HCPS Blueprint

"As education professionals in the entire state of Maryland begin drafting implementation plans for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, I would like to start this newsletter with a heartfelt “thank you” to the more than 140 committee members engaged in this work for Harford County Public Schools. Each of your voices, time, talents, and ideas have tremendous value for effective and purposeful implementation to meet our local Board goals and the goals outlined by the legislation."

– Katie Ridgway, Director of Strategic Initiatives

Early Childhood Committee

Raqyaa Stewart, Family Childcare Alliance, Aspire Program

Hello! My name is Raqyya Stewart. I have been a family childcare provider in Maryland for over 20 years, 16 of which in Harford County, and truly enjoy working with children. This May, I joined the ASPIRE program as a preschool teacher. It gave me a new outlook on teaching my students and is pushing me outside of my comfort zone - which is not easy for me! I am looking forward to seeing what God has in-store for me and my new students, now and in the future.

Career Ladder Committee

MJ Price, Diversity Coordinator, CASA

Having taught for many years in Western New York, when I retired and moved to Maryland I knew I wanted to continue to work with adolescents, so I began to volunteer with CASA. As you may know, we are Court Appointed Special Advocates who are sworn by the county courts to support youth in foster care. For the past four years I was an Advocate Supervisor here and am now the Diversity Coordinator. In both capacities I have come to have a broad view of the youth and families we serve here in our county.

I am honored to be on this committee and am very much enjoying being reconnected with academia in this way. The fact that my master’s degree is in curriculum and instruction and the many years I spent as president of our teachers’ union are the experiences that I hope will be of the most benefit to the work we are doing here.

• New Co-Chair and new Executive Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Heather Kutcher introduces a new partnership with the Family Childcare Alliance in this quick video. Representing the Alliance, Dr. Sondeania Johnson introduces us to their work supporting local family childcare providers.

• For more information on the Family Childcare Alliance, Bill Hudson, Executive Director provided the following presentation to the Blueprint Early Childhood Sub-committee. This organization is proving a tremendous amount of support to local family providers, and we appreciate this partnership.
  
  Please click the graphic below to view this presentation.

• On November 1, 2022, all local education agencies in Maryland were required to submit a behavioral health plan to:
  
  (1) enhance and expand school behavioral health service availability to ensure that all students have some exposure and access to behavioral health programming and services, taking into account the community schools’ behavioral health needs assessment; and
  (2) ensure that schools without a school based health center will organize response plans to connect all students to community–based behavioral health and other services, as needed.
  
  HCPS is excited to share its plan submitted to the Accountability & Implementation Board (AIB), which governs the Blueprint implementation.
  
  Please click the graphic below to view this report.
  

• The Blueprint Student Supports Sub-committee is dedicated to student mental health and highlights some of the work in this important area in this video featuring our committee facilitator, Joe Harbert, Director of Health and Wellness, and Christina Alton, Mental Health Services Specialist, whose position is required under the Blueprint:

• In a recent Real Talk episode, Mary Beth Stapleton sat down with Dr. Roclande’ White, Grants Specialist and in-house expert on the Community Schools model, which is funded by the Blueprint. Community Schools provide support to students who need it the most, and Harford County Public Schools currently has 11 Community Schools. Take a moment to learn more about what it means to be a Community School, including how a specialist in each of these schools is tasked with identifying and providing the resources needed to support families, such as food pantries and clothing closets.

• This past summer, HCPS enacted a portion of the Blueprint Career ladder requirements which includes a salary increase for teachers with National Board Certification (NBC). This video highlights this effort, as well as activities to support NBC hopefuls newly seeking this certification.

• Frequently asked questions about the NBC salary increase under the Blueprint are available HERE.

• The Blueprint North Star Sub-committee is excited to share an innovative tool created to both meet a Blueprint requirement about measuring students “on-track” progress towards graduation and meet HCPS North Star goals for college and career readiness. The team shares this tool, the “Early Warning Indicator,” in this quick video snapshot:

• On November 10, Harford County Public Schools (HCPS) and Harford Community College (HCC) announced that eligible students who participate in Dual Enrollment courses, including those who are currently enrolled, will no longer be charged the cost of tuition, fees, and textbooks. Based on recent guidance from the Maryland State Department of Education regarding the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future legislation, HCPS will now pay tuition, consolidated fees, direct fees, and textbook costs for all eligible students. This change takes effect immediately for all students enrolled for the 2022-2023 school year and includes courses earning college credit as well as for specific noncredit courses through Maryland Leads, called the Harford Investment Program. Full press release.
  
  Online resources are now updated on the SEPG in support of the change to dual enrollment.
• Overall information, eligibility, and process: https://www.hcps.org/SEPG/Docs/NorthStarDualEnrollment_CollegeCredit.pdf
• Step-by-step directions: https://www.hcps.org/SEPG/Docs/DualEnrollmentSteps.pdf

• On November 14, 2022, leadership and members of the Blueprint North Star Sub-committee presented to the Board of Education a proposal on how to align HCPS graduation requirements with Blueprint for Maryland Future’s requirements for college and career readiness. To view this presentation, please see agenda item D, here.
  

• Testimony to the Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB):
  On November 11, the AIB held public hearings on the draft Blueprint implementation plan, template, and criteria for success. These hearings may be viewed on the AIB Youtube channel. Katie Ridgway provided testimony as follows:
• Written Testimony
• View/listen to Katie Ridgway's testimony in the video below (minute 46:11):

• Harford Business Roundtable Presentation:
  On October 11, 2022, Dr. Sean Bulson, Superintendent of Schools, and Katie Ridgway, Director of Strategic Initiatives, provided a presentation to the Harford Business Roundtable addressing the question, “What does the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future mean for Harford County?” The dialogue with our community business owners was thought provoking and underscored how meeting the milestones of the Blueprint will take all community stakeholders working together to positively impact our students.

• Strategic Initiatives Focus Group Series:
  A multi-talented group is participating in a series of sessions led by the Office of Strategic Initiatives to unpack and explore ideas for planning time at the elementary school level. The group comprises students who are aspiring teachers in the Teacher Academy of Maryland, interns, teachers, teacher leaders, administrators, central office leadership, and Towson University. The focus group series is committed to connecting different perspectives to create recommendations to the Superintendent about planning time. Thank you to all the voices in this work, as “parties who see different perspectives of a problem can constructively explore their differences and search for solutions that go beyond their own limited vision of what is possible.” (Thomas & Perry, “Collaboration Processes: Inside the Black Box,” 2006)

• The draft Blueprint Comprehensive Implementation Plan developed by the AIB is available for direct download here as well as on the AIB’s website here. Additionally, updated Pillar implementation graphics are available for download in an editable Excel file here. The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB) is seeking feedback from stakeholders and the public. The Comprehensive Implementation Plan will be adopted by the AIB by December 1, 2022, to guide the implementation of the Blueprint. Please use this form to submit feedback. It can be submitted multiple times.

• The MSDE and the AIB jointly released a draft Initial Implementation Plan template and Criteria for Success. Final versions of these resources are slated to released around December 1, 2022 in conjunction with the AIB Comprehensive Implementation Plan.
  

• The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) released implementation recommendations to the Accountability & Implementation Board (AIB). Review these materials HERE.

• Director of Strategic Initiatives: Katie.Ridgway@hcps.org
• Strategic Initiatives Administrative Assistant: Ashley.Bowley@hcps.org
• Career Ladder Sub-committee HCPS Co-chair: Mae.Alfree@hcps.org
• Student Supports Sub-committee HCPS Co-chair: Bernard.Hennigan@hcps.org
• North Star Sub-committee HCPS Co-chair: Mike.OBrien@hcps.org
• Early Childhood Sub-committee HCPS Co-chair: Heather.Kutcher@hcps.org

• https://www.hcps.org/superintendent/blueprint.aspx
  

November 15, 2022