Multicultural Education

Education That Is Multicultural (ETM) is infused throughout all curricular areas and grade levels in Harford County Public Schools. ETM is a continuous, integrated, multiethnic, multidisciplinary process for educating all students about diversity and commonality while providing instruction in ways that ensure success for all. ETM prepares students to live, learn, interact, and work creatively in an interdependent global society by fostering mutual appreciation and respect. It is a process which is complemented by community and parent involvement.

The Maryland Education That Is Multicultural ByLaw provides guidance for ETM implementation in the areas of curriculum, instruction, instructional resources, staff development, and climate. The HCPS Pre-K-12 curriculum provides an understanding and appreciation for cultural groups while recognizing and valuing commonalities and differences within the American culture. Instructional activities recognize and appreciate students' cultural identities, learning styles, and multiple intelligences while maintaining high expectations for all. Instructional materials represent society as multicultural and avoid stereotyping, discrimination, bias, and prejudice. HCPS professional and support staff receive ETM staff development to better meet the needs of students while raising achievement for all and eliminating achievement gaps where they exist.

Education That Is Multicultural fosters a school and classroom climate in which all students feel valued and respected. In this collaborative atmosphere, greater success for individual students is possible.

Out-of-School curriculum materials are available by clicking here, or by accessing the HCPS Coronavirus webpage by clicking on the COVID-19 button in the upper left corner of our website.

UPDATE: April 3, 2020

A Message from Superintendent Bulson
Good evening,

This week, teachers and other instructional staff returned to work in this new and evolving environment of school closures and stay-at-home orders. Our goal was for our schools to reestablish contact with students. I want to thank our employees for their persistence in reaching out to families and beginning the process of helping our students continue their learning at home. Our continuity of learning plan cannot replace face-to-face instruction, but we are committed to improving our ability to support student learning every week we are closed.

I also want to thank our dedicated Food and Nutrition staff who are now distributing meals at 21 different sites across the county. Today we served over 10,000 meals to 3,500 students, and demand for meals continues to increase daily.

Please continue to monitor the HCPS Coronavirus web page for updates and the latest system news about the ongoing pandemic. This week we updated our Frequently Asked Questions to provide guidance related to third quarter grades and continuity of learning. The site also contains the latest information on food distribution, event and activity cancellations, as well as links to important local, state, and national resources.

I know this is a difficult time for everyone and I want to thank you for your patience and understanding. I am confident we will get through this together!

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend,

Sean Bulson, Ed.D.

Superintendent

Harford County Public Schools

UPDATE: March 29, 2020
Teacher Outreach

Monday, March 30, 2020, your student’s teacher will reach out to you. Teachers are working from home, so you may get a call from a blocked or private number. We will encourage teachers to leave a message indicating a time they will call back if you do not pick up. Please be on the lookout for these calls.

Our goal for this week, as teachers and other instructional staff return to work, is to re-establish contact with students and identify the best ways to be in touch during the closure.

UPDATE: March 26, 2020
A Message from Superintendent Bulson

Good morning,

Yesterday, in conjunction with Governor Hogan’s press conference, State Superintendent of schools, Dr. Karen Salmon, closed all Maryland public schools through April 24, 2020.

In preparation for an extended closure, we have developed Recommended Learning Experiences for families to use with their children over the next two weeks. Those resources are now available on our website, hcps.org for families to access electronically. To access the documents, open the COVID-19 page on our website and click the Out-of-School Curriculum Materials tab. You will then need to enter your child’s student ID number so we may confirm which families have accessed the online resources.

To maintain social distancing practices, it is best if families access the materials electronically. However, beginning today, March 26, and tomorrow, March 27, families who cannot access them in that manner may obtain printed copies of the Recommended Learning Experiences by visiting one of the 19 meal sites throughout the county, as well as John Archer, Fallston High, Norrisville Elementary, and North Bend Elementary schools. Materials will be available from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. and from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

On a related note, we are adding two new meal sites today and two additional sites on Monday, so please visit hcpsmenus.com to see the list of sites to be used for food and materials distribution and for news about new sites we may add in the future.

Over the next two weeks our teachers and staff will be re-establishing contact with all students and they will begin providing support and guidance to help with the Learning Experiences materials.

Throughout this crisis, we ask you to continue following the directions and guidance from the Governor to practice social distancing and refrain from any unnecessary travel. Over the last two weeks we have all encountered significant changes in our personal and professional lives, and we thank you in advance for your patience and understanding moving forward through these unprecedented times. The health and safety of our students and community members is our first priority, so thank you for everything you have been doing toward that end.

Thank you,
Sean Bulson, Ed.D
Superintendent
Harford County Public Schools

UPDATE: March 19, 2020
A Message from Superintendent Bulson

As schools across the country confront the effects of COVID-19, I want to thank you, the parents and guardians, our students, and our staff, for your patience, understanding, and flexibility as we face this challenge together.

At this time, we have no formal announcement from State authorities about how much longer we should expect to remain closed. HCPS is not equipped to deliver comprehensive online instruction to our students. However, we continue to seek additional information about access to technology for the households of our students and staff members. I want to thank you for the more than 20,000 responses we received to our digital survey for families and the over 2,500 responses we received from staff as we look to the future of how instruction may be delivered in our school system. The preliminary information we have learned from the responses is helping us better understand the steps we will need to take in the event we stay closed beyond March 27. Please submit your responses by 12:00 p.m. tomorrow, Friday, March 20, when the survey will officially close.

I also understand that future school-related dates and events are at the forefront of your minds. I have received questions on everything from grades, to testing, to graduation credits and other end-of-year events. As soon as we have greater clarity about when we will return to school, I will ensure we communicate clear decisions about those events as quickly as possible.

I want to thank our food and nutrition department who has been preparing and distributing breakfast, lunch, and dinner “to go” at sites throughout the county. If you are not able to access a meal site or need additional assistance, I encourage you to call 2-1-1 or reach out to the Harford Community Action Agency.

Please follow local health department and county government social media pages as well as the site for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the latest guidance. We will continue to provide new information about Harford County Public Schools via our website, social media channels, and of course, through this channel.

I look forward to speaking with you again next week and I hope you have a wonderful evening.

Thank you,
Sean Bulson, Ed.D
Superintendent
Harford County Public Schools

UPDATE III: March 17, 2020
Food Services Information II

Food services hours and locations have been updated and are posted on www.hcpsmenus.com. Please check back regularly as this site will continue to be updated as new information becomes available.

UPDATE II: March 17, 2020
Food Services Information

Information about food services for students is posted on www.hcpsmenus.com and will continue to be updated as it becomes available.

Effective tomorrow, March 18, 2020, two new locations have been added: Bel Air Elementary and Dublin Elementary Schools. Please check www.hcpsmenus.com for additional sites, operating hours, and menus.

UPDATE: March 17, 2020
Please Complete the Online Resources Survey

Harford County Public Schools staff are continuing to work diligently to ensure plans are in place for any additional actions that may need to be taken in response to COVID-19. Please click here to complete the survey to determine the level of access to our online resources that may be utilized, should it be necessary to provide additional instructional resources for students to access from home beyond this initial 2-week closure.

UPDATE: March 16, 2020
Harford County Public Schools Operations Update

Most HCPS 12-month employees will be expected to work from home beginning tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17, 2020. Critical staff will be in buildings to ensure things like cleaning, food preparation, and payroll continue, but please note that our buildings and property will not be open to the public beginning tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17, 2020; this includes all tracks, fields, and playgrounds. All afterschool/evening and weekend activities remain canceled. This means all sports practices and competitions are canceled until schools reopen. Teams should not gather or practice on or off school grounds.

If you did not contact your child’s school nurse last week to pick up medications from the nurses suite, please utilize the COVID-19 hotline or email address, available on the HCPS website, to make pick-up arrangements.

Meal delivery sites where breakfast and dinner will be delivered with lunches, are listed on www.hcpsmenus.com.

We will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.

UPDATE: March 13, 2020
Harford County Public Schools Closure Information for Parents/Guardians and Staff
All afterschool/evening, and weekend activities are canceled today, Friday, March 13, 2020. Today, daycares in HCPS buildings will remain open for one hour beyond the end of the school day.

As shared yesterday, all Maryland public school systems will be closed from March 16-27. We are awaiting guidance from the Maryland State Department of Education as to whether these days will be made up or waived by the state.

The instructional packet coming home today is also available on our website by clicking here, in addition to being shared via the Home Access Center, or HAC.

Food and Nutrition information, including menus and distribution locations, will be on www.hcpsmenus.com as soon as it is available.

If you have not done so already, please call your school if you need to make arrangements to pick up your child’s medication.

Harford County Public Schools has created a webpage with additional resources; you can access it by clicking on the COVID-19 button at the top of our website or by clicking here.

12-month employees are to continue to report to work as normally scheduled, Custodians will work with their supervisor to determine their work schedule; 11-month employees should await further instruction from their supervisor; 10-month employees do not report as of March 16, 2020. If there are changes to this work schedule, employees will be contacted via our normal avenues of communication. All 10 and 12 month employees will continue to be paid according to our originally published pay schedule.

We will share additional information as it becomes available.