Thirty-two Montgomery County Public Schools teachers are among the 79 Maryland teachers who have achieved certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) this year. This brings the total of nationally certified teachers in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) to 77.

National Board Certification was created so that teachers, like professionals in other fields, can achieve distinction by demonstrating through a demanding performance assessment that they meet high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do.

Teachers achieve national certification after completing a rigorous yearlong series of assessments that include teaching portfolios, student work samples, videotapes, and rigorous analyses of their classroom teaching and student learning. Candidates also complete a series of written exercises that probe the depth of their subject-matter knowledge and their understanding of how to teach those subjects to their students.

Nationally certified MCPS teachers receive an additional $2,000 in salary each year for a period of 10 years. The state matches the local salary incentive with a stipend of up to $2,000 per year.

A total of 220 teachers in Maryland and nearly 24,000 nationwide have attained NBPTS certification since the program’s inception fifteen years ago.

The 32 MCPS teachers and their schools or offices are:

§ Theresa Aaron
Office of Staff Development

§ Helena Barringer
Fallsmead Elementary School

§ Freida Berg
Damascus High School

§ Evelyn Brewer
DuFief Elementary School

§ Patti Connell
Rachel Carson Elementary School

§ Geraldine Duval
E. Brooke Lee Middle School

§ Jennifer Felipe
Farmland Elementary School

§ Barbara Friedlander
Georgian Forest Elementary School

§ Robert Gibb
Montgomery Blair High School

§ Christine Graham
Georgian Forest Elementary School

§ Beverly Jackson
Fallsmead Elementary School

§ Robyn Jackson
Gaithersburg High School

§ Alison Jefferson
Kemp Mill Elementary School

§ Jonathan Kieffer
Earle B. Wood Middle School

§ Amy Kines
Office of Staff Development

§ Laurie Knab
Rosemont Elementary School

§ Becky Kohlbrenner
Bethesda Elementary School

§ Julie Lerner
S. Christa McAuliffe Elementary School

§ Joan Lumley
Rock Terrace School

§ Jeannie Merrill
Pine Crest Elementary School

§ Edward Nolan
Julius West Middle School

§ Kelly Reider
Division of Technology Training

§ Lois Rothman
Farmland Elementary School

§ Amin Salaam
Thomas Edison High School of Technology

§ Paula Schmierer
Goshen Elementary School

§ Joseph Scholz
Thomas Edison High School of Technology

§ Barbara Serafina
Meadow Hall Elementary School

§ Jason Snyder
Washington Grove Elementary School

§ Mei Wang
Walter Johnson High School

§ Jennifer Whitman
Rachel Carson Elementary School

§ Tami Wisniewski
Rachel Carson Elementary School

§ Donna Wood
Cedar Grove Elementary School

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards was created in 1987. It is an independent, nonprofit organization governed by a 63-member board of directors, a majority of whom are classroom teachers.