New and improved vending machines make it to WCHS
By Trevor Gardemal, Social Media Manager
March 9, 2020
Many WCHS students tend to satisfy their daily hunger with snacks from the vending machines spread throughout the school. With multiple machines and a variety of contents in each, it is hard to be unhappy with the selection. However, after recent replacements of the vending machines, students have start...
MCPS should not bus students to different schools
By Allison Jacobs, News Editor
March 7, 2020
A current prominent issue in Montgomery County is school redistricting and how it will be implemented. Montgomery County has decided that students will be bussed to various schools throughout the county; however, they have supplied no information as to what bussing will be like, causing outrage amongs...
MCPS continues to fight to keep summer short and sweet
By Charley Hutton, Advertising and Subscriptions Manager
March 3, 2020
In Aug. of 2016, Gov. Larry Hogan issued a mandate requiring school to start after Labor Day, denying the Montgomery County Board of Education the power to give each county the freedom to make their own decision in regards to school start dates. In early 2019, the Maryland State Senate Committee voted on a bi...
MCPS should plan for more snow days
By Ally Salzberg, Assistant Online Editor
February 23, 2020
Whether it snows or not is completely out of our hands. As much as students may want it to work--flushing ice cubes down the toilet, sleeping with a spoon under pillows or wearing pajamas inside out-- it still might not snow. In Montgomery County, students and teachers are designated a mere two day...
MCPS Board members showcase plans to redistrict schools
By Allison Jacobs, News Editor
December 27, 2019
On Weds. Dec. 4, MCPS hosted a meeting at Gaithersburg High School to discuss the topic of redistricting. This was the first of six meetings planned to keep families up to date on the topic of redistricting, and the meeting was focused on phase one of the process. In phase one, MCPS is focused on data an...
MCPS students to vote on next year’s calendar
By Jasper Bernstein, Assistant Observations Editor
November 13, 2019
MCPS has given students a choice of the next school calendar after the change in Maryland policy. To effectively compare schedules across different years, The Observer has added up the amount of days off for each MCPS school year since 2013. Each day off counts as one point, and each half day counts as a half point...
Tech updates needed within this technological age
By Ohio Meshanko, Promotions Manager
November 6, 2019
In recent years, many MCPS classrooms have been completely overhauled to accommodate a modern learning and teaching experience. The widespread adoption of Promethean boards and chromebooks, specifically, have allowed for lessons to be planned and organized faster and cleaner than with markers or ch...
MCPS redistricting considered to quell inequity issues
By Fatima Yazdi, Editor-in-Chief
May 8, 2019
Montgomery County Public Schools such as WCHS have consistently ranked among the best in the country and are growing at high speeds, though a great divide exists between schools in wealthy areas and schools in less wealthy ones. Recently, this divide has sparked debate over whether or not Montgomery...
MCPS modifies assailant situation procedures
By Sophie Liss, Editor-in-Chief
February 8, 2019
If you are an MCPS student, the phrase “lockdown” likely generates memories of covering classroom windows, locking the door and sitting silently under desks during drills and emergencies. However, MCPS is now making changes to active assailant situation procedures coinciding with the “Maryland...
MCPS school buses need to install seat belts
By Miranda Chung, Assistant Opinions Editor
December 21, 2018
The Oct. 8 limo crash in New York is considered to be the deadliest U.S. car accident in nine years according to the New York Times. After killing 20 people, including the driver of the vehicle and two pedestrians, the horrifying incident directed much needed attention on transportation safety. ...
MCPS considers extending spring break
By Bradley Furgerson, Features Editor
November 21, 2018
Following student and staff input in relation to which holidays the most students are absent, MCPS is considering two proposals for the 2019-2020 calendar. Both have 182 days of instruction, which is two days over the 180 state-mandated number of school days, start on Sep. 3, 2019 and end on June 15, 2020....
MCPS distributes free summer meals
By Vicky Gunawan, Observations Editor
October 18, 2018
Starting Jun. 18, 2019 free meals will be distributed during the summer at approximately 120 sites throughout Montgomery County. The county will provide meals to students attending summer school or recreation programs as part of a new program called the Montgomery County Summer Food Program. This...