UPDATE: Missing Teen Girls Located

A 12-year-old Montgomery Village girl and 14-year-old Gaithersburg girl had been missing since Jan. 23, police said.

(Update -- 9:10 a.m., Jan. 31) Montgomery County police said Karina Cornejo-Galdmaez, 12, and Rosa Rivas-Ascencio, 14, were located safe and unharmed Thursday morning in Wheaton. The girls had been missing since Jan. 23. (Original Post -- 3:24 p.m., Jan. 30) Montgomery County police are asking the public for help in locating two girls from the Gaithersburg area. Karina Cornejo-Galdmaez, 12, of the 9300 block of Merust Lane in Montgomery Village, and Rosa Rivas-Ascencio, 14, of the 18000 block of Nathans Place in Gaithersburg, were last seen at their respective middle schools at 2:30 p.m. dismissal on Jan. 23. Cornejo-Galdmaez was at Montgomery Village Middle School, while Rivas-Ascencio was at Neelsville Middle School in Germantown, police…

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jnrentz1

10:50 am on Sunday, February 3, 2013

Ms. Roa; I did not get the slightest impression that Ms. Adams desired these two girls any harm.   more ›

Germantown Teacher Found Not Guilty of Sex Abuse, Sex Offense

Not guilty verdict for Neelsville Middle School teacher Cuyler Jay Cornell, accused of fondling one of his students.

Germantown Teacher Found Not Guilty of Sex Abuse, Sex Offense

Not guilty verdict for Neelsville Middle School teacher Cuyler Jay Cornell, accused of fondling one of his students.

A Germantown teacher was acquitted on charges of sexual abuse and sex offense, ending a week-long trial spurred by a former student’s allegations that the educator fondled him at school. The jury took nearly two hours to render the not guilty verdict Tuesday. Facing the charges was Cuyler Jay Cornell, 51, of Germantown, who taught seventh grade English at Neelsville Middle School. Cornell cupped his fingers over his eyes as his family shrieked and sobbed from the courtroom gallery immediately after the verdict was read. Cornell has been an educator for more than 20 years. “And he's waiting on this kid to be his victim? The state’s argument is so ridiculous,” Cornell’s attorney Reginald W. Bours III said after the trial. His accuser claimed…

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Testimony: Contact From Germantown Teacher Made Male Students Uncomfortable

Three teens testified Monday in the sex abuse trial involving a Neelsville Middle School teacher.

In their court testimony Monday, two male students said that they were uncomfortable with how a Germantown English teacher touched them when they were students at Neelsville Middle School. A third teen claimed he received back and shoulder rubs from the teacher but said he didn’t think anything was wrong with it at the time. “I don’t know,” the teen said. “I didn’t really notice it.” The three were brought to Montgomery County Circuit Court on Friday to testify against Cuyler Jay Cornell, 51, of Germantown. The seventh-grade teacher has been indicted on charges of sexual abuse of a minor and sex offense stemming from a former student’s claim that Cornell touched his buttocks and genitals when he was in seventh and eighth grades. On Monday…

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Sex Abuse Trial Involving Germantown Teacher Could Reach Jury Monday

Cuyler Jay Cornell, 51, of Germantown, has been indicted on charges of sexual abuse of a minor and sex offense.

The sex abuse trial of a Germantown middle school teacher may not reach a jury’s hands until Monday, Circuit Court Judge Robert A. Greenberg said Thursday. The absence of a key defense witness and issues regarding access to medical and school led to the delays. Meanwhile, jurors on Thursday heard testimony from nine witnesses called by the defense. Cuyler Jay Cornell, 51, of Germantown, has been indicted on charges of sexual abuse of a minor and sex offense. Cornell taught seventh grade English at Neelsville Middle School. One of his former students has accused Cornell of touching his genitals and buttocks. On Thursday, Montgomery County Police Det. Cpl. Tracie Copeland told jurors that in initial interviews with police, the alleged victim…

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Underperforming Germantown School Misses Testing Benchmark

Neelsville Middle School misses target on state reading test

For yet another year, Neelsville Middle School did not meet its academic goals on the latest round of state tests, according to data the Maryland State Department of Education released last week. Maryland School Assessments data from 2012 will serve as starting point for revised accountability requirements, replacing the Adequate Yearly Progress system, Patch reported Tuesday.  As part of its academic goal for reading proficiency under the new system, 86 percent of Neelsville’s test takers needed to pass that portion of the Maryland State Assessments, but state data show only 80 percent passed. The school failed to meet its academic goal for reading proficiency among the school's hispanic students, those who receive free and reduced meals …

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Bob

9:32 pm on Saturday, August 4, 2012

You made me laugh, I too have had twins through the school system. The solution talked about on WTOP was moving teachers, yet the problems aren't solved. Blaming parents is only one third, there is the teachers and the NEA. I sat ( still do) with my boys to try to help them, know many teachers that complain about "worthless lesson plans" so I put in a lot of effort. Having expectations about the …   more ›

New Staff, IB Program Part of Neelsville Restructuring Plan

Eight-period day, IB program are part of Neelsville Middle School’s restructuring plan.

By next school year, Neelsville Middle School could replace nearly half its staff, shift to an eight-period day and offer the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme under restructuring plans proposed for the academically struggling school. Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Joshua P. Starr presented the plans for Neelsville during the Board of Education’s meeting March 26. School officials hope that by changing the learning environment — which means bringing in new teachers, offering more training and changing some of the educational programming — they’ll be able to improve the school’s performance. The middle school faces restructuring because it failed to meet academic benchmarks set by No Child Left Behind. …

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Watkins Mill Cluster to Get IB 'Middle Years' Program

Board of Ed approves funds for International Baccalaureate at Montgomery Village Middle School and Neelsville Middle School.

For the past half-decade, parents in the Watkins Mill cluster have had their sights set on one step to biggest bang for the school system's buck: the middle school precursor for the high school’s International Baccalaureate program. After years of impassioned testimony and advocacy at school board meetings and public hearings, that longing finally came to fruition as the Board of Education last night endorsed a fiscal 2013 operating budget that outlines one new outlay in its belt-tightening $2.13 billion: roughly $400,000 to bring the IB Middle Years Programme to Montgomery Village and Neelsville middle schools. Once the specialized curriculum goes into effect two years from now, Montgomery Village and Neelsville will be the county's sixth…

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Bob Hydorn

2:19 pm on Friday, August 31, 2012

WOW, who woke you up after all these months? May I ask where you got your information that it will not help to improve overall education for our students?   more ›