Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) is seeking representatives to serve on a School Renaming Committee for General Smallwood Middle School. The Board of Education of Charles County last month approved for CCPS to move forward with a renaming of the school facility.

The committee will review and consider name submissions and present recommendations to the Board of Education in early 2025. The Board of Education will make the final school name selection after the committee presents its recommendations.

Board of Education Policy 7230 outlines the process in which a school can be named or renamed, and also outlines the process in which a school renaming committee is formed. Superintendent of Schools Maria V. Navarro, Ed.D., or a staff designee may select members of a naming committee to support the study and suggestion of names. The full policy is posted online here.

As with previous CCPS school naming committees, staff from the CCPS Office of Communications will serve as committee liaisons. Policy 7230 outlines that for any school being renamed, the naming committee should reflect CCPS’s diversity and may include, but not be limited to, the following representatives:

• A member of the current school administration (Smallwood Principal Orlena Whatley was appointed by Superintendent Navarro).
• A minimum of two (2) parents/guardians who currently have students enrolled at the school.
• At least one (1) parent/guardian from each respective feeder/receiver school.
  • This includes Dr. James Craik, Gale-Bailey, Indian Head, Mt. Hope/Nanjemoy and J.C. Parks elementary schools, and Henry E. Lackey High School.
• A minimum of two (2) staff members employed in the school.
• A minimum of two (2) students currently enrolled at the school.
• A minimum of two (2) community members who do not currently have children attending the school but reside within the school’s current attendance area.
• Up to two (2) school alumni; and
• If the school is located within an incorporated town, one (1) representative from the governing board of the identified town (representative from Town of Indian Head).

CCPS is also looking for two community members to serve on the committee who do not meet the criteria above but reside in Charles County.

All persons interested in being considered for the committee should complete the interest form linked below. Deadline to complete the form is noon, Friday, Dec. 13.

Committee interest form

Committee members will be chosen through a random electronic selection process. Notification of committee selection (or non-selection) will be made by email on Dec. 16. Persons who complete the form but do not meet the criteria of the role in which they express an interest to serve (parent, student, staff member, etc.) will not be considered for random committee selection.

For any Smallwood student interested in being considered for the committee, a parent/guardian must complete the interest form on their behalf.

The committee will meet January through March on Thursdays at 6 p.m. in the General Smallwood Middle School library. Smallwood is located at 4990 Indian Head Highway in Indian Head. The first meeting is set for 6 p.m., Dec. 19.

Questions about the school renaming committee can be sent to Shelley Mackey, CCPS director of communications, at smackey@ccboe.com.

CCPS has an overview of the General Smallwood Middle School renaming process on its website at https://www.ccboe.com/community/renaming-general-smallwood-middle-school. The webpage will be updated as the school system moves forward with the renaming process. 

About CCPS

Charles County Public Schools provides 28,162 students in grades prekindergarten through 12 with an academically challenging education. Located in Southern Maryland, Charles County Public Schools has 38 schools that offer a technologically advanced, progressive and high quality education that builds character, equips for leadership and prepares students for life, careers and higher education.

The Charles County public school system does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age or disability in its programs, activities or employment practices. For inquiries, please contact Dr. Mike Blanchard, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (students) or Nikial M. Majors, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (employees/ adults), at Charles County Public Schools, Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building, P.O. Box 2770, La Plata, MD 20646; 301-932-6610/301-870-3814. For special accommodations call 301-934-7230 or TDD 1-800-735-2258 two weeks prior to the event. CCPS provides nondiscriminatory equal access to school facilities in accordance with its Use of Facilities rules to designated youth groups (including, but not limited to, the Boy Scouts).