Springbrook High School

New Community Superintendent for Northeast Consortium Schools

Less than a month after Dr. Ursula Hermann resigned as community superintendent  for the Northeast Consortium and Sherwood High School clusters, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has announced a successor.

Beth Schiavino-Narvaez was assistant superintendent/chief academic officer at Springfield Public Schools in Massachusetts. Officials close to the hiring process say her job duties in Springfield were very similar to what she will be doing as community superintendent.

“We just thought she was a really good match for the position,” said Frank Stetson, chief school performance officer for MCPS. “She was one of the candidates that really, really stood out in terms of her background experiences as an instructional leader on the elementary and middle school level.” 

Schiavino-Narvaez has served as teacher and principal before her central office position in Springfield. 

Stetson says closing the achievement gap will be one of Sciavino-Narvaez’s goals, along with working to groom the crop of new principals who have been promoted within the two clusters. ( Springbrook High is one of the schools with a new principal .) 

Stetson hopes to have Schiavino-Narvaez begin her new position by early September, at which time she will make an effort to meet with parents.

In the meantime, Director of School Performance Dr. Myra Smith will continue to act as community superintendent, assisted by Don Kress, former principal of Springbrook High and retired community superintendent. 

This is horrible « Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and ...

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Two Springbrook High School students planned an attack on the school, according to the Montgomery County Police Department.

Anthony Torrence, 17, and 18-year-old Yonata Getachew are charged as adults with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, three counts of arson, and conspiracy to manufacture or possess a destructive device.

Authorities discovered their plot Tuesday. There’s no evidence they planned to execute the attack Tuesday, police said.

“They’d been planning over the past four weeks to assault a school counselor and the school’s principal with explosive devices and set fire to the school building using explosive material to cause extensive damage and serious injuries to others,” Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said.

Principal Michael Durso called it a sobering discovery.

The teens also face reckless endangerment charges.

“That stems from a plan involving setting fires, trying to break open a gas pipe and using that to create an explosion or fuel a fire, which could have harmed students in the school,” Manger said.

The investigation began with a report of an attempted arson in the ROTC hallway and a boys locker room, detectives said. School security stopped two students apparently leaving the school.

One of the suspects confessed to the police officer assigned to the school, sources said. Searches of the suspects’ homes discovered chemicals used in making chemical reaction bombs, flammable liquids, a carbon dioxide cartridge, nails, balloons, homemade wicks, fireworks, and notes and plans about preparations and the physical design of the school, according to police.

Durso sent a letter to parents about the arrests.

“We learned yesterday that plans were being made that could have resulted in damage to the building, as well as potential harm to students and staff,” Durso wrote.

Arson investigators suspect the teens in at least one fire at the school, a source told the Washington Post.

Torrence’s mother said he has a learning disorder was manipulated by Getachew, the Post reported.

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