President’sPresident’sPresident’sPresident’sNotebookNotebookNotebookNotebook

By Ilaya Hopkins, President

Representing the 1200 households North of East-West Highway, South of JonesBridge Road, East of Wisconsin Avenue and West of Columbia Country Club.

Neighborhood News

DECEMBER 2008DECEMBER 2008DECEMBER 2008DECEMBER 2008 WWW.EBCA.ORG WWW.EBCA.ORG WWW.EBCA.ORG WWW.EBCA.ORG

A spike in enrollment amongelementary schools in theBethesda-Chevy Chase cluster hasprompted planning officials toaddress what could be a long-termshortage of space in the region.Bruce Crispell and Frank Stetsonof the Montgomery County PublicSchools (MCPS) briefed residentson the situation and answeredquestions at an EBCA-sponsoredforum, held November 10th at theLynnbrook Recreation Center. TheEBCA Education Committee willpresent an update on next stepsand results from our communitysurvey at the December 17thGeneral Membership meeting.The officials emphasized whathas not changed: Parents willcontinue to have the option of selecting one of three elementaryschools—Bethesda, Chevy Chase,and North Chevy Chase—for achild who completes second gradeat Rosemary Hills ElementarySchool.But they also said that a decisionby the school superintendent toend an “informal agreement”allowing children in grades K-2 totransfer into Bethesda ElementarySchool is the current policy. Thedecision was announced in amemorandum dated July 29th. As a result, the process fortransferring into BethesdaElementary School is now the sameas it is for transfers acrossMontgomery County—a family hasWe’re halfway through our 2008-2009 year and have alreadyaccomplished so much. TheEducation Committee and ChairMonica Hayes has done a superb job of being prepared for the schooldistrict’s evaluation of theovercrowded schools in our area,including conducting aneighborhood survey, hostingschool district officials in ourcommunity and testifying at theBoard of Education publichearings. Updates can be found onour website, www.ebca.org, andwill be discussed at our meeting onDecember 17th.Coincidentally, Novembermarked a major milestone for thePurple Line project as a series of public hearings were held on thedraft Environmental ImpactStatement. EBCA remarks,skillfully crafted by Vice PresidentDavid Saltzman, with input from anumber of neighbors, are availableon the website. This will also be atopic of discussion at the December17th meeting. Before we get tobusiness, though, we will continueour tradition of hosting a cookieexchange. Bring some of yourfavorite homemade or store boughttreats to share and take a new mixhome. We will also be preparinggifts for first responders. To helpwith this effort, contact Tori Hallat Victoria.Tori.Hall@gmail.com.

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to demonstrate a hardship.Families with a first-grader orsecond-grader at BethesdaElementary may be grantedtransfers for a sibling, notedStetson, who is CommunitySuperintendent.Over the course of an hour, theofficials described planned capacitystudies to assess the spaceshortage and how these may leadto changes in boundaries andschool assignments. Boundarychanges would likely take fiveyears to implement, even under themost optimistic time frame. In themean time, trailers, orrelocatables, would be needed tomeet the increased demand forspace, because building additionsto schools takes three years.The reassignment to BradleyHills Elementary of some familiesin the western part of theBethesda-Chevy Chase cluster areawas mentioned as part of a long-term solution. The question of re-opening Lynnbrook ElementarySchool was raised, and this doesnot appear to be underconsideration. Dr. Stetson pointedout that the existing structurewould most likely have to be torndown and built anew to meetcurrent regulations. It is more costeffective to build additions ontoexisting schools, he said.

More of this article is availableon our website, www.ebca.org.

MCPS OfficialsMCPS OfficialsMCPS OfficialsMCPS OfficialsDiscuss PlanningDiscuss PlanningDiscuss PlanningDiscuss Planning

By Ted Winstead

12/31/0812/31/08

East Bethesda CitizensAssociation, Inc.PO Box 41020Bethesda, MD 20824www.ebca.org

Neighborhood News

Jay Briar, Editornewsletter@ebca.orgSponsorship, Vacantsponsorship@ebca.org

In the November issue, an incorrect expiration date for Hollywood Tans was printed. We regret the error.

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Neighborhood News

DEC 2008

The last 2008 EBCA GeneralMeeting is on December 17th andthere are many important issuesfacing our community — thePurple Line and our schoolassignments just to name a few.One of the many issues ourcommunity is faced with likely isvery important to you.Did you have a great time at theHalloween Parade? The Labor DayPicnic? Are you looking forward tothe holiday cookie exchange?With all of these things in mind,we hope that you will support ourneighborhood activities, thisnewsletter and the neighborhoodactivism that makes East Bethesdaone of the most desirable places tolive, invest and raise a family. Allyou need to do is become a memberof the EBCA! On the back page of this newsletter, there is amembership coupon that tells you just how to join. As an EBCA member, you areentitled to vote on the issues raisedat the EBCA general meetings, willbe kept up to date on the importantissues affecting our neighborhood,and are encouraged to participatein our numerous social events.We will be publishing the namesof all members who have joinedsince September 15, 2008 in ournext issue of this newsletter. In themeantime, if you have questionsabout membership, would like toconfirm whether you’ve paid yourdues or would like to volunteer tobe a part of the MembershipCommittee, please contact RebeccaFayed by email atmembership@ebca.org or by phoneat 301-564-1499.

MembershipMembershipMembershipMembershipCornerCornerCornerCorner

Rebecca Fayed,Membership Chair

Leggett LaunchesSenior Website

County Executive Ike Leggettlaunched a new County websitedesigned to provide easy access toinformation on services offered forseniors and their families atwww.montgomerycountymd.gov/senior, offering information onhealth, recreation, library, housingand consumer resources providedby the County and non-profitpartners.

Recycling Drop-Off

Residents can drop off andrecycle old electronic equipmentSunday, December 14th from noonto 4 p.m. at Walt Whitman HighSchool and sign up for a free raffleorganized by Bethesda Green for achance to win a new flat-screen TVprovided by Shady Grove FertilityCenter. You can drop off smallelectronic appliances, calculators,camcorders, CDs and floppy disks,CD players, cell phones, computersand computer-related products,consumer electronics, copiers, cordsand cables (including chargers),digital cameras, electronictypewriters, fax machines,microwave ovens, personal digitalassistant equipment, printers,projection equipment, scanners,telephones, small electronic toys,TVs, and VCRs.

Cookie Exchange

Join your East Bethesdaneighbors for EBCA's 2nd annualCookie Exchange and Share onWednesday, December 17th at 7:30p.m., before the regular businessmeeting begins. Please bringenough cookies to swap with yourneighbors, plus extras to contributeto several cookie trays that EBCA will assemble and deliver to ourarea fire station, rescue squad, andpolice headquarters. EBCA willprovide the beverages for ourneighborhood social, plus the trays,saran wrap and labels for thecookies trays we will be donating.This is a wonderful way to sharethe holiday spirit with neighborsand to show our police, EMTs andfirefighters how very thankful weare for their dedicated service.If you have questions, pleasecontact Tori Hall by phone at 301-652-2969 or by email atvictoria.tori.hall@gmail.com.

A Short Newsletter

This month’s newsletter is onlyfour pages due to costs of production. Help EBCA keep thisnewsletter in production eachmonth and with space to provideyou with up to date information.Renew your membership today andencourage local businesses tosponsor an issue.East Bethesda is in the heart of avibrant residential and commercialarea. I know we all share thegratitude and joy of being in such aspecial community. To help EBCA continue our work on behalf of theneighborhood, please send in your

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Neighborhood RoundupNeighborhood RoundupNeighborhood RoundupNeighborhood Roundup

President’s Notebook

$15 dues today. For membershipquestions, contact Rebecca Fayedat membership@ebca.org.Thanks to our sponsors for thisissue: Razor Sharp, HollywoodTans, Suburban Hospital,Strosneiders. We wish a happyholiday season to you all. See youin 2009!