MCPS will update the current MyMCPS system, which is used for grade reporting and lesson content, to include better teacher-to-student and parent-to-teacher communication, real-time access to Gradebook and the ability to immediately share information with other teachers through MyMCPS, MCPS Chief Technology Officer Pete Cevenini said. 

The county is updating MyMCPS due to its “limited functionality and advanced age” and hope that the new program will fix the problems of its predecessor, Cevenini said.

The current system is controversial among Whitman students. Since its introduction in 2017, many students have disliked it due to its confusing interface.

“I absolutely hate MyMCPS,” junior Matthew Lennie said. “The site is difficult to use and makes everyone’s life harder. I’m not sure why we switched from Google Classroom.”

As the system hits the three-year mark, feelings remain mixed. While students like Lennie find MyMCPS frustrating, others don’t have many issues with it. 

“I think people overreact about MyMCPS,” senior Tess Cohen-Dumani said. “It’s not perfect, but it works well enough, and it’s not super confusing.”

Teachers have strong opinions about MyMCPS as well. Many teachers use Google Classroom rather than MyMCPS as a digital platform for sharing assignments with students because Google Classroom is easier, English teacher Matthew Bruneel said. While Bruneel has experimented with MyMCPS many times, the number of clicks required to share information is too high and the user interface is complicated and overwhelming, he said.

County officials are confident that students and faculty will receive the new system better than its predecessor because it adds functionality that teachers, students and parents have asked for, Cevenini said. 

“The updates will be seamless, because they are installed automatically, like an iOS update for your phone,” Cevenini said.

MCPS officials will implement the new system before the 2020-2021 school year.