Baltimore City educator named 2025 Maryland Teacher of the Year

BALTIMORE, MD—An English language arts teacher from Baltimore City has been named the 2025 Maryland Teacher of the Year. Kat Locke-Jones, who teaches seventh grade at Hampstead Hill Academy, was selected from seven finalists for the award, which was announced Friday evening at the 34th annual Teacher of the Year Gala. Locke-Jones will now compete for the National Teacher of […]

Chapel Hill Elementary among four 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools in Maryland

UPDATE: This article has been updated to include a quote from Chapel Hill Elementary School principal, Nancy Hill and from Councilman David Marks. Original story below… BALTIMORE, MD—On Monday, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona named four Maryland public schools from Baltimore County, Howard County, and Montgomery County as 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools. This year’s Maryland Blue Ribbon schools […]

MSDE Awarded $40M for Enhanced Literacy Programs

BALTIMORE, MD—The Maryland State Department of Education has received $40 million to improve literacy instruction in an effort to help students reach third grade literacy proficiency. The state was awarded the money as part of a $149 million grant program funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The Comprehensive Literacy State Development grant is part of a five-year plan to […]

Maryland assessment scores hold steady in mathematics, English language arts

BALTIMORE, MD—The Maryland State Department of Education on Tuesday released results from state assessments, revealing that proficiency in math and reading skills remained steady in 2023-2024. According to the results, approximately 48.4% of students in the state showed proficiency in English language arts, up from 47.9% in 2022-2023. The proficiency rate for math was 24.1%, up from 23.3% the previous […]

Maryland schools set to welcome back 890K students

BALTIMORE, MD—The beginning of the 2024-25 academic year just around the corner. School bells are ringing for students across Maryland starting Wednesday, August 21, as Frederick and St. Mary’s counties open their doors for the 2024-25 academic year. Through Tuesday, September 3, all 24 local school systems will welcome approximately 890,140 students overall for the first day of school and […]

Baltimore’s Dr. Joshua Michael to lead Maryland State Board of Education

BALTIMORE, MD—Dr. Joshua Michael, a Baltimore educator and public policy expert, will take over as president of the Maryland State Board of Education, the board announced Tuesday. Dr. Michael, who was appointed to the State Board by Gov. Wes Moore, currently serves as the executive director of the nonprofit Sherman Family Foundation, which supports young people in Baltimore through early […]

Maryland State Board, MSDE honor 2024-2025 Teachers of the Year

BALTIMORE, MD—This week, the Maryland State Board of Education and Maryland State Department of Education held a special recognition ceremony for the 2024-2025 Teachers of the Year at the Nancy S. Grasmick State Education Building. Each of the state’s 24 school systems selects a Teacher of the Year who exemplifies outstanding work as an educator. “So many Marylanders owe their […]