GETTING INVOLVED Gaithersburg teen raises thousands for cause. A-3
A&E: Comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade comes to BlackRock. B-4
The Gazette
SPORTS: Magruder’s boys basketball team has learned to trust each other. B-1
GAITHERSBURG | MONTGOMERY VILLAGE DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
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Principal surprised with state award Community outreach for master plan continues
Ridgeview Middle now home to Maryland’s Middle School Principal of the Year
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BY
SAMANTHA SCHMIEDER STAFF WRITER
While Montgomery County children stayed bundled inside during the snow day on Thursday, the friends, family and colleagues of Ridgeview Middle School Principal Monifa McKnight gathered quietly in the media center for a big surprise. When McKnight walked into the media center she was greeted with a packed room and an enthusiastic “Congratulations!” as she was informed that she had been named the Middle School Principal of the Year by the Maryland Association of Secondary School Principals. “I had no idea. As a matter of fact, I honestly didn’t think they would even share the news as early as it is,” McKnight said, explaining that she had nominated one of her teachers for an award and believed she was just showing up on the snow day for a photo op. Scott Pfeifer, the executive director of the Maryland Association of Secondary School Principals, was present to hand McKnight flowers and inform the onlookers that her win was “unanimous.” “Our organization has over 700 members in our state and over 25,000 nationally,” Pfeifer said, explaining that there were 12 other principals nominated in the state for the title. “Anyone can apply who is a member of our organization. We also solicit nominations,” Pfeifer said.
Meeting draws Montgomery Village residents for, against development on former golf course
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STAFF WRITER
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Ridgeview Middle School Principal Monifa McKnight is told by Scott Pfeifer, of the Maryland Association of Secondary School Principals, that she has been named Maryland Middle School Principal of the Year. McKnight said that she received an email back in December letting her know she had been nominated and prompting her to complete an application. “I had no intention of actually following up with it,” McKnight said. However, she said her colleagues encouraged her to try it out. McKnight had to provide a staff, parent and student reference as well as answer ques-
tions pertaining to her journey into leadership at the school, what she valued as a leader and what she does in terms of professional development. Pfiefer said that McKnight had “great data in terms of student achievement, great instructional vision and the ability to build a collaborative environment.” McKnight explained that she focuses on helping her staff figure out
“who you are as a leader and how it plays out in your work.” She explained that, personally, she looked at the leaders around her and noted what characteristics they had that she needed to work on herself. McKnight said that while the county does a fantastic job with professional learning communities, the individual really has to figure out their
See PRINCIPAL, Page A-9
Man sentenced to 40 years for murder solicitation Defendant pleaded guilty in January to trying to have girlfriend killed n
BY
VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
A Gaithersburg man was sentenced Friday for trying to hire an undercover police officer to kill his girlfriend, who is the mother of his child. Ndokey Peter Enow, 38, was sentenced by Montgomery County Cir-
SAMANTHA SCHMIEDER
cuit Court Judge Steven Salant to 40 years in prison, with 20 years of the sentence suspended, Ramón Korionoff, a spokesman for Enow the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, wrote in a press release. The sentence also includes five years’ probation and requires that
Enow have no contact with the victim. Enow, formerly of Swan Stream Court, pleaded guilty Jan. 9 to one count of solicitation to commit firstdegree murder. He approached a man working as a mechanic in the Washington, D.C., area in 2014, telling the man he was a friend of the man’s boss, The Gazette has reported. Charging documents refer to the victim as Enow’s ex-wife, but Korionoff said Friday there are no records of the couple having been married in the
United States. Enow tried to hire the man to kill the victim, but the mechanic was a former narcotics informant, according to Enow’s plea agreement. The informant told Enow he could connect him with someone to do the job, then notified police. The Gazette has reported that Enow met with an undercover county police officer in a Silver Spring parking lot on June 6, 2014, and offered the officer $1,000 to commit the killing. vterhune@gazette.net
A Feb. 25 meeting concerning the Montgomery Village Master Plan discussed the use of the former golf course as well as a proposed overlay zone which is intended to preserve and protect open space in the Village. The presentation and discussion was part of a series of meetings at Watkins Mill High School hosted by the Montgomery County Planning Department as part of their community outreach. Renee Kamen, a senior planner with Montgomery County Planning Department and the lead planner for the master plan, explained the different zoning possibilities to a packed room of interested citizens. In an interview following the meeting, Kamen explained that the planners involved are under a year deadline to receive community input, staff input, draft the plan and present it to be approved. The kick-off meeting occurred in October 2014 and the plan should be done and proposed to county officials in October 2015. Kamen explained that the Planning Department has been preparing to rewrite the remainder of the Gaithersburg vicinity plan, which included Montgomery Village, and an updated master plan must be put in place. Having Montgomery Village and Gaithersburg, areas east and west of Interstate 270, under the same master plan wasn’t realistic because the areas are so different, she said.
See PLAN, Page A-9
PARCC tests face slight delay after snow day n
Officials, principals say schools, students ready for full rollout BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
Gaithersburg petition highlights school overcrowding Summit Hall, Rachel Carson elementaries are over capacity n
BY
SAMANTHA SCHMIEDER STAFF WRITER
Parents from two Gaithersburg elementary schools have spoken out regarding severe overcrowding. Parents and PTSA members of Rachel Carson Elementary School in the Quince Orchard cluster have started a petition encouraging County Executive Isiah Leggett and the rest of the Montgomery County Council to consider including their
school in the 2015 Capital Improvement plan due to its overcrowding. At Summit Hall Elementary School in the Gaithersburg cluster, PTA president Oscar Alvarenga explained that in addition to overcrowding at Summit Hall Elementary School, there also are issues with heating and pipes bursting. “My school is falling apart,” Alvarenga said. Alvarenga was in the last sixth grade class to attend Summit Hall and now has three boys in the school in fifth, fourth and kindergarten. He explained that the school currently has 11 portable class-
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rooms, but is low on the list for improvements to fix issues brought on by age and overcrowding. Andy Ross, who helped write the Rachel Carson petition with his wife, who is on the PTSA, and several other parents, explained that Rachel Carson has 11 portables as well. According to the Rachel Carson petition, it is the only school “with 10 or more portables that does not have a solution in the CIP.” Ross first noticed the overcrowding at Rachel Carson, where he has a first-grader and a third-grader, when he saw his son at recess with no room to play because of the por-
INDEX Automotive Business Calendar Classified A&E Opinion Sports
B-12 A-11 A-2 B-8 B-4 A-12 B-1
tables. He also said students have very little time to eat lunch because of the number of students that need to use the cafeteria. “When my kids come home hungry, that’s a bummer,” Ross said. According to Montgomery County Public Schools’ website, Summit Hall has more than 600 students with a capacity of 459. Rachel Carson has more than 950 students, though the petition states there are over 1,000 students, with a capacity of 667. The school system has proposed
Montgomery County Public Schools students were scheduled to start taking new state tests early Monday morning, but icy winter weather upset that plan. Instead, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers tests — which will be fully implemented for the first time this spring — had to wait for Tuesday. Suzanne Woertz, supervisor of the school system’s testing unit, said Monday that the lost day isn’t expected to derail testing schedules. Some schools will shift back a day; others will take advantage of built-in makeup days, she said. “If we just miss this one day, then we don’t anticipate any problems with having enough days for all of our schools to finish testing,” Woertz said. The school system must follow a state-dictated window from March 2 through March 26.
See PETITION, Page A-9
See PARCC, Page A-9
Volume 28, No. 9 Two sections, 24 Pages Copyright © 2015 The Gazette
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