According to Katz, the meeting began at City Hall and included a driving tour of some of the city’s neighborhoods. City officials showed Starr the developing Crown Farm site and pointed out the future 34-acre future high school site in Gaithersburg. Katz said they also drove by Rachel Carson Elementary School on their way to lunch at O’Donnell’s Seafood restaurant.

“He knows Gaithersburg is one of his best partners,” said Katz.

According to Katz, Starr visited Gaithersburg Elementary School earlier in the day and the superintendent is aware of the ongoing modernization of Gaithersburg High School.

Katz said he wished they would have had time to visit Brown Station and Diamond elementary schools but he said there would be another time.

One property owner was interested in building more live-work type units in between the Michael’s and Whole Foods stores. Another was considering a unique residential concept on an office pad site near the Colonnade.

Greg Ossont, Gaithersburg’s former assistant city manager, said both property owners were unable to move forward in the planning process because of the city’s Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO), which limits development based on school capacity.

Rachel Carson Elementary School is one of nine schools, including eight elementary schools, currently in moratorium as evident by the growing number of portable classrooms on campus.

“We can’t add one single-family house, one townhouse or one apartment at all,” said Ossont. “None of the Kentlands master plan can be implemented. More than half the city is in residential moratorium.”

City leaders also learned in August that Gaithersburg Elementary has been added to the growing list of schools enrolled at over 110-percent capacity.

Ossont said the news has “significant implications” for redevelopment of Olde Towne and the Frederick Avenue areas.

In addition to Gaithersburg and Rachel Carson elementary schools, the city’s over capacity list now includes: Strawberry Knolls, Summit Hall, Judith A. Resnick, Brown Station, Jones Lane and Diamond elementary schools; and Wootton High School.

Gaithersburg City Council member Henry Marraffa voted against the APFO when it was adopted in Jan. of 2007 and remains convinced the ordinance, which is more stringent than Montgomery County’s APFO, hurts Gaithersburg. “People have to live somewhere,” he said.

Ossont said amending the city’s ordinance is one possibility.

“If we changed it to be consistent to Montgomery County, then it would take care of all of these issues,” he said.

When asked what he thinks, Gaithersburg Mayor Sidney Katz said local leaders need to have a comprehensive discussion about the issue as soon as possible. A work session to discuss the status of the APFO is now scheduled for Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall.

Today is the first day of kindergarten for Kentlands resident Romey Aschbrenner (5) seen here with his mom Nicole.

The first day will have to wait for students at seven county schools that still do not have power following Hurricane Irene. The closed schools are Bradley Hills Elementary, Chevy Chase Elementary, Francis Scott Key Middle, Harmony Hills Elementary, Highland View Elementary, Piney Branch Elementary and Woodlin Elementary.

New MCPS Superintendent Joshua Starr and Montgomery County Board of Education President Christopher Barclay will hold a press conference this morning at Brookhaven Elementary to discuss rising student enrollment and the need for new and improved facilities.

Rachel Carson Elementary School in Kentlands is one of the county schools considered over enrolled.

Still, Kentlands resident Nicole Aschbrenner said she moved her family to Kentlands from Clarksburg a year ago because she liked the schools so much. Her five-year-old son Romey enters kindergarten today.

A first look at dozens of the new RCES students entering kindergarten today.

All incoming RCES kindergarteners are welcome to come meet kids who are going to be in their class, play games and have breakfast treats.

Contact Cathy Faraone at faraone628@verizon.net or Ailene Renzi at arrenzi@gmail.com with questions or to volunteer to help.

The project is part of the Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) capital projects plan to fit all elementary schools with an access control system by fiscal year 2014. The funding was put in place to enhance school-base security.

“I am excited about it,” said Principal Lawrence Chep. “This is one more key ingredient that ensures that schools are even safer.”

The systems each cost about $10,000, according to Douglas Steel, supervisor of the MCPS Department of School Safety and Security.

Already 51 elementary schools countywide have had the systems installed. RCES is one of 31 schools getting a security system this spring, Steel said. Secondary schools are not getting access control system since they already have surveillance cameras in place, he said.

The access control system includes the installation of a surveillance camera at the school’s main entrance with a second camera at another entrance. Visitors will have to press a button to alert the main office of their arrival.

Three computers in the school’s main office will have the capability to monitor the camera. The visitor can be let in remotely and then asked to come to the main office to check in under the current policy. That policy requires visitors to show identification, sign in to their destination within the school, and wear a visitor’s badge while in the building.

The access system will not be turned on until after students arrive in the morning, around 9 a.m., Chep said. It will also be deactivated during afternoon dismissal.

All other entrances to the school will remain secured at all times.

Chep said he was concerned that his office staff was going to spend a lot of their day buzzing in visitors, but he said other principals with the access systems in place said that hasn’t been an issue.

“I definitely think it will be a safer entry system, but I think schools are one of the safest places you can be,” Chep said “Our staff is good about questioning people without passes. This just makes one more layer of safety.”

Future kindergarteners Sami Kotok and Olivia Maytin are all smiles at RCES’s kindergarten orientation.

Rachel Carson Elementary School greeted 129 future kindergarteners on May 5 and 6. Principal Lawrence Chep said these numbers are “pretty comparable to years past; right in the middle.” Since he arrived at RCES nine years ago, he has seen numbers range from about 125 – 140. It is still early, though, he said. “We always get about 10 – 15 [new kindergarteners] before the end of the summer.”

The increase of students before the first day of school can be due to people who move in over the summer; those who have been deciding between public and private school; or those who, despite the school’s efforts to notify parents, simply did not know about orientation.

Chep said the school will graduate 135 students from fifth grade this year, so the incoming class will be almost exactly the same size.

At Diamond Elementary School, Principal Carol Lange said 89 incoming kindergarteners arrived for orientation, which is a bit smaller than the last few years. She, too, anticipates adding to that number before school officially starts.

Diamond has experienced significant growth in the past few years, mainly, said Lange, from the turnover in some of the Diamond communities. “There are a lot of young families with children entering elementary school in West Riding and Longdraft Estates.”

Lange expects enrollment to be 597 for the 2011-12 school year, which is 40 more than this year. Sixty-eight fifth graders will graduate this spring from Diamond, which is much fewer than the incoming kindergarten class.

“We have a third portable coming this summer,” said Lange. “We’re looking into the possibility of an addition in the future.”

QO lacrosse players leave the field after their 13-2 win.

The Quince Orchard boys’ lacrosse team continued its winning ways with a 13-2 win over Clarksburg on Monday night. QO will play in the regional final tomorrow (May 18) against Linganore.

Dr. Joshua Starr

“The contexts of Stamford and Montgomery County are very similar, and I look forward to working with the Board, staff and community to build on the great strengths of MCPS,” said Starr. “Montgomery County has shown the nation that it is possible to raise academic standards and enable all children to achieve them. By engendering a culture that rests in the belief that all children have unlimited potential, ensuring a systematic focus on great instruction, and establishing processes and structures that support adult learning and development, MCPS has changed the conversation of what is possible in urban public education.”

“Dr. Starr comes to Montgomery County with impressive credentials and skill sets to lead MCPS in times of incredible challenges and opportunities. He comes to us with a deep commitment to openness and is eager to work collaboratively in the best interest of all students,” said Board President Christopher Barclay. “The Board looks forward with great excitement to working with Dr. Starr in building upon the impressive successes that MCPS has garnered over the past 12 years under the leadership of Dr. Jerry D. Weast.”

Starr and his wife, Emma, have three children. He is scheduled to begin work on July 1.

The RCES DI team won the state championship on April 2 and heads to Tennessee for the Global Finals next month.

According to its website, DI is the world’s largest creative problem solving program for kindergarten through college-aged learners. Teams of up to seven members solve one of six different challenges, which they perform at tournaments.

RCES parent Jason Levine helps manage the DI Smile team.

“DI expects 15,000 – 20,000 people to be at [the] Global Finals,” Levine said. “It’s a big deal for the kids and RCES and we are all excited for and proud of them.

Levine said the team is now raising money for the trip to Tennessee. If you would like to make a donation, contact Levine at jalevpb@gmail.com or 240.490.0855.

For more information about the DI program, www.marylanddi.org.