FREDERICK, Md. — A teacher at Monocacy Elementary School in Frederick has been selected as the 2026 Maryland Teacher of the Year.

The Maryland State Department of Education presented the award to ALonna Soward-Puryear Friday night at a celebration in Cockeysville.

“We are thrilled to be the home of the 2026 Maryland Teacher of the Year,” FCPS Superintendent Dr. Cheryl L. Dyson said. “Ms. Soward-Puryear is a passionate and innovative teacher who is truly homegrown.”

Dyson noted that Soward-Puryear attended Frederick County schools and also interned there. In addition, she graduated from Hood College in Frederick.

Soward-Puryear taught fourth grade at Monocacy before becoming a targeted intervention teacher. She has taught there since 2019.

Soward-Puryear isn’t the first Frederick Count

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