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I didn't know who I was teaching with until the Thursday before the semester started, giving me no time to touch base with the staff who I am working with. Why were teachers/co-teachers/paras not informed of their teaching assignments?

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Kids are constantly in the halls without passes on the first floor.

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Since Wednesday and Friday of next week are Odd Block classes, and Thursday is and Even Block day, can Monday, January 31 be an Even Block day, in order to try and keep classes on the same schedule?

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I have received a few e-mails from students (who are not on the Covid attestation list) asking to "switch to virtual instruction."  My understanding is that we shouldn't be meeting with any students on Zoom who aren't out for Covid illness or quarantine.  Is my understanding correct and, if so, are we allowed to ask a student if they are out due to Covid?

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I have received a few e-mails from students (who are not on the Covid attestation list) asking to "switch to virtual instruction."  My understanding is that we shouldn't be meeting with any students on Zoom who aren't out for Covid illness or quarantine.  Is my understanding correct and, if so, are we allowed to ask a student if they are out due to Covid?

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This needs to be discussed and explained to the staff immediately why we were not told this info. This is HIGH PRIORITY.

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Kevin Lewis, Montgomery County Reporter (7News)

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Man charged after allegedly carrying AR-style rifle outside Gaithersburg High on Jan. 14

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A man is being held without bond after an observant security guard at Gaithersburg High School spotted the suspect sitting in an idling car on school property earlier this month, charging documents state. The guard was performing his rounds at around 6:50 a. m. on Friday, Jan.

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Can we have some support on getting students to actually wear masks over their noses? I not only fear for my family if I get infected, but I feel for everyone else's families and the students themselves.

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Please do not expect staff to provide coverage when coverage not is being provided to them.  I believe this is mostly a SPED problem but I've been asked to cover non SPED classes (because people are out) but  when a LFI or SCB teacher is out, office does not provide coverage.  If ALO programs are expected to provide their own coverage please remove us from the general school wide coverage list.

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I feel that our policies in all schools right now promote constant chaotic change even though students and teachers need more stability after living and working for so long in a pandemic.

For starters, is Semester 2 going to actually end on Friday or will there be any adjustments made? We are likely going to have a weather issue tomorrow and then (if that happens) we will have one day left of the semester. How are we supposed to have any type of closure this semester or even in general?

As far as scheduling goes, we are testing and changing schedules as normal. I'm assuming this is to seem as if everything is normal, but it's not. Testing has not been paused. Observations for teachers have not been paused. IEP/504 paperwork and meetings have not been paused. But life around us is different and very NOT normal. Is it possible to give students some type of consistency and allow them to keep their same teachers just for this school year? I have several students that have asked to stay with me, and when I reached out to counselors, I was told there was nothing that could be done. It's just the way the system is.

We have to make some adjustments to acknowledge that life and the school system are permanently changed because of Covid. This idea that we keep telling people "take care of your wellness and take care of yourself" is ridiculous when the policies don't match the vision.

Even if just one of these things listed could be modified for teachers and students, that would surprise me greatly. We have to make some changes in our schools to show that we are sensitive to the damage that has been done by this global pandemic.

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Thank you to Mr. Dimmick and other staff who worked with student leaders RE: the "walk out." Not all administrations would be so supportive of students, glad that they're being given the safe space to express their concerns.

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I've been concerned, and perhaps some of you have been as well, that one of the weaknesses of MCPS having students and staff test for COVID at home is that we have NO DATA on who is actually taking the tests.

I have felt that there is a very good chance that many of our students here at GHS aren't even testing so that when MCPS considers which schools should go to virtual learning, we don't have a chance to be considered. This is extremely problematic because this most likely means we're in an indoor space, all day, with a higher percentage of folks who have covid than some schools who have gone to virtual learning.

I've surveyed my ESOL classes and only half of my students have taken the at-home Covid test that was given out and about 10%of those hadn't received a kit yet.

When I asked why they weren't testing there were various reasons; however, many didn't realize that you needed to test even if you have no symptoms.  I'm wondering if we could have school-wide follow-up conversations re COVID testing in all English classes.

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In the future, is it possible to avoid scheduling block schedule days just as students schedules are changing for 3rd quarter? It is difficult for students to adjust to their new schedule and not ideal for teacher planning, either.

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will staff be able to get a Covid test in the school Health room?

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Today I was asked by a student if in-person was optional because they heard on social media there is now an "alternative" where families can choose to stay home? I know, social media, but if this spreads and is untrue it could be a problem for us and already horrible attendance.

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Can we explain what ACTIVELY eating and drinking are? The kiddos seems to think if they have food or the trash from food in their hands, they can be unmasked.

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If we the STAFF would like to continue with in-person learning. Why are so many of us eating lunch together un-masked in small communal areas. This poses a risk to a domino effect in our offices. While I understand that the children have no choice...we do

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Please inform staff when they may or may not leave early on PD or work days. This was frustrating last time as some people "knew" it was ok to go and others did not.

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Why is homeroom 35 minutes? It does not take that long to pass out schedules for Sem 2. That is time that is being taken away from establishing connections with our new students in Semester 2.

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Let's please get some clarity from admin and the county when deadlines concerning grades are extended. For starters, if these decisions are made earlier, it is easier for everyone. We are always told at the last minute that deadlines are extended, and then the technical side of it is a hot mess. Canvas was locked after Semester 1, so now many teachers have a whole bunch of students sending work through email, which makes things very disorganized for me. I hate having to grade assignments through email. If we were going to make this decision, why couldn't Canvas be adjusted to accept work until the 27th?

Also, some teachers were very angry and told students they weren't accepting work after Friday. Personally, I think teachers have that right if that's an expectation they have set with their students from the start (no late work). But then it's unfair to the students that have some teachers that are taking work late and some that don't. It's the county's decision to "force" us to take work late if that's the decision made. But when you tell teachers to "err on the side of grace" but don't give us clear guidelines for taking work late (or making the decision not to) it just puts the teacher in a situation that if a parent or student complains on them, no one is probably going to have their back.

Again, it would be much easier to just adjust the interim/marking period grade due dates NOW. We have a lot of issues this school year, and it's likely teacher are always going to need more time to grade and students may always need more time to turn in work. Just make the decision at a decent time instead of stressing us all out.

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For staff who covered during an entire 90 minute block, does that count as two coverages (in terms of looking at teachers who are being pulled for future coverages) and does that count for 2 coverages in terms of being paid?

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Does admin know what the "multiple key factors" or criteria are for a school to go virtual, and do we meet any of those "key factors" or criteria so far?

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Does admin know what the "multiple key factors" or criteria are for a school to go virtual, and do we meet any of those "key factors" or criteria so far?