Don't miss the opportunity to support your colleagues in the HCPSS Employee Chorus as they perform at their spring concert, Wednesday, May 1 at 7 p.m. at Guilford Park High School. (directions)
The concert is free to attend.
With Jordan Hoffmaster, director; and Barbara Ford, collaborative accompanist.
All staff are reminded that the last day to submit Medical FSA claims and/or Dependent Care FSA claims for Plan Year 2023 is April 30, 2024, for service dates 01/01/2023 through 03/15/2024.
Staff may access the online Navia Benefits participant portal; the easiest way to locate information regarding your benefits. This includes:
To register with the Navia Benefits website:
If you have any questions about accessing your benefits information, call (800) 669-3539 Monday-Friday between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., or any time at customerservice@naviabenefits.com.
In accordance with Howard County Council Bill 14-2023, the Student Loan Assistance Program for Teachers employed by HCPSS was established. The purpose of the program is to attract, recruit and retain a diverse group of certificated teachers in the HCPSS by providing $225,000 this fiscal year for student loan repayment for eligible teachers.
Howard County will assist in the repayment of student loans for teachers meeting the eligibility criteria:
Repayment awards are not on a first come, first served basis. All applications completed and submitted by the due date will be considered.
The amount of money awarded to each applicant will be determined after the application window closes. Applicants will receive an email with the amount of their award in late May or early June 2024.
Should you require assistance, please email TeachersLoanAssistance@hcpss.org with your inquiry.
*For this program a teacher is defined as any employee whose job title is covered under the HCEA-Certificated Negotiated Agreement.
Past and present HCPSS employees who attended or worked at Laurel Woods Elementary School are invited to the school's 50th celebration. LWES is looking for former staff to complete a slide sharing information about when your time at the school.
If you are interested in saying a few words about your time at LWES during the celebration, please email Connie Stahler by April 18.
The Bright Minds Foundation has extended the application deadline for the 2024-2025 Bright Minds Classroom Grant program. Educators should submit their grant proposal no later than 11:59 p.m., Sunday, April 14 (see application link below).
Bright Minds Foundation classroom grants are for HCPSS teachers and school-based staff interested in delivering educational projects focused on improving student achievement, engagement, and well-being. Grants will be awarded in amounts ranging from $500-$2,000 for projects and programs to be completed during the 2024-2025 school year.
Bright Minds seeks to support a diverse mix of projects across our school system. A special partnership this year with Blossoms of Hope will provide additional support for projects focused on student mental health and well-being.
Email Bright Minds at grants@brightmindsfoundation.org with questions or issues accessing the application. Staff also may contact the HCPSS Grants Office at 410-313-2518 or by emailing Annette_Bartlett@hcpss.org.
Below are updates for the Summer 2024 compensation that was originally published on March 8, 2024.
HCPSS staff are invited to submit their interest to work within one of the following HCPSS Summer Programs:
Summer 2024 Compensation:
Hiring Interest Surveys:
To be considered for hiring, complete the Summer Programs Hiring Interest Survey for HCPSS Staff. Completion of the interest survey is NOT a formal offer of temporary employment.
Qualified applicants who submitted their interest by March 22 will be screened first and then remaining open positions will be filled. Program staff will review the information and follow-up with references as needed.
If you are interested in applying to MORE THAN ONE summer program, you will need to submit a SEPARATE form for each program. You will see a link to "Submit another response" after completing the survey.
If you have any questions regarding the dates/times, locations, pay scale or completing the Summer Programs Hiring Interest Survey for HCPSS Staff (linked above), please contact the appropriate program lead listed in the survey. Thank you for your interest in working in HCPSS Summer Programs!
Reminder! Applications are now open for Bright Minds Foundation classroom grants for HCPSS teachers and school-based staff interested in delivering educational projects focused on improving student achievement, engagement, and well-being during the 2024-2025 school year. Classroom grants will fund innovative instructional projects that serve to support student success, enrich teaching practices, strengthen school communities, and pilot important classroom projects. Grants will be awarded in amounts ranging from $500-$2,000 for projects and programs to be completed during the 2024-2025 school year.
All project ideas are welcome as Bright Minds seeks to support a diverse mix of projects across the school system. A special partnership this year with Blossoms of Hope will provide additional support for projects focused on student mental health and well-being.
Apply online by Sunday, April 7.
Email Bright Minds at grants@brightmindsfoundation.org with questions or issues accessing the application. Staff also may contact the HCPSS Grants Office at 410-313-2518 or by emailing Annette_Bartlett@hcpss.org.
The Howard County Public School System Class of 2024 graduation ceremony schedule is now available and listed below.
All ceremonies are scheduled to take place at Merriweather Post Pavilion, with the exception of Cedar Lane School, which will be held at that school. Graduations will be available for viewing live online and on-demand following each ceremony, and will be rebroadcast on the HCPSS local cable channel in Howard County (Comcast 95, Verizon 42).
The last day for all seniors will be Wednesday, May 22.
Additional graduation-related information is available online and will be updated as new information becomes available. Schools will communicate directly with families regarding tickets.
The schedule of graduation ceremonies is as follows:
Thursday, May 23
Friday, May 24
Tuesday, May 28
Wednesday, May 29
Thursday, May 30
Friday, May 31
Staff should be aware there is the potential for meaningful emails to be directed to staff members’ junk folders.
Because email providers and their users are inundated with unsolicited email, providers use various strategies to try to help their users focus on the email that are important to them, and to block or sort malicious and/or unwanted correspondences. One effective strategy is an automation that sorts messages that have a high likelihood of being spam into a Junk or Spam folder. At times, this automation may lead to meaningful emails to be directed to a junk folder.
Recommendations:
Please contact HCPSS Technology Support at techsupport@hcpss.org if you require technical assistance.
Staff emailing external recipients should be on the lookout for bounce back messages and seek alternative means of communications and/or try again later if bounce back messages are received.
Staff are seeing an increased number of bounce back messages when emailing some external addresses that say “Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups: <email address>...Your message couldn't be delivered. Despite repeated attempts to contact the recipient's email system it didn't respond.” Reports have shown that some yahoo.com and aol.com addresses have been impacted and there may be others. Microsoft has confirmed that a third-party anti-spam service is blocking a portion of Microsoft’s servers to protect organizations that use their services. Microsoft is working with the anti-spam service to rectify the issue.
Please email HCPSS Technology Support at techsupport@hcpss.org if you require technical assistance.
