Day School

Carroll County's pre-Labor Day school start drew strong criticism yesterday from Commissioner W. Benjamin Brown, who complained the date interfered with vacations and end-of-summer celebrations associated with the holiday."

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

Calvert School, the private, pre-kindergarten through eighth grade day school in North Baltimore, announced Wednesday that it has sold its more than 100-year-old distance learning business to a private equity firm. The terms of the sale of Calvert Education Services to an investment group led by the Baltimore-based Camden Partners Holdings LLC were not disclosed. "It has a wonderful reputation as a real leader in both home schooling and online education," said David Warnock, Camden Partners' chairman.

Carol G. Hjortsberg, former head of Grace Episcopal Day School and author of a history of St. Anne's Episcopal Church in Annapolis, died March 27 from complications of diabetes at Baltimore Washington Medical Center. She was 69. "Carol was very accomplished and a brilliant intellect. She was completely and totally dedicated to the education of children and children in Episcopal schools," said Elizabeth I. Legenhausen, who retired last year after 25 years as head of St. James Academy in Monkton.

The attorney for a Baltimore private school teacher has acknowledged that his client had sex with a former student, but says he is innocent of any crime because the contact was part of a consensual, adult relationship. Foye C. Minton, 33, of Cockeysville, was charged with second-degree child abuse, police said, and is being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center on $250,000 bond. A lawyer who has represented Minton in previous traffic cases released a statement on his behalf Tuesday that said he had no inappropriate contact with his accuser when she was a minor.

A Baltimore private school teacher and coach was arrested last week after an investigation by the Baltimore County Police Department's Crimes Against Children Unit, police said Monday. Foye C. Minton Jr., 33, of Cockeysville, was charged with second-degree child abuse, police said, and is being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center on $250,000 bond. Police said a victim, now 20, came forward in December alleging that the abuse started in 2009 when she was a student at Shoshana S. Cardin School in Baltimore.

The Harford County Child Advocacy Center has filed child sexual abuse charges against a 62-year-old fourth-grade teacher at Harford Day School in Bel Air. In a news release announcing the center's action, the Harford state's attorney's office said that Daniel E. Harner was taken into custody Wednesday and charged with four counts: child abuse, third-degree sex offense, fourth-degree sex offense and second-degree assault. He is accused of fondling an 11-year-old male pupil at the school Monday, according to the state's attorney's office.

A veteran educator now working in Texas has been named interim head of St. Timothy's School in Stevenson. Henry Payson "Peter" Briggs Jr., temporary head at Fort Worth Country Day School in Fort Worth, will assume his post at St. Timothy's on Aug. 1, said Jan Milliken Russell, chairwoman of the board of trustees and a 1967 graduate of the private boarding and day school for girls. Briggs, 70, will replace Deborah M. Cook, who has been head of the school for nine years. Cook announced her resignation last month, saying she wanted to explore other professional opportunities.

Randy Scott Stevens, a dean and teacher at a Massachusetts boarding and day school, has been named the head of St. Timothy's School in Stevenson, effective July 1. One of 40 candidates interviewed for the job, Stevens, 38, has been at the Northfield Mount Hermon School in Northfield, Mass. -- the largest boarding school in the country, with 910 students living on campus -- since 1997. He is the dean of student life and a member of the senior management team at the coeducational school.

It might not be the final plan.A proposal to build 53 houses on 90 acres owned by St. Timothy's School in Stevenson -- which sparked one of Baltimore County's most bitter development battles in recent years -- could be changed, school and community leaders say.But, as part of a recent agreement, any changes could only reduce the number of homes in the Bridle Ridge development."

It promises to be an out of this world experience when a former astronaut visits Harford Day School on Tuesday, March 12 to talk about the latest things humankind has learned about the next world over, Mars. Donald A. Thomas, who spent 19 years as a NASA astronaut logging 1,040 hours in space, is scheduled to speak from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Harford Day, 715 Moores Mill Road in Bel Air. Thomas will talk about what has been learned thanks to Curiosity, the Mars rover that landed Aug. 6, 2012 and has been exploring the surface of the red planet ever since.

A Baltimore private school teacher and coach was arrested last week after an investigation by the Baltimore County Police Department's Crimes Against Children Unit, police said Monday. Foye C. Minton Jr., 33, of Cockeysville, was charged with second-degree child abuse, police said, and is being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center on $250,000 bond. Police said a victim, now 20, came forward in December alleging that the abuse started in 2009 when she was a student at Shoshana S. Cardin School in Baltimore.

The attorney for a Baltimore private school teacher has acknowledged that his client had sex with a former student, but says he is innocent of any crime because the contact was part of a consensual, adult relationship. Foye C. Minton, 33, of Cockeysville, was charged with second-degree child abuse, police said, and is being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center on $250,000 bond. A lawyer who has represented Minton in previous traffic cases released a statement on his behalf Tuesday that said he had no inappropriate contact with his accuser when she was a minor.

Harford Day School students and staff recently performed several activities to help others, including families in New Jersey affected by Super Storm Sandy and Harford Family House.

Calvert School, the private, pre-kindergarten through eighth grade day school in North Baltimore, announced Wednesday that it has sold its more than 100-year-old distance learning business to a private equity firm. The terms of the sale of Calvert Education Services to an investment group led by the Baltimore-based Camden Partners Holdings LLC were not disclosed. "It has a wonderful reputation as a real leader in both home schooling and online education," said David Warnock, Camden Partners' chairman.

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.

On November 20, 2004 JOSEPH E. GIBSON of South Baltimore, he is lovingly survived by his wife Geraldine, 4 daughters and 5 grandchildren. The family will receive friends at the family owned and operated MCCULLY-POLYNIAK FUNERAL HOME P.A., 130 E. Fort Ave. (S. Baltimore) on Monday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. where services will be held on Tuesday at 12 noon. Entombment in Loudon Park Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his memory to the St. John Christian Day School (Brooklyn)

This church was profiled in last Friday's Howard Sun. Denomination: Episcopalian Leadership: The Rev. William Shiflet, rector; associate rector, Doris Johnson; assistant rector, Mary Jane Ledgerwood Size: 875 families Location: 9120 Frederick Road, Ellicott City Date founded: 1822 Phone: church, 410-461-7793; day school, 410-465-7644 Worship services: Sunday, 7:45 a.m.; 9 a.m. (traditional and family folk services); and 11:15 a.m. Children's program: Sunday worship at 9 a.m.; Sunday School at 10:15 a.m.

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.

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.