The County Times MedStar Physician Partners at St. Clement’s and MedStar Physician Partners at St. Mary’s Now Accepting New Patients
Know
In The
Introducing
Wednesday, December 9, 2010
14
Education
Best Buddies Get Together
• Proud members of MedStar Health, the Maryland/Washington, D.C., region’s largest healthcare system, offering access to thousands of specialists in a variety of areas • Accepting most major insurances and patients of all ages, from newborns to seniors
Call today to make an appointment at one of our three convenient locations: MedStar Physician Partners at St. Clement’s (Formerly St. Clement’s Medical Care) 23130 Moakley St. Leonardtown, MD 20650 301-997-0611 MedStar Physician Partners at St. Clement’s (Formerly Chesapeake Family Healthcare) 40900 Merchants Lane, Suite 205 P.O. Box 1507 Leonardtown, MD 20650 301-997-0322 MedStar Physician Partners at St. Mary’s (Formerly St. Mary’s Medical Associates) 41680 Miss Bessie Drive Leonardtown, MD 20650 301-997-0055
mppdocs.org MedStar Physician Partners is part of MedStar Health, a not-for-profit, regional healthcare system with nine hospitals and more than 20 other health-related services in the Maryland and Washington, D.C., region. More than a half-million patients trust their care to MedStar Health each year. medstarhealth.org
Aaron Kelly, right, sits with his Best Buddy Hannah Goodell and Santa during the best Buddies Christmas Lunch.
Last Thursday, the Best Buddies group from Leonardtown High School had their yearly Christmas Party, hosted by the William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center. According to the website, www. bestbuddies.org: “Best Buddies is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”
Jordan Bailey, junior, the president of the Leonardtown High School Best Buddies and and Lauren Brown, senior, the vice president of Best Buddies, are both happy to be involved in the program. “I think it’s the best program my school could have,” Brown said. She said she plans on being involved in Best Buddies when she goes to college, even if she has to start a new branch of Best Buddies to do so. “It’s not a one time thing,” Brown said. “It’s a lifetime thing.” - By Sarah Miller sarahmiller@ countytimes.net
Plan Would Shift 150 Students to Chopticon By Sarah Miller Staff Writer
The St. Mary’s Public Schools redistricting advisory committee came up with a recommendation for the superintendent during its meeting Thursday evening. The committee will be recommending to St. Mary’s County Public Schools Superintendent Michael Martirano that they go with plan one, eliminating three of the original four redistricting models as well as a fifth model constructed after the Nov. 18 meeting to address some questions and concerns from parents. Plan one will eliminate the cross-over routes on Loveville, Sunny Side and Pincushion roads. It also fulfills all the Focus Area’s of Evaluation, which involves the efficient use of local rated capacity, school bus scheduling and routing, cost associated to the plan and contiguous communities surrounding the school, among other criteria. Plan one will also successfully utilize the 150 seats available at Chopticon High School while not overcrowding the school in the first
three years after the implementation of the plan. It will also provide a stable development for future growth at Chopticon high School. The plan does include grandfathering in students already attending Leonardtown High School, though whether transportation will be provided for those students is still under consideration. One idea the advisory committee thought of for students who will still require transportation to Leonardtown High School is implementing a hub system. It would be similar to what is already being done for students who live in the district for one high school but want to be involved in an academy in another. The next step for the redistricting plan will be to go to Martirano, who will be able to reject the plan, make changes, or pass the plan on to the school board as is. The school board will have an open forum to get feedback on the plan before making their final decision by February. If the plan is passed, any redistricting changes will be made at the start of the 2011-2012 school year. sarahmiller@counytimes.net