Back To School

Age; Residence 35; WestminsterSalary: $43,447Family: Wife: Barbara, pupil personnel worker for Carroll schools; her children, Laura, 16; Jessica, 12Education: Bachelor's degree, Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, Pa., 1978; master's degree in education, Western Maryland College, 1984Previous work experience:Social studies teacher for a private school in Los Angeles; history teacher at Southwestern School District, Pa.; teacher and guidance counselor at...

Before the first day of school, county students were invited to attend an open house at their respective schools. During this night, the students were introduced to their teachers, shown their classrooms, and met classmates and schoolmates. Now it's the parents' turn. As their children adjust to new buildings, new teachers, new friends, class changes and schedules, parents are invited to attend an orientation meeting in their child's school. "The parent nights are an essential start of the home and school partnership," said Peggy Kirk, principal at Emmorton Elementary in Bel Air. Called Back to School Nights, the events are held in the evening, and bring parents in droves to the schools.

Dedication and love of music brought Karenn Marold, 18, back to school early to help prepare new band members for their first year.Also, she said, "I'm so bored, I can't wait to get back to school.""This is where I get to be with all of my friends," said Karenn, a trombone player who recently joined several Patterson High School band members for a hot afternoon's practice days before the start of school.Two other band members, Brian Pisani, 16 and Scott Guinto, 17, were downright joyful about their return to school.

Words of encouragement from a variety of men will welcome Baltimore public school students returning to classes tomorrow. Young people fresh from summer vacation will be greeted at the front doors and sidewalks of their school by fathers, elected officials, college students and other men as part of the fourth annual Men of Baltimore Welcome Our Children Back to School campaign. The male leadership campaign was the brainchild of Marvin "Doc" Cheatham, president of the Baltimore branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Age; residence: 38; Bel AirSalary: $59,324Family: Husband, Jim, regional sales manager for Merry-Go-Round Enterprises; sons, Aaron, 7, and Elliott, 3; daughter, Audrey, 1Education: Bachelor's degree in learning and behavior disorders, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, 1974; master's in learning and behavior disorders, Bowling Green State University, 1976; educational specialist, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Mich., 1980; doctorate of philosophy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.

Daniel Deckelbaum knew his long summer of tennis, baseball card trading and just "hanging out" was over this week when his mom told him it was time to go shopping for school supplies."

It won't be business as usual as county public schools prepare to open Tuesday under a tight budget and a teacher job action.No one yet knows how the system's 31,000 students will be affected if teachers carry out their threat to stay home from unpaid after-hours activities. Teachers vowed to take that step after the county government tightened the school budget, forcing the school board to renege on a 6 percent raise in the teachers' contract.But the teachers' action will not affect academics, pledged JamesR.

For most parents, the prospect of the annual back-to-school shopping trip with the kids is about as welcome as tax time. It has to be done, but you don't have to like it. Elementary school-age children are the short form, but they're not necessarily all that easy. Aside from the investment of money and time they put into clothes buying, parents still have that nagging insecurity that they've made mistakes.Let's dispose of the guilt factor at least. It is impossible to scar children for life with occasional lapses in parental fashion judgment.

"Hey, Dad," my youngest son chortled happily. "This is just like Christmas!"He was pulling new clothes and school supplies from a small mound of shopping bags.My wife had just returned from an afternoon of pre-school shopping and had deposited the bags in the middle of the living room floor. The new clothes received cursory approval, and the school supplies soon found their way into the zippered cavities of a new backpack.Just like Christmas?As a child, I knew I had never thought of my back-to-school stuff in that way. In fact, I remember that the traditional late summer purchase of new clothes, assorted notebooks, pencils and other school supplies served only as a vivid reminder that summer vacation was over and the drudgery of school was about to begin.

SUMMER unofficially comes to a close Monday, when children begin trundling back to school. It seems as though I've paid closer attention to the opening of school this year than I have before.My reason is purely selfish. If we get through this year, I'm done. By my count, I will have graduated from high school three times -- once on my own, twice with my kids.Mother Hen will be out of chicks after this year. No more shopping for back-to-school anythings. I do not include packing a kid off to college in that shopping category.