Day Of School

Cindy Compton once mused among friends about how nice it would be to be chauffeured to school in a limousine on her last day before retirement. Compton, as it turns out, has the kind of friends who remember wishes and the kind of principal and co-workers intent on making them come true. They surprised the 51-year- old first-grade teacher yesterday morning by sending a white stretch limo to drive her and four longtime friends and fellow teachers from Compton's Westminster home to Mount Airy Elementary School, where Compton has taught the same grade for 31 years.

I hope you have child-care plans lined up because Baltimore County Public Schools said today that the last day of classes will be Friday, June 14, instead of Tuesday, June 18. More information here: http://www.bcps.org/news/articles/article3220.html

I WENT TO "parents' night" at my kids' school recently. When I was a kid, about the only time your parents showed up at school was when you were in danger of expulsion. But nowadays schools have these get-acquainted evenings during which teachers meet parents. The emphasis is on the "joy of learning" instead of "the likelihood of detention."Like most properly run households, ours operates with exacting precision. The other night, for instance, the original plan called for my wife to represent the family at the school.

For all the horrible scenarios I had in mind for my first day of high school, a shooting never crossed my mind. It was fourth period and we were just about to watch a movie when the intercom crackled. My principal declared, "We are in a lockdown. " Initially, I wasn't scared. I was curious. Even excited. My whole class was. Because "lockdown" sounded like something straight out of "CSI. " But we had no idea that someone had just gotten shot. We had no idea that soon, the whole school - the whole community - would be in a state which my government teacher labeled "controlled chaos.

To whom it may concern:This note is to explain why Marcus was absent yesterday, the first day of school in the city of Baltimore. He was unfortunately detained with Tony and Nicole and Christine and Frank and Jamahl and Crystal and Gary and Nefiteria and David and Darnell and dozens of other children. When last seen yesterday morning, they were all in Room 125 of the Clarence Mitchell Courthouse. They were waiting for attorneys to represent them in Juvenile Court. All classroom activities will have to commence without them.

Attention schoolchildren: Think twice before you jump with joy the next time school is called off for snow this year, should that happen again.Friday's snow day already could mean an extra day tacked onto the end of the school year, and any more snow days will just add to that, pending a school board action.Carroll school officials had figured on three snow days when they set up the calendar for the 1992-1993 school year that was to end June 17. But Friday was the fourth day that schools closed because of snow.

That first day in the first grade turned bad when my Hopalong Cassidy Thermos bottle sprang a leak and the butter went rancid on my chicken sandwich.It was the Tuesday after Labor Day 1956. My sister Ellen and I, dressed in unworn, scratchy school uniforms, were each off to school. The first son and the first daughter, we were what my mother called her Irish twins, born 10 months and 28 days apart.As if that day didn't bring enough apprehension, the neighbors on each side of the family house on Guilford Avenue assembled bright and early.

For students and teachers alike, the last day of school is a time to celebrate -- summer vacation has finally arrived. But it can also bring moments of melancholy. Friends part. Lockers empty. Things change. The Sun asked nine students at Park School in Brooklandville to chronicle their vision of the last day of school. Each was given a disposable camera, a notebook and a simple instruction: Show us what it's like. The budding photojournalists, who ranged in age from 9 to 17, say Friday, June 7, was a typical last day -- filled with hugs and tears, exhaustion and manic energy.

First day for teachers: Aug. 31Last day of school: June 17Winter vacation: Dec. 24 through Jan. 2Spring break: March 31 through April 5Days report cards are distributed: Nov. 5; Jan. 27; April 15; June 17Lunch prices:Elementary: $1.15Middle and high school: $1.30Adult: $2.25Milk: 30 centsBreakfast: 75 centsImmunizations (shots) required: Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, rubella, measles, mumps and Haemophilus influenza Type Equipment: Required supplies vary by school, grade and teacher.

A leaky roof. A teary-eyed mother. A false fire alarm that left children in the rain.A total of 23,948 children walked into the halls and classrooms for the first day at Carroll County schools yesterday, bringing no more than the usual number of mix-ups, tears and the like, officials said."

The student victim of a shooting at Perry Hall High School is getting better, but he's "not out of the woods," his family's pastor said Thursday. Daniel Borowy, 17, underwent surgery earlier this week and has another scheduled for Friday, said Dominic Correlli of the Perry Hall Family Worship Center. "He has improved, but he's going through a lot," Correlli said. Correlli said that when he visited the hospital Thursday, Borowy was groggy, hooked up to equipment and could not talk.

While visiting classes on the first day of school, new Howard County Superintendent Renee Foose had a pedometer strapped to her waist as part of a systemwide program for employees that emphasizes health. By midmorning, she had already logged tens of thousand of steps, canvassing hallways, classrooms, weight rooms, media centers and cafeterias of the system she took over in July. "This is like a kid waking up on Christmas morning. That's exciting," said Foose, who joined other local, state and elected officials in ushering in the first day of the academic calendar year for many jurisdictions.

For many, many in our readership area (and on my Facebook feed), today is the first day of school. I have another year before my older son starts kindergarten, so this isn't a dramatic moment in our household just yet. But I know it is for others! How are you coping? Or are you doing the Dance of Joy because you've got a little time to yourself back? We've got Facebook commenting enabled, so feel free to share below. Speaking of Facebook, follow Homefront on Facebook here . And please share your back-to-school pictures in our gallery here .

Dallas Dance knew a little of what the Perry Hall High School students were going through Monday after a student was critically wounded in the cafeteria by another student. His senior year at Armstrong High School in Richmond, Va., a 14-year-old student had opened fire with a pistol in a hallway, wounding two adults as students took exams. No one prepares superintendents for first days like this, but Baltimore County's new superintendent said school systems always prepare for such acts of violence.

Since opening its doors in 1952, Westowne Elementary School has seen plenty of first days. But while every first day of school is different, the one common theme for students, teachers, and staff at the school on Harlem Lane has been a feeling of excitement. Pat Vogel, who is beginning her 18th year as a teacher/administrator in the Baltimore County school system, felt the enthusiasm again when Westowne opened on Monday. "Parents are excited because it's their time to send their children back to us," said Vogel, Westowne's principal since 2006.

Baltimore County Superintendent Joe A. Hairston looked out this week at 700 elementary students spread out on their school's lawn to celebrate the groundbreaking for a long-awaited new wing. The ceremony was like dozens before it, but for Hairston the event took him full circle. He told the children that he had been there a dozen years before, breaking ground for an earlier addition to Stoneleigh Elementary. "Twelve years of my life has been devoted to Baltimore County," the departing superintendent said later in an interview.

An article in yesterday's editions of The Sun gave an incorrect comparison between the population of Randleman, N.C., and Howard High School's student body. The Ellicott City school has about 1,500 students. The North Carolina town has about 2,600 residents.The Sun regrets the error.As Chuck Berry, that great scholar of American adolescence, once sang: "Up in the morning and off to school . . ."Across Maryland this week, about 385,000 children in Anne Arundel, Carroll, Howard and Baltimore counties will do just that as another year of school lies before them, blank as a freshly erased chalkboard.

It's not clear who was more excited about the first day of school yesterday, kindergartner Tony Thewes of Laurel or his mother, Donna -- though it was probably Mrs. Thewes."

What a difference a week can make. From an earthquake to a hurricane to an extra two days of summer vacation, school is finally in session! A First-Day Celebration at Cedarmere Elementary happened on the third day, but parents and teachers alike were just happy that the power was on and the school year could begin. Friendly faces greeted the students and their parents as they made their way to the classrooms. Outside the cafeteria, the PTA sponsored a breakfast for the parents as they awaited the welcome address.

Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Harford County schools will be closed Tuesday as those systems postponed the start of the school year for a second day in a row because of power outages caused by Hurricane Irene. Anne Arundel, which opened schools last week, also are closed Tuesday. In Baltimore City, 30 school buildings that comprise 42 schools were without power late Monday afternoon, down from more than 60, according to Keith Scroggins, chief operating officer for city schools.