{"id":88684,"date":"2026-04-27T16:01:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T20:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/?p=88684"},"modified":"2026-04-28T10:47:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T14:47:15","slug":"27-purple-star-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/27-purple-star-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"27 Maryland Schools Earn Purple Star Designation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MEDIA CONTACT:<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Raven Hill, 410-767-0486<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><a href=\"mailto:raven.hill@maryland.gov\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">raven.hill@maryland.gov<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>27 Maryland Schools Earn Purple Star Designation<\/b><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Seven school systems to be honored for strong support of students from military families<br \/><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>BALTIMORE (April 27, 2026)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) announced the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2026-2028<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/marylandpublicschools.org\/about\/pages\/dsfss\/purplestar\/purple-star.aspx\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Purple Star Schools<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, recognizing strong services and support for students from military families.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 27 schools from seven school systems will be recognized at Tuesday\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/marylandpublicschools.org\/stateboard\/pages\/meeting-agendas\/2026\/0428\/2026-04-28.aspx\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">State Board of Education meeting<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOur Purple Star Schools excel in serving the unique needs of our military-connected students and families,\u201d said <\/span><b>Dr. Carey M. Wright, State Superintendent of Schools.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201cThese school communities create welcoming environments, fostering a sense of support and belonging that provides the foundation for student success.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cCongratulations to Maryland\u2019s Purple Star School honorees,\u201d said <\/span><b>Dr. Joshua L. Michael, State Board of Education President<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThese schools reflect our commitment to the families who serve our country, creating environments where their children experience a true sense of belonging and are supported to succeed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To earn the designation, schools must have a dedicated military liaison, provide accessible digital resources, offer a student-led transition program, and ensure staff receive training on the unique needs of military families. This year\u2019s Purple Star Schools include:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Anne Arundel County Public Schools<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meade High School, MacArthur Middle School, Magothy River Middle School, West Meade Early Education Center\u00a0<br \/><br \/><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Calvert County Public Schools<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Huntingtown High School, Patuxent High School, Southern Middle School, Barstow Elementary School, Dowell Elementary School, Mount Harmony Elementary School, Huntingtown Elementary School, Mutual Elementary School, Sunderland Elementary School<br \/><br \/><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Harford County Public Schools<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Roye-Williams Elementary School\u00a0<br \/><br \/><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Howard County Public School System<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bellows Springs Elementary School, Veterans Elementary School, Thunder Hill Elementary School<br \/><br \/><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Prince George\u2019s County Public Schools<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Melwood Elementary School<br \/><br \/><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Queen Anne\u2019s County Public Schools<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kent Island High School, Queen Anne&#8217;s County High School, Centreville Middle School, Matapeake Middle School, Stevensville Middle School, Sudlersville Middle School<br \/><br \/><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>St. Mary\u2019s County Public Schools<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Captain Walter Francis Duke Elementary School, Leonardtown Middle School, Park Hall Elementary School<br \/><br \/><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maryland joined the Purple Star Schools national recognition program initiative in 2023.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">### <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MEDIA CONTACT:<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Raven Hill, 410-767-0486<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><a href=\"mailto:raven.hill@maryland.gov\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">raven.hill@maryland.gov<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><br \/>\n<b>27 Maryland Schools Earn <a href=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/27-purple-star-schools\/\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&#8230;Learn more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsreleases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88684"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88690,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88684\/revisions\/88690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}