Clarksville Elementary

"This class has a phenomenal wealth of talent, " proclaimed Glenelg High School Principal Jim McGregor about the Class of 1994, which graduated Tuesday.Citing the fine arts, drama, choral and instrumental music accomplishments of the class, Mr. McGregor asserted that he has been amazed by the gifts of the group. Class members proved their academic aptness Tuesday with more than 54 percent of them receiving certificate of merit diplomas, distinguishing the recipients as students who have maintained high grades while taking many honors classes.

Seven-year-old Harish Lall put a dollar in his account the other day and vowed to keep depositing money until he saved enough to buy a $2,000 laptop computer. Getting to the bank, at least, will be easy: It's at school. Every Friday before class, Harish and other pupils at Swansfield Elementary in Columbia deposit their coins, bills and checks in the school's bank -- an honest-to-goodness, FDIC-insured place to hand over their money. That's because Farmers and Mechanics National Bank is backing the project, and the deposits are transferred to its vaults.

RIVER HILL High School's Marching Band participated in its first competition Sept. 27 in Westminster.Under the direction of Steve Wampler and the leadership of drum major Melynda McBeth and assistant drum major Justin Earp, the unit took home five trophies for first place in Division II: outstanding silks, outstanding percussion, outstanding music and outstanding general effect.The marching Hawks are preparing for competition Oct. 18 at Mount Vernon High School in Alexandria, Va.Western Howard County residents show enthusiastic support for school music programs year after year.

They are unlikely heroes.High school students at Wilde Lake at River Hill identified as at risk of becoming dropouts are tutoring second-graders at neighboring Clarksville Elementary School.Those concerned say it is working splendidly. The at-risk students -- who used to cut school and get poor grades -- now look forward to solid futures. The second-graders look forward to seeing their role models every Monday.Sue Bullock created the tutoring program in October. She is the Howard County coordinator for the state's dropout prevention program, Maryland's Tomorrow.

At Shipley's Choice Elementary— one of the highest-achieving schools in the Baltimore region — the important state test is almost not relevant to what is going on in the classroom anymore. "I believe the [Maryland School Assessment] is not a great challenge for the boys and girls at Shipley. Their ability levels are higher than MSA," said Principal Rocco Ferretti. "We are not drilling the skills. ... Our boys and girls are doing things that don't look anything like the test.

Questions surrounding which children will be moved in Howard County's redistricting plans drew scores of parents to last night's Board of Education meeting. Many of the parents were from the Pointers Run neighborhood in Clarksville, attending to express concern about severe crowding at Pointers Run Elementary School. Although the school has a capacity of 794, more than 1,100 children are enrolled for this school year. School system official David Drown, who has been working with a citizens advisory committee to draw new boundary lines for the county's high schools, said last night that the school board should set up a similar committee to relieve crowding at Pointers Run. Drown said between 200 and 250 children enrolled at Pointers Run should be moved to nearby schools - such as Clarksville Elementary - for the 2002-2003 school year.

New Howard County schools Superintendent Renee Foose lauded the system's results on the Maryland School Assessment tests but said she's concerned about the focus that is placed on proficiency exams in general. "I'm concerned that all of our energy goes into this [test scores] release, and I want that same energy to go into more education of the whole child. That's my personal concern," said Foose, who took over as county superintendent this month, replacing Sydney Cousin. The former Baltimore County deputy superintendent inherited one of the state's best-performing school systems, as evidenced in rankings of the Baltimore-area schools with the highest percentages of students who passed the MSA. Clarksville Elementary posted a 98.6 percent passing mark, tops for Howard schools and 12th among all Baltimore-area schools, according to an analysis of Maryland State Department of Education data by The Baltimore Sun. St. John's Lane Elementary in Ellicott City (98.6 percent)

Popular songs: Karen Randall, a music teacher, leads children at Clarksville Elementary School in the singing of such old favorites as "Down by the Bay," "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and "Yankee Doodle" for a program about the millennium. (Article, Page 6B)

Student achiever: Caroline Kim, 10 School: Clarksville Elementary School Special achievement: Placed second in the Maryland State Music Teachers Association piano competition. She competed against 14 other students, all playing Haydn Concertino and Komponiert 1760. Caroline, who is a fan of difficult pieces, said Haydn's was one of the most challenging she's ever played. What she says about the achievement: "At first, I didn't think I was going to win because it's one of my worst parts."

Fire fund accepting donations for custodianThe Clarksville Fire Fund is accepting donations for the family of Frances Williams, a custodian at Clarksville Elementary School for more than 15 years, whose home was destroyed in a fire Oct. 18. No one was injured.Clothing and temporary housing needs have been met.Contributions to the fund may be sent to Clarksville Elementary's office at 12041 Route 108, Clarksville, Md. 21029, or directly to Sandy Spring National Bank, 12276 Route 108, Clarksville, Md. 21029, Attention: Clarksville Fire Fund.