Education Notes

Carroll Springs School sets meeting for parents

The Parent Support Group at Carroll Springs School will hold meetings for parents whose children have both significant educational and medical needs.

The meeting topics were selected through a parent survey.

The next meeting will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday at the school, 495 S. Center St., Westminster.

All parents who have children with special needs are welcome.

Information: 410-751-3620.

Community college offers new art classes

Carroll Community College is offering two new art classes this winter at the 1601 Washington Road campus.

"Digital Collage Creation" will be held from 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Saturdays, Jan. 15 to 29. The cost is $113.

Students will use PhotoShop Level 1 to learn compositing and collage techniques using digital photos.

"The Art of Mosaics" will be held from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Mondays Jan. 24 to Feb. 28. The cost is $100.

Students will learn about this ancient art form using tile and glass materials to make mosaic artworks. All materials are included.

Information: 410-386-8100.

English language classes offered to families

Carroll Community College and the Families Learning Together program at Robert Moton Elementary School are offering English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes to Carroll County residents who want to learn English.

Classes meet two evenings a week. The first two hours are devoted to adults learning English, followed by 30 minutes of time for parents and children to spend together.

Adults learn basic language skills such as phrases they need while out in community at stores, doctors' offices and schools. Classes also provide adults with information about traffic laws and the importance of child safety seats for those who have children.

Child care is provided for parents. Children receive help with homework and can interact with other children who have a similar heritage or who speak English. Children in the program also receive advocacy in the school system through their instructors.

Registration for ESOL classes begins this month. Additional ESOL classes are available at other locations through Carroll Community College.

Information: 410-386-8021.

County schools honored for intervention program

The Carroll County Public School System's Self-Injury Assessment/ Intervention Program has won the 2004 Maryland State School Health Council's Annual Program Award.

The council annually recognizes outstanding people and programs that have contributed significantly to the promotion of comprehensive school health in Maryland.

The school system created a separate program designed for suicide prevention, co-sponsored by the Youth Service Bureau, for counselors to identify a number of students inflicting self-injury.

Such behavior is not suicidal, but rather a means to address intense feelings of stress or depression. With a lack of resources in Carroll County, a Self-Injury Assessment/ Intervention Program was established to provide assistance to those students and their families.

Last year, 29 students and their families benefited from the assessment, treatment recommendation and follow-up program, enabling the children to remain in school.