Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) is seeking parent and community member representatives to serve on a School Naming Committee for Elementary School No. 23. The school is currently under construction off St. Charles Parkway in White Plains, in the new Highlands neighborhood, and will open in August 2025 with space for 778 students.
The committee will review and consider Elementary School No. 23 name submissions and present recommendations to the Board of Education. The Board of Education will make the final school name selection after the committee presents its recommendations.
Board of Education Policy 7230 outlines the process in which a school naming committee is formed. The Superintendent or a staff designee may select members of a naming committee to support the study and suggestion of names. The full policy is posted online here.
Staff from the CCPS Office of Communications will serve as liaisons to the committee. They will select an administrator and staff from schools within proximity to the school site to serve on the committee, as well as secure student participation from among students who attend St. Charles High School. St. Charles is the zoned high school in the area in which Elementary School No. 23 is under construction.
Under Policy 7230, the committee must include a minimum of two (2) parents/guardians residing in communities with proximity to where the school is to be located, and a minimum of two (2) community members who serve or reside in communities with proximity to where the school is to be located.
The committee will meet December through February, twice per month on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. at the CCPS Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building in La Plata. The first meeting is set for 6:30 p.m., Dec. 13.
CCPS has identified the following school communities as within proximity to the school site and seeks interest form submissions from parents and community members who reside/serve in the identified school communities.
Dr. Gustavus Brown Elementary School.
Mary H. Matula Elementary School.
Arthur Middleton Elementary School.
Dr. Samuel A. Mudd Elementary School.
Mary B. Neal Elementary School.
St. Charles High School.
Benjamin Stoddert Middle School.
Eva Turner Elementary School.
Click here to complete an interest form for committee consideration.
CCPS will randomly select two parents and two community members from interest form submissions to serve on the committee. Parents who apply should have a child enrolled in one of the eight identified schools. Parents who do not meet this requirement will not be considered.
Community members who apply should not have a child enrolled in one of the identified schools and must either reside in one of the identified school communities or support the school(s) in either an approved volunteer or CCPS Partner in Education capacity. Community members who do not meet these requirements will not be considered.
Deadline to complete the interest from is 11:59 p.m., Friday, Nov. 17. Those who complete the form will be notified on Nov. 20 of their committee selection status. Questions about the school naming committee can be sent to Shelley Mackey, CCPS director of communications, at smackey@ccboe.com.
About CCPS
Charles County Public Schools provides 27,598 students in grades prekindergarten through 12 with an academically challenging education. Located in Southern Maryland, Charles County Public Schools has 37 schools that offer a technologically advanced, progressive and high quality education that builds character, equips for leadership and prepares students for life, careers and higher education.
The Charles County public school system does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age or disability in its programs, activities or employment practices. For inquiries, please contact Kathy Kiessling, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (students) or Nikial M. Majors, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (employees/ adults), at Charles County Public Schools, Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building, P.O. Box 2770, La Plata, MD 20646; 301-932-6610/301-870-3814. For special accommodations call 301-934-7230 or TDD 1-800-735-2258 two weeks prior to the event.
CCPS provides nondiscriminatory equal access to school facilities in accordance with its Use of Facilities rules to designated youth groups (including, but not limited to, the Boy Scouts).