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News & Notes- December 2025 |
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President's Report |
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Dr. Rachel Edoho-Eket |
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MAESP Members,
As we close out the calendar year, I’m filled with gratitude for the incredible work of school leaders across Maryland and the strong sense of community that defines our organization. This season, we have so much to celebrate! After years of collective advocacy from MAESP and MASSP, we’re thrilled that a retired principal has been appointed to the Maryland State Board of Education! This is a tremendous win for school leadership representation! Additionally, many of our members have also been selected to serve on the MSDE Principal’s Advisory Council! Thank you for sharing your expertise to support Maryland’s students and schools!
Our recent MD UNITED conference in Ocean City was truly inspiring, filled with powerful keynotes, thought-provoking sessions, and countless moments of connection with leaders from across the state! Thank you to everyone who attended and helped make it such a success. We’re already looking forward to continuing that momentum at the State-wide Assistant Principals Conference on February 24th in Linthicum Heights!
As the holiday season approaches, I wish each of you rest, joy, and time with the people who matter most. Thank you for your leadership, dedication, and joy you bring to your school every day!
Warmly, Dr. Rachel Edoho-Eket |
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Executive Director's Message |
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Dr. Christopher Wooleyhand |
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Happy December! I hope you're having fun as you head to the holiday break. Is there any place better to be than a school during the holidays? Don't forget to take it all in and remember that it's the memories that will last for your students. Thanks to everyone who attended our annual fall conference in Ocean City last month. It was a great success due to the hard-working planning committee (noted below) and our awesome board of directors and executive board members. Congratulations to long-time MAESP member and past president, Ed Cosentino, who has been nominated for the position of NAESP Vice President. It has been over 40 years since a MAESP member has served at this level. The vice president becomes the president-elect, then president in a three-year cycle. Voting will be held in February. Good luck Ed! We have a lot going on in the coming months. Check out the calendar list below and join us for any of the Connected School Leader Speaker Series events. Also, Dr. Edoho-Eket and our new zone reps will be hosting a series of Zone Chats starting in February. Please consider registering for one of these. They will help us better serve you. Finally, I encourage you to nominate a colleague for the National Distinguished Principal and National Outstanding Assistant Principal awards. These prestigious awards highlight the amazing work you are doing. See below for more information. With appreciation, Christopher Wooleyhand, Ph.D. Executive Director, MAESP |
Celebrate our profession by nominating a deserving colleague for one of these distinguished awards! |
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National Outstanding Assistant Principal
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Please visit our NOAP web page for more information and to access the online application portal. |
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National Distinguished Principal
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Please visit our NDP page for more information and to access the online application portal. |
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Member Spotlight! |
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Ethel Hosendorf named to MSDE Advisory Panel Congratulations to Ethel Hosendorf, principal at T.C. Martin Elementary in Charles County, who was appointed to MSDE's Principal Advisory Council in October. This is an important role and group that provides feedback to the state superintendent and state board of education on pressing issues related to teaching, learning, and school leadership across our state. We know Ethel will represent us well. |
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Cosentino Nominated for NAESP Vice-President
Congrats to Ed Cosentino for being nominated for Vice President of NAESP. This is an incredible milestone for Ed and for Maryland. The VP roles leads to the President-Elect position, then to the President role during a three-year cycle. Be sure to vote in February! |
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Fall Conference Thanks to everyone who attended our Maryland UNITED fall conference in Ocean City. A great time was had by all. We were proud to celebrate our 2025 National Distinguished Principal, Dr. Ryan Daniel from Fort Foote Elementary in Prince George's County. We also gave out our Connected School Leader awards to 11 truly deserving school leaders (pictured below). We had great keynote speakers, concurrent session presenters, exhibitors, and ended our conference with a BOOM Session by the "Terrific Ten" (pictured below).
Mark your calendars for next year's conference. We will be back at the Ashore, November 5 - 7, 2026. |
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Thanks to the following MAESP members who served on the conference planning committee:
Dr. Dana McCauley Dr. Rachel Edoho-Eket Dr. Joshua Fine Justin Holbrook Dr. Glen Messier Briana Walker Dr. Sonia Matthew Dr. Christopher Wooleyhand |
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Assistant Principal & Aspiring Leader
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MAESP is turning 80! |
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With the new year comes a significant milestone in the history of MAESP. WE are turning 80! But how do we celebrate? Any ideas? Want to be involved in deciding how to mark this occasion? Please contact Dr. Wooleyhand if you are interested (chriswooleyhand@maesp.org). |
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Upcoming Events
CSL Speaker Series- Student Mental Health & Behavior January 14th 6:00 PM
January 24th Graceland Park/O'Donnell Heights Elementary
CSL Speaker Series- Real Talk for Early Career Principals 2 January 29th 6:00 PM
Hosted by Dr. Rachel Edoho-Eket & Arienne Clark-Harrison February 3rd 7:00 PM
Connected School Leader Speaker Series- AI February 18th 6:00 PM
Assistant Principal & Aspiring Leader Conference Maritime Conference Center Linthicum Heights, MD February 24th
Hosted by Dr. Rachel Edoho-Eket & Ashley Moore March 4th 7:00 PM
CSL Speaker Series- PD for the Adult Learner March 18th 6:00 PM
MAESP Headquarters March 21st
Hosted by Dr. Rachel Edoho-Eket & Dr. Sharon Porter April 13th 7:00 PM
Connected School Leader One-day Conference April 17th The Meeting House Columbia, Maryland
Hosted by Dr. Rachel Edoho-Eket & Briana Walker May 4th 7:00 PM
May 23rd Armistead Gardens Elementary/Middle
June 24th 2:00 - 3:00 PM Virtual Only
NAESP National School Leaders Conference July 13 - 15 Orlando, Florida |
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Membership Platform & Website
If you haven't created a MAESP member user login, please visit this link:
When you create a login, you open up the ability to edit your contact information, register for events, locate other members, refer new members, and access resources from MAESP, and NAESP. It's quick and easy, so please, do it today!
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MSDE & Legislative Updates |
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Meet New State Board of Education Member and Former Principal, Marcy Leonard
Howard County Term 2025-2026 Member, Strategy & Operations Committee
Marcy Leonard has been a resident of Howard County, Maryland, for over 40 years and served as the first Student Member on the Howard County Board of Education. After earning a B.A. in history from Haverford College and an M.A. in social studies education from Wake Forest University, Marcy returned to Howard County to join the Howard County Public School System (HCPSS).
She served HCPSS for 30 years as a social studies teacher, school principal, and Community Superintendent. As principal of three high-needs schools, Marcy closed opportunity and achievement gaps in graduation rate, dropout rate, Advanced Placement participation, and Dual Enrollment participation for students from historically underrepresented groups. As Community Superintendent, Marcy was responsible for the leadership of a diverse group of early childhood programs, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, the Applied Research Laboratory, and the Homewood Center for Alternative Education.
Marcy is presently serving as the Chief Operating Officer, Public Services for Howard County Library System. In this role, she is responsible for all of the public library branches as well as the curricular programming for HCLS. She has initiated systems to support expanding the library’s reach in the community, including Metrics That Matter aligned with the HCLS Strategic Plan, an equity-focused community outreach program, early childhood programming aligned to the Maryland Early Learning Standards, professional development for library staff, and co-governance with 140+ youth through the Elkridge Teen Internship to envision the first teen-developed space in Howard County. Marcy is active in the community, serving on the Board of Directors for Maryland Leadership Workshops and OhanaHC.
Marcy is a graduate of the Leadership Howard County Premier program and has served as a leadership coach to students and educational leaders. She was recognized as Howard Magazine’s Principal of the Year 12 times and was also honored with The Washington Post’s Distinguished Educational Leadership Award, Maryland Parent Teacher Association Educator of the Year, Baltimore Touchdown Club Principal of the Year, Arts Education in Maryland Schools Principal of the Year, Bright Minds Educational Foundation Outstanding HCPSS Alumni Award, and City Gives Woman of Impact Leadership Award.
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A BIG Thanks to our Business Partners! |
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