Back-to-school video with rapping superintendent

Happy back-to-school day, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties! It’s Tuesday, August 25.

The superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools — who sings and performs for snow-day announcements — has made another fun video to kick off the new school year. There are performances from kids and staff. A marching band plays as the superintendent raps. And there’s a performance of a song from KPop Demon Hunters.

How many people are involved in making this happen? How long does it take?

For background: “Dr. Thomas W. Taylor is superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools, where he oversees 211 schools with more than 155,000 students and 25,000 staff, in the 15th largest school system in the nation,” according to his MCPS bio page, which notes that he and his wife have five children.

He did a snow-day video in a previous job at Stafford County Public Schools, and here’s one from earlier this year.

Where does he find the time? Was he into music and performance when he was younger? I dug around a bit online and found a video in which he says his music teacher more than three decades ago at Westland Middle School in Bethesda changed his life. By his account, he “did not have a shred of musical talent,” but this teacher brought him out of his shell.

And now he raps, sings and dances for snow days and back to school. I have so many questions. I’ll let you know if I learn more … though I imagine staff are busy this week as more than 155,000 students return to school.

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Jen Knieriem, a resident of Columbia, Maryland, sent in this pic with a brief note: “My son and I paused on the landing in the Maryland Science Center on Aug. 20 to look out at the National Aquarium, where we were the week before.”

Share your photos of late-summer life in the DMV.

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