–photo courtesy of Twitter.com/@RodriguezHobbs-
Patapsco High School and Center for the Arts principal Dr. Scott Rodriguez-Hobbs has been named Baltimore County Public Schools High School principal and is a finalist for BCPS Principal of the Year.
“When I first got the call I did not believe it. I love my job and think that I do a pretty good job at it, but I would never think that I was good enough to win an award,” Rodriguez-Hobbs told eastcountytimes.com.
“I am humbled to have been nominated by staff, students, and parents and completely honored to have been selected as the High School Principal of the Year.”
Rodriguez-Hobbs grew up in Dundalk and still lives in the community. He started off at Patapsco as a teacher in 2004, left to pursue an administrative position in 2015 and returned to the school as principal in 2019.
He said it was his dream to return to Patapsco as a principal.
“I get to spend every day in a building that I love working with amazing people who are all there to make the school and the wider community a better place,” Rodriguez-Hobbs explained.
“I often tell people that the students at Patapsco are the best in BCPS and I really mean it.”
According to the Dundalk resident, he is proud that Patapsco is part of the Apprenticeship Maryland Program. This allows students to start as registered apprentices and to start working in their chosen fields while still attending high school.
“Our first students will graduate from the program this year and we have grown the program to the largest in BCPS,” he added.
Rodriguez-Hobbs also noted that the school has worked hard in the post-COVID era to decrease the school’s failure rate by 9 percent and has increased unit test scores by 5 percent in math and 10 percent in English.
The Patapsco principal will be recognized at a special Champions for Children Celebration Gala on Thursday, April 18, at George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology along with Melissa Lingenfelder of Sandalwood Elementary School, the BCPS Elementary School Principal of the Year and Adam Carney of Cockeysville Middle School, the BCPS Middle School Principal of the Year, to see who will be named BCPS Principal of the Year.
“It has always been my goal to do whatever I can to give my students more opportunities and to do what I can to make the community a better place,” Rodriguez-Hobbs said.
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