Forty-three Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) teachers, including eight from James Hubert Blake High School (the greatest number among MCPS schools this year), are among the 117 Maryland teachers who have achieved certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) in 2003.

MCPS teachers constitute 37% of the teachers in Maryland who achieved NBPTS certification this year.

The total number of teachers who have achieved national certification in Montgomery County Public Schools has grown to 120.

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 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.

The 43 MCPS teachers who were nationally certified in 2003 and their schools are:

§ Lisa Adkins - Lakewood Elementary School
§ Muriel Alexander - Farmland Elementary School
§ Loren Baron - Richard Montgomery High School
§ William Bolin - Albert Einstein High School
§ Karrie Bowes - Benjamin Banneker Middle School
§ Karen Bryant - Richard Montgomery High School
§ Stephen Cain - James Hubert Blake High School
§ Mary Cardoza - Robert Frost Middle School
§ Deborah Dawson - Georgian Forest Elementary School
§ Claire Dickey - James Hubert Blake High School
§ Brian Donlon - Sherwood High School
§ Dana Dreher - Burning Tree Elementary School
§ Vadella Ellis - James Hubert Blake High School
§ Dawn Fersch - Montgomery Village Middle School
§ Lisa Grant - Maryvale Elementary School
§ Courtney Hebert - Rocky Hill Middle School
§ Gloria Jean Hurwitz - DuFief Elementary School
§ Themis Johnson - Farmland Elementary School
§ Stephanie Kramer - Damascus Elementary School
§ Gretchen Kuhn - Watkins Mill High School
§ Cynthia Lins - Spark Matsunaga Elementary School
§ Nicole Little-Cook - Richard Montgomery High School
§ Christopher Lloyd - Ridgeview Middle School
§ Kristine Mansky - Thomas Edison High School of Technology
§ Lori Martioski - Richard Montgomery High School
§ Rebecca McGaffin - John T. Baker Middle School
§ Lore Neubeiser - Watkins Mill High School
§ Susan Newman - Greenwood Elementary School
§ Jo-Ellen O’Dell - James Hubert Blake High School
§ Monica Pacheco - James Hubert Blake High School
§ Judy Pearson - James Hubert Blake High School
§ Kathleen Robens - Rosa Parks Middle School
§ Karen Scarborough - Georgian Forest Elementary School
§ Barbara Shoemaker - Sherwood High School
§ Davina Smith - James Hubert Blake High School
§ Mary Ellen Sturm - Rosa Parks Middle School
§ Ife Tayo Thomas - Rosemary Hills Elementary School
§ Traci Townsend - Gaithersburg High School
§ Nancy Unger - Roberto Clemente Middle School
§ Jacqueline Urband - Quince Orchard High School
§ Mary Wagner - James Hubert Blake High School
§ Allison Wilder - Poolesville High School
§ Karen Zappone - Sherwood High School

A total of 335 teachers in Maryland and 32,132 nationwide have attained NBPTS certification since the program’s inception sixteen years ago.