activities. CCPS will update parents with a target date for accessing the gradebook function of YouVue. Student access to the system will be available at some point prior to the second semester of the 2017-18 school year.
There are free apps in both the Apple and Android stores. Search for ParentVUE, StudentVUE or TeacherVUE by Edupoint Educational Systems. The gradebook component is also referred to as Synergy.
Grant to help defense companies explore markets
The Maryland Department of Commerce is expanding its programs linking companies in the state’s defense sector with new business opportunities under a $1.76 million federal grant. Awarded by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA), the Defense Diversification grant is designed to mitigate potential, adverse changes in federal defense spending and runs through the end of 2018.
The grant will broaden the capabilities of the existing Maryland Defense Network, an online tool that connects Maryland defense contractors with potential new partners and clients so they can minimize the risk posed by potential defense budget cuts. The new funds will also be used to establish the Maryland Defense Diversification Assistance (MDDA) program, which will provide eligible defense-dependent companies with free training opportunities and heavily-subsidized consulting services as they explore new commercial and international markets.
In Southern Maryland Commerce will work with Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties, as well as local industry and naval research installations, to foster a more vibrant innovation economy for existing businesses and startups.
The OEA grant is the second phase of a twopart project aiming to make the state’s defense sector healthier and more stable; the first phase included defense supply-chain mapping and assessing the impact of the state’s defense industry.
To implement the second phase of the program, Maryland Commerce will partner with Towson University’s Regional Economic Studies Institute and the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, as well as numerous industry leaders, business groups and economic development organizations.