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The community is invited to a forum today as part of Montgomery County Public School's development of a comprehensive plan for strengthening the mathematics program and improving student achievement.

The PTA Curriculum Committee will meet 7:30 to 9 p.m. for a short presentation on the work done so far, followed by a question-and -answer session on the goals and progress of the MCPS K-12 Mathematics Work Group.

The work group is looking at the following categories: curriculum (assessed and written), classroom and instructional practices (implemented curriculum), acceleration practices, teacher preparation and development.

The forum will be held in the Carver Educational Service Center auditorium, 850 Hungerford Drive in Rockville.

Summaries of the Mathematics Joint Work Group meetings to date are available at http://montgomeryschools

md.org/curriculum/math/workgroup.

College information offered

for Hispanic families

The Universities at Shady Grove will host a college information night for Hispanic parents and an Hispanic College Fair this month.

The information night for parents of all high school students is 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday in Building 2, Rooms 3022 and 3032, 9630 Gudelsky Drive in Rockville. Topics include financial aid, preparing for college and applying for scholarships. The program will be offered in English and Spanish.

Registration by Friday is requested but not required. Contact Patty Maloney at 301-353-8029 or patricia_a_maloney@mcpsmd.org.

The annual Montgomery County Hispanic College Fair is 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. More than 50 universities and colleges will be on hand to provide financial aid and admissions information to high school students, who should register to attend through their school's counseling department. For more information, visit www.ccnhcfcollegefairs.com.

Clearspring to ‘Read

Around the World'

Clearspring Elementary School's book fair will be held Nov. 9-13.

This year's theme, "Destination Book Fair, Read around the World," promotes reading books from around the world to help foster the imagination of children by giving them the ability to visit far-off foreign countries and mythical lands from their bedroom and classroom.

The book fair will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 11 and 12 and 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 13 and during the dance at night.

November parent

coffee at Baker

John T. Baker Middle School parents are invited to a coffee with Principal Louise Worthington from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Nov. 10 in the media center.

The get-together will feature a presentation about the seven keys to college and career readiness by staff development teacher Becky Nelson and math resource teacher Tracy Tomlinson and a review of MSA data by Assistant School Administrator Steve Asbacher.

Parent advisory council meetings set

Montgomery County Public Schools' Parent Advisory Council has set its meeting schedule for the 2009-2010 school year.

The council provides input on communication and parent involvement and holds parent advocacy trainings.

All meetings are held at 6:30 p.m. at the Department of Family and Community Partnerships, 850 Hungerford Drive, Rockville. Remaining meeting dates are Nov. 18, Jan. 11, Feb. 24, April 12 and May 12.

For more information, call 301-279-3100.

School-closing

procedures outlined

It's getting to be the time of year when winter weather may disrupt school operations, forcing schools to close, dismiss early or delay opening.

Announcements of school closings or delays are made as early as possible, generally in time for news broadcasts that begin at 5 a.m. If schools are closing early, the announcements are made by 11 a.m.

There are several ways to get the latest information on closings or delays.

-MCPS QuickNotes e-mail news service will send emergency information to subscribers. To sign up visit www.mcpsquicknotes.org.

-MCPS home page www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org will display emergency announcements in bold red letters at the top of the page.

-ASK MCPS Telephone Information Center at 301-309-6277 has English- and Spanish-speaking operators available from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

-MCPS information line, 301-279-3673, has recorded information 24 hours a day.

-MCPS Cable channel 34 and local radio and TV stations will broadcast the information

-MCPS will Twitter at http://twitter.com/mcps.

-Schoolsout will text message your cell phone with school emergency information There is a fee for the service, but emergency information is available by e-mail without a fee at www.schoolsout.com.

DHS sociology

students helping others

This year, the Damascus High School sociology class is working on four major projects.

The projects benefiting particular groups include Project Linus, which collects decorated homemade blankets for children in hospital cancer wards; ConKerr Cancer, which collects decorated homemade pillowcases for children in hospital cancer wards; SanMar Children's Home, which collects new clothes, art, office and school supplies and gift cards for a children's home in Boonsboro, Md.; and Salvation Army's Winter Assistance Program, which collects clean and serviceable warm new and used blankets and winter jackets that will be given, not sold, to the needy.

Because of concerns for allergies, blankets and pillowcases for the children with cancer need to be made in a smoke-free environment.

Donations can be dropped off in teacher Robert Dickie's room, 134, at the school.

For more information, contact Dickie at Robert_P_Dickie@mcpsmd.org.

Education Notebook is compiled by Susan Singer-Bart. Items for this column should be sent to ssingerbart@gazette.net, by fax to 301-670-7183, or by mail to Education Notebook, The Damascus/Clarksburg Gazette, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877. Deadline is 5 p.m. Wednesday for consideration for the following week's paper.