The high School team met with FCPS on 11/1 to receive feedback on our charter expansion application. The overall feedback was positive, however, as expected, there were many questions and topics they wanted us to address. The team worked around the clock for the next 11 days to prepare the final document that was submitted on 11/12.

 

Although we still have the BOE meetings ahead of us, I thought now would be a good time to take a pause to congratulate and reflect on all of the teamwork that has gone into this project. I know that I can speak for my fellow co-chairs, Tori McCarthy (GC Chair) and Amy Dorman (Prinicpal) when I say that we are so grateful to everyone who put so much time and effort into this document, and specifically to Kathleen Lutrell, Amy Sullivan, Nichole Dowlearn and Sara Sambolin, who have been working on this project almost nonstop since at least May, but I think for many months even before that.

 

Each one of them has stepped up and taken on so many pieces of this project, even when it may have seemed daunting and overwhelming. Tori and I spent the last couple of days just organizing and proofreading the final product, making sure all the i's were dotted and t's crossed, and even that was a huge effort due to the sheer amount of content that this team has prepared. I can't even imagine what it was like for the team who put together the original grant application that we were working from.

 

The work that this team did through August was so impressive that the Maryland State Department of Education has awarded us a $900,000 grant! After that monumental task, they once again rolled up their sleeves and basically re-wrote the entire application to fit into the FCPS format, and did it all in just 10 days. TEN DAYS. I really cannot express how much I appreciate each of you for your dedication.

 

I would be remiss not to also call attention to Amy Dorman's work on this project. The team of volunteers was able to produce some pretty amazing work, but without the professional expertise of our Montessori Principal, there is no way we could have finished this updated application according to the FCPS specifications. Amy has been working around the clock to fill in all of the requested information by FCPS, and I can only imagine that she hasn't slept over the last 2 weeks, given that she was also running a school all day.

 

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU to our volunteers. Never underestimate what a small group of dedicated volunteers can accomplish!