Hundreds of thousands return to class

ROCKVILLE, Md. - Hundreds of thousands of Maryland students headed back to class Monday in Montgomery, Howard and Baltimore counties, as well as Baltimore City.

Students also returned in Maryland's Garrett, Worcester and Wicomico counties.

Montgomery County, Maryland's largest school system and the 16th largest in the nation, is expected to have a projected enrollment of 142,000, about 3,000 more than last year.

Montgomery County Superintendent Dr. Jerry Weast says there are a lot of late enrollees who are coming from other schools in Montgomery County.

"We're going to keep class the size the same, and they're going to have great teacher in every classroom," he tells WTOP.

This year Montgomery County has more than 11,500 teachers. Of those, 500 teachers are new to the system.

In Germantown, a brand new elementary school opened. William B. Gibbs Jr. Elementary School will not have a fifth grade this year. School officials say they do not want to disrupt pre-teens in their last year before middle school.

Gibbs Elementary, along with Francis Scott Key Middle and Cashell Elementary, are "green" schools.

"We're going green in Montgomery County. We believe in saving our environment. It is also a more efficient way to operate," Weast says.

Bells Mills Elementary also opened after a modernization.

With enrollment topping 700 at Germantown's Great Seneca Creek Elementary School, the school's temporary classrooms were finally ready on Friday. At Sandy Spring's Sherwood Elementary School, students are wearing toy hard hats to take the edge off the inconvenience of the construction at that school.

Additionally, Poolsville High has a new science wing, while Meadow Hall Elementary has a new gym. There are classroom additions at Washington Grove Elementary, Pyle Middle and Bethesda-Chevy Chase High.

Weast says despite $90 million in budget cuts, he doesn't think the cuts will affect the county's educational system.

In Howard County, 4,563 teachers are teaching an expected 49,138 students at 72 schools. The school system says enrollment is up about 250 students since last August. The county hired about 200 new teachers for this year. One quarter of those new hires graduated from Howard County schools.

An estimated 104,155 students returned to classes in Baltimore County.

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