Assistant Principal

If you find yourself near the Anchorage Marina in Canton, you may hear an unexpected sound mingling with the squawks and cries of sea gulls clustering around the boats that neatly line the piers. It will be the sound of a French horn, coming from inside a 46-foot motor yacht, whenever Philip Munds decides to practice at home. Munds, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's principal horn player, lives with his wife, children and cat aboard the boat, nestled in one of the farthest slips from shore.

A dispute that began in May involving the demotion of a popular former assistant principal at C. Milton Wright High School remains unresolved. Christopher Battaglia, the former assistant principal at the high school who is appealing his demotion from assistant principal to teacher, met with the superintendent and the school district's lawyers Friday. After a seven-hour meeting, he told a group of supporters rallying outside, "It's not over." Battaglia's hearing was recessed and scheduled to continue at a date that has not been set, said Harford County Public Schools spokesman Don Morrison.

School may be out for students, but for administrators, it remains in session. As they look to the next school year, a number of principals are preparing to take over new assignments this fall. The changes include: Theresa Ball, from Hampstead to Carrolltowne Elementary Deborah Bunker, from Linton Springs to Mount Airy Elementary Karen Covino, from assistant principal at Winfield Elementary to principal at Piney Ridge Michael Eisenklam, from assistant principal at Cranberry Station Elementary to principal at Eldersburg Robert Mitchell, from Manchester to Ebb Valley Elementary Jacalyn Powell, from Eldersburg to Hampstead Martin Tierney, from Carrolltowne to Manchester Vicki Winner, from assistant principal at Manchester to principal at Linton Springs "We always have some vacancies, and have to fill those vacancies in one way or another," said Jimmie Saylor, director of human resources for Carroll County Public Schools.

Josh Ellis Robinson Jr., a retired Baltimore public school assistant principal and Korean War veteran, died of cancer Friday at Ruxton Health and Rehabilitation Center in Pikesville. He was 80 and had lived in Randallstown for more than 30 years. Mr. Robinson, who was known as Ellis, was born and raised in Newport News, Va. He was a 1944 graduate of Huntington High School and earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Hampton Institute in 1948. He also earned a master's degree in student personnel and counseling from Columbia University and took additional graduate courses at the Johns Hopkins University, Syracuse University and Loyola College.

Joe D. Evans, a retired Harford County high school principal and model train collector, died of cancer April 10 at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The Street resident was 70. Mr. Evans was born in Carbondale, Pa., and moved with his family to Baltimore in 1943. They later moved to Jarrettsville, and in 1955, he graduated from North Harford High. After graduating from what is now Salisbury University in 1959 with a bachelor's degree in education, he began teaching science and mathematics at Edgewood High School.

Patricia Ann Jackson, an educator and assistant principal at Bay-Brook Elementary School in Brooklyn, died Thursday of meningitis at Good Samaritan Hospital. The Randallstown resident was 48.Mrs. Jackson, whom pupils called "Miss Pat," began her teaching career at Belmont Elementary School as a special education teacher in 1974. In 1995, she was promoted to master teacher at Bay-Brook Elementary School, where she was appointed assistant principal this year after she completed the Aspiring Leadership Program at Loyola College.

South Carroll High School has announced new members of its faculty and staff for this year.John Seaman is a new assistant principal. He was at Westminster High, where he held the same post for seven years.Steve Luette is a biology teacher. He recently spent two years teaching at Gateway School in Westminster.Stacey Wilson is a teacher in the family and consumer science department. She taught for five years in Baltimore County.Ryan McCray teaches world history and government. He taught for four years in Prince George's County.

By day, Sam Salamy is the kind of administrator parents hope is assigned to their child's part of the alphabet. The popular assistant principal has been one of Annapolis High School's greatest assets over the past decade.But Salamy has another side.A guitarist and prolific songwriter, he has become a fixture on the local club circuit, performing with his band, Destiny, and as a duo with singer-bassist Ed Brown.Salamy and Brown have released their first compact disc, which is sold at Tower Records of Annapolis and Borders Books in Bowie.

Abdella J. Campbell, a 34-year teacher and principal in Baltimore public schools who served as president of a retired teachers' organization, died of heart failure Thursday at Bon Secours Hospital in Baltimore. He was 92.Mr. Campbell started as a gym teacher in the city school system in 1938, rising to become an assistant principal of Western High School, assistant principal of Pimlico Junior High School and principal of Garrison Junior High School. He retired from the Garrison post in 1972.

Principals and assistants throughout the Anne Arundel County school system will be starting at new schools this fall under a transfer policy designed to give administrators experience at different schools.The board approved these routine transfers at its June 16 meeting: The top three administrators at Meade High School have been shifted to other schools. Joan Valentine will replace Principal George Kispert. Kispert will head Northeast High School in Pasadena. Steve Banian and Carol Thornburg, both assistants at Meade, were transferred: Banian to North County High School in Glen Burnie and Thornburg to Southern High School in Harwood.

It wasn't Valerie Cooper's dream to become a school administrator when she was a three-sport athlete in the 1970s. But here she is today, sitting behind a desk at Aberdeen High, an assistant principal who enjoys her job and draws constantly on the lessons she learned from her experiences as a student-athlete at Bel Air. "Sports teaches real-life skills," she said. "It teaches how to cooperate with people and be respectful. It teaches you things you need in the work place, in college: to be on time, to be dependable.

Retirements and professional development were cited as a cause for more than 30 promotions and transfers that were unveiled at Thursday's school board meeting. The administrative promotions, which were unanimously approved by the school board, and the transfers, which did not require a vote, are effective July 1. "We try to provide administrators with a couple of different assignments every couple of years for them to develop their leadership skills," said Patti Caplan, school system spokeswoman.

Eddie Scott, principal of Meade Middle School, has been appointed as the new principal at Annapolis Middle School. Annapolis Middle is currently under the state's restructuring program for failing to meet federal testing targets in five of the past six years, school officials have announced. Annapolis Middle's current principal, Carolyn Burton-Page, requested another assignment at the end of the school year. Scott has been principal at Meade Middle since 2006 and was previously an assistant principal at Marley Middle, before working in both Baltimore and Prince George's County schools.

Few students would complain about a snow day. But it might be a good idea to check back in with them June 18. That's the new last day of the school year in Howard County public schools as dictated by last week's winter storm, which scuttled two days of classes. The originally scheduled last day was Tuesday, June 16. The weather created an extended, unexpected break for county students, who had a half-day for testing Friday, Jan. 23, and last Monday for a scheduled professional work day. Tuesday and Wednesday's snow days, plus a two-hour delay Thursday, amounted to a gift from the gods of winter.

A Howard County high school teacher who won a racial discrimination lawsuit against the county school system last year has been placed on administrative leave after lodging a new $1 million suit alleging that her previous legal action led to harassment in her new school. Michelle Maupin, 40, an English teacher at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, said her principal, assistant principal and a police officer came to her classroom on Sept. 25 and ordered her to gather her belongings and leave the school.

Sharon L. Harris found out she would lead Baltimore County's first public charter school, Imagine Discovery, this spring, when she was an assistant principal at Windsor Mill Middle. Harris, 49, hasn't stopped moving since, selecting teachers (about 30), picking uniforms (yellow and navy blue) and fielding questions from anxious parents. Imagine Discovery serves more than 450 kindergarten-through-fourth-grade students, with plans to expand to eighth grade. Imagine Schools, an Arlington, Va.-based nonprofit with more than 70 schools and about 37,000 students, operates the school.

Susan A. Goglia, a retired Howard County teacher and principal who was as comfortable arguing for students' needs before superintendents as she was teaching reading to first-graders, died Friday of colon cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care. She was 59. "She was extremely well thought of by the administration because, as an educator, she had a clear vision. She always put her staff first and shared ways to make things happen," said Jonathan E. Davis, principal of Swansfield Elementary School in Columbia and a longtime friend.

Troy Todd has spent the summer moving, only to come right back where he started. The 36-year-old principal at Running Brook Elementary is a familiar face to students and staff. He spent the past three years there as a respected, dynamic assistant principal. It was hard for him to leave the school when he was transferred to Waterloo Elementary as an assistant principal at the beginning of the summer. But a series of transfers and promotions within the school system created an opening at his beloved Running Brook, which resulted in his returning to the school just as he had virtually completed the transition to his new assignment.

Jacqueline T. Lamp, a longtime Baltimore County educator who was principal of Loch Raven High School, died Tuesday of ovarian cancer at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. The Rodgers Forge resident was 61. At her death, Mrs. Lamp had been principal of Loch Raven High School for the past four years. Mrs. Lamp, after enduring her chemotherapy treatments, would return to work, and had been there as late as last Thursday, colleagues said. During her illness, a tin mailbox was placed in the school's office.

Harford County Public Schools has named Roger L. Plunkett, 51, a 31-year veteran of the Howard County public schools, as the new assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. He was appointed by the Board of Education at its business meeting Monday to succeed Gerald E. Scarborough, who is retiring tomorrow after 37 years with HCPS. Plunkett, a former teacher and department chair at Howard High School, has also been assistant principal at Hammond High and principal at Atholton and Wilde Lake high schools.