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CAROLINE COUNTY – The Caroline County Board of Education meeting on September 2 proved Superintendent DR. Derek Simmon’s point that the schools are “absolute hubs of activity year round.” Board members heard a series of reports from operations, student representatives, program coordinators, and human resources, each reflecting how CCPS spent the summer months preparing, supporting, and engaging students. The theme of the night was the school system’s “busy summer.”
“I love the September meeting,” Simmons said, “Because those who think school systems stop after 10 months, they do not…I'm always excited to kind of share that message and see what all the great things are that our kids have been part of over the summer.”
Student reporters Jeffrey Lin of Colonel Richardson High School and Kadeen Belle of North Caroline High School delivered updates from their respective school communities. They touched on events such as the Federalsburg Judy Center’s 25th anniversary, the launch of the county’s first middle school soccer program, school improvement planning, staff preparations for the 2025-2026 academic year, and back-to-school nights across all the schools.
Director of College and Career Readiness Lindsey McCormick and Community Schools Coordinator Nicole Fisher shared the plethora of summer programs and opportunities for CCPS students.
In partnership with Caroline County Recreation and Parks, the elementary summer program ran five weeks, Monday through Thursday. Six site coordinators, 16 certified teachers, and 13 cafeteria staff supported the 602 students who attended. They especially noted that 96 students achieved perfect attendance for the program.
McCormick said a highlight of the summer camp was the environmental education sessions led by Shore Rivers, “Fifth graders at Denton, Greensboro, and Federalsburg had daily science lessons, and kayaking and fishing trips were taken that were funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the North American Association for Environmental Education.” Students completed service learning projects as part of the lessons, with Federalsburg and Greensboro creating murals and Denton producing a music video.
About 75 CCPS students from LMS and CRMS joined peers from neighboring counties at Easton High School for the Middle School Summer Career Enrichment program. Workshops covered drones, robotics, animation, app development, and more. A unique chess lesson demonstrated to students how to “Make the right move in life.” “They learned life lessons through the game of chess,” McCormick said.
Fisher reported that 233 total courses were completed across both high schools during the Credit Recovery program, with 36 students attending at CRHS and 103 at NCHS. Fisher explained that credit recovery over the summer is being phased out as the school hopes to catch students up during the school day, “The pandemic really did put a slide on students needing to get caught up. And as we're now transitioning and raising that rigor, we are moving to an embedded, during-the-day predominant, credit recovery for juniors and seniors.”
With leftover Project AWARE funding, CCPS piloted a camp teaching 17 middle school students the importance of coping skills and social and emotional wellness. Fisher described it as “amazing,” with activities including meditation, sound bowls, exercise, and nutrition lessons. “They were asking us why this was not longer,” she said.
Two students, one from each high school, spent a week earning a college credit through the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s education program. “For our students, it's the first case of living in a college dorm, and they really live like college students,” explained Student Services Director Kirk Howie. He said the two students were transported early Monday morning to the UMES campus, where they stayed until they were picked up on Friday. Howie said the goal is for the students to become teachers and hopefully come work for CCPS.
The county also hosted its first STEM camp mentored by NCHS students, where Ridgely Elementary students could learn about electrical engineering. Simmons said the experience not only served the elementary schoolers, but helped the high school students learn planning and communication since it was the students who had to plan the lessons, coordinate with their adult supervisors, raise the funds, and effectively run the camp.
McCormick highlighted the behind-the-scenes work that made all of this summer programming possible, noting the contributions of health services, transportation, and food services. Over 100,000 meals were served by the food services team and the transportation department supported everything from the UMES program to Chesapeake College’s Upward Bound program.
Board President Dr. Michele Wayman said, “I’m just happy to see all that went on in Caroline County and I would put it up against any county…for our county, to have this number of students participate is outstanding.”
Director of Operations Bill Mengel reported that of 33 planned summer projects, 21 were completed and five more are almost completely finished.
The improvements to school buildings included a renovated NCHS lobby to increase security, refinished gym floors at the middle and high schools, new auditorium carpeting at CRHS, a new roof at CRMS, and a remodeled NCHS cafeteria. Denton Elementary saw playground improvements, Greensboro Elementary gained a new shed, and smaller projects were completed at the other schools, including the Career and Technology Center. Mengel said “a lot of stuff behind the scenes,” went into these projects. President Wayman praised the work as an “outstanding use of $110,000.”
Director of Human Resources Robert Willoughby shared encouraging news during his staffing update: “We are a fully staffed school system,” he announced, after which the room applauded. CCPS now has no teacher vacancies, and only three instructional assistant positions remain open across the school system.
CCPS hired 45 staff members this summer, with 51% bringing prior teaching experience. Nearly a quarter are “homegrown” graduates of NCHS or CRHS.
Additionally, teacher retention is strong. “CCPS has an above 95% teacher retention rate,” Willoughby said, noting that the Society of Human Resource Managers considers anything above 90% healthy. He credited Simmons’ leadership for this feat: “Thank you, Dr. Simmons, for your leadership and steering us in a different spot than we have been year over year. And I really do think it's the climate, it's the family, it's the contract, it's all those things.”
