Pr. George's Reaches Top 20 for National Board Certified Teachers

Prince George's County Public Schools announced that it ranks 3rd in Maryland and 20th in the nation for the number of teachers who have been certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

Nearly 330 PGCPS teachers have earned board certification, 27 of them during the 2011-2012 school year, PGCPS said in an announcement Monday. 

Four teachers in Bowie schools received certification in 2012. They are Tonya Lipford at Tulip Grove Elementary School, Todd Pozen at Whitehall Elementary School, LaJuanta Shack at Northview Elementary School, and Venita Simon at C. Elizabeth Rieg Regional School, according to PGCPS.

“National Board Certification is the highest level of professional certification a teacher can receive,” said Dr. Alvin L. Crawley, interim superintendent of schools. “It requires a great deal of time, hard work and dedication, and I commend our teachers who have achieved this honor.”

National board certification is an advanced teaching credential that does not replace a state's teacher license, but complements it, according to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. It takes one to three years to complete and is achieved through a rigorous assessment of skills and content knowledge that is performance-based, according to PGCPS.

Maryland ranks 13th in the nation for its 2,421 teachers with national board certification, according to PGCPS. Of them, 207 were certified in the most recent 2012 group, PGCPS stated.

PGCPS plans to honor its teachers certified in the 2011-2012 school year at a ceremony on Feb. 20 at the Camelot in Upper Marlboro. It announced those board certified in 2012 are:

• Penny Beller, Hollywood ES
• Kristen Benovic, Beltsville Academy
• Darene Brown, Scotchtown Hills ES
• Rose Mary Bunag, Ernest Everett Just MS
• Drena Galarza, Hollywood ES
• Charis Granger, Northwestern HS
• Cassandra Hall, Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. HS
• Lynne Hardie, Hyattsville ES
• Hannah Ink, Rogers Heights ES
• Min-Ah Kang, Rogers Heights ES
• Benita Lance, H. Winship Wheatley ECC
• Tonya Lipford, Tulip Grove ES
• Rosemary Maeder, Riverdale ES
• Sharada Muralidharan, Adelphi ES
• Beatrice Ndikum, Suitland HS
• Thomas Pierre, Jr., Phyllis E. Williams ES
• Todd Pozen, Whitehall ES
• Clarelisa Rivera, Eleanor Roosevelt HS
• LaJuanta Shack, Northview ES
• Deszerrai Shannon Alexander, H. Winship Wheatley ECC
• Venita Simon, C. Elizabeth Rieg Regional
• John Smith, Gwynn Park MS
• Pamela Stewart, Accokeek Academy
• Keyshaze Ward, Judge Sylvania S. Woods ES
• Kathleen Wesley, Fort Foote ES
• Alicia Yap, Doswell E. Brooks ES
• Lisa Yearwood, Eleanor Roosevelt HS