Enrollment

Every few years, officials of the county government and its school system pour too much time and resources into a process that creates ill feelings among parents and children and headaches all around, all because no one seems able to predict with any degree of certainty where local classroom populations will bulge and where they will shrink. School redistricting is inevitable, of course, but the seemingly endless need for wholesale changes to the map points toward systemic flaws.

Thomas E. Florestano, a long-serving president of Anne Arundel Community College, died March 31 of Parkinson's disease complications at Ginger Cove Health Center. He was 79 and had lived in Annapolis. "Tom did a great deal to bring our community college into national prominence," said former Anne Arundel County Executive Robert Neall. "He was local. He knew the county and he knew our needs. He was a mentor and a friend. " Born in Annapolis and raised on Monticello Avenue, he was the son of Ernest Florestano and Lena Lorea.

Parents interested in having their children participate in the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth have until Nov. 30 to enroll them. The program is for bright students in second through eighth grades. The students must take tests, offered locally, to qualify them for CTY's summer or online courses for academically gifted students. Financial aid is available for children eligible for the free- and reduced-price lunch program. Information can be found by e-mailing ctyinfo@jhu.

St. Ambrose Catholic School in Park Heights is closing at the end of the school year, the Archdiocese of Baltimore announced Wednesday. "Due to the low enrollment, St. Ambrose has been unable to meet financial obligations, including payroll and health benefits for employees, without assistance from the Archdiocese," a statement from the Archdiocese said. About 120 pupils in kindergarten through eighth grade are enrolled at the school, and only 65 were registered to attend next year, the statement said.

Enrollment at Anne Arundel Community College has increased 5 percent for the fall semester. And with more students on campus, there are more traffic and parking headaches as well as a premium on class space. Students have flooded community colleges during the nation's economic downturn, looking for bargain-rate classes to burnish their resumes. In addition to adding more online courses to deal with the influx, AACC has begun offering classes in the middle of the night. Still, the college turns away more than 200 qualified students to its nursing trainee program each year, though the school has worked to more efficiently manage professors' schedules to accommodate more students.

By the start of classes in August 2011, white students in Howard County are expected to be a minority, joining those in Baltimore County. The two school systems are riding a demographic wave that carries broad implications for how students are taught. Baltimore County two years ago joined Baltimore City and Montgomery, Prince George's, Charles and Somerset counties as Maryland jurisdictions where minorities outnumber white students in public schools, although the development was little noticed at the time.

Anne Arundel Community College recently reported that 1991 summer enrollment set a new record at the school.Enrollment reached a final count of 4,161 students, up by 188 over the 1990 summer term. The college offered the same number of courses this summer and last, but added class sections to accommodate demand for courses in fields such as English.

BOSTON -- Higher education has been a prime means of transporting black Americans into the economic mainstream even before the 1960s civil rights revolution. But that means may be sputtering a bit, according to recent statistics.While the enrollment of African-Americans in colleges and HTC universities has risen remarkably over the last three decades, the bulk of that growth came in the 1970s and slowed in later years. Today, some analysts see a widening gap in college attendance between black and white high school graduates.

After eight years of significant growth, enrollment in Anne Arundel Community College has dropped off slightly this year for the first time.The number of students enrolling this fall totaled 12,077, 2.6 percent fewer than last fall's record of 12,401.It marks the second semester in which enrollments have declined. In the spring, 3 percent fewer students enrolled than during the 1991 spring semester.College officials attributed that decrease less to tuition hikes and more to students' career demands and lack of free time.

Enrollment figures at Carroll Community College are up slightly, but not as much as the financial office had budgeted for, according to the college's finance director."

Our preview on Mount St. Mary's will be published Friday, but here's a sampling of my interview with coach Tom Gravante. The Mountaineers have taken the unusual step of asking a trio of seniors in attackman Cody Lehrer, midfielder Eric Ososki and long-stick midfielder Mark Burns to sit out the upcoming season despite being healthy. All three players are business majors, and after graduating this spring, they will enter the school's MBA program. They will be play in 2013 when the team will be competing to win the Northeast Conference tournament and the subsequent automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament - which is not available in 2012.

Howard County schools Superintendent Sydney Cousin unveiled Thursday night a $697 million budget for fiscal year 2013 that is about 2 percent greater than last year's budget and adds 69 new positions to address enrollment growth. Most new positions would be teachers: 43 in elementary school, 12 in high school and one in middle school. In addition, the budget calls for no layoffs or furloughs, school officials said. This year's budget requests $476 million from the county and $215 million from the state.

Whether Maryland's historically black colleges and universities can compete in producing graduates commensurate in ability with those of other institutions in the state should be the sole factor in determining their funding ("Md. fails to keep its promise to HBCUs," Dec. 28). The necessity to constantly compensate for past discrimination, real or imagined, has ended. To the extent that Maryland's HBCUs feel their state funding hasn't kept pace with that of other state institutions of higher learning, their complaint could be addressed by merging the HBCUs more completely into the overall University System of Maryland.

Catholic school enrollment continued to decline this year, although at a slower pace than in recent years, according to the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The archdiocese said the number of its students declined 4.3 percent this year. However, the latest statistics, as of Sept. 30, reflect the lowest rate of decline in the past four years. After the archdiocese decided to close 13 schools at the end of the 2009-2010 school year, the schools' enrollment declined 9 percent, according to Sean Caine, a spokesman for the archdiocese.

When Luke Fisher of Westminster graduated from high school five years ago, he had doubts that he could excel at a four-year school. He turned down an offer to attend Towson University and opted instead for Carroll Community College. Fisher would become editor of the campus newspaper and a peer mentor for first-year college students. He is set to graduate this spring with an associate's degree, and plans now to pursue his bachelor's degree. He's found a couple of area schools - including the University of Maryland and Hood College - that appear particularly eager to have him. "Their transfer advisers went above and beyond trying to get me to visit their campuses," said Fisher.

This month and next, many workers will be called on to choose their health benefits for next year. And the choices made during open enrollment, well, you'll be paying for them for at least a year. It's a good idea to read all the fine print to make sure you understand just how much you will be paying. The plan with the lowest premium isn't necessarily the cheapest if you consider deductibles and co-pays. And more employers will be pushing more of the cost of coverage on workers' shoulders through higher deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses.

Enrollment at the University System of Maryland is up 5 percent from last fall, with most of the additional students concentrated at the University of Maryland University College, which serves nontraditional students. About 6,580 more students came to the University System of Maryland this semester than in fall 2005. Of that number, 5,352 are attending UMUC, according to the system's preliminary enrollment report. Figures don't include overseas students. The UMUC head count reached 33,096 this fall, exceeding projections by almost 2,500, said Gayle Fink, director of institutional research at the University System of Maryland.

It was with considerable interest that I read your article on Baltimore City students' enrollment in community colleges ("Two-year college enrollment rising in city," Sept. 12). Even with proper counseling and guidance, many high school graduates are still unsure what they want for their futures and so may choose a two-year college program to assist in "finding" themselves. For those who do, transferring to a four-year institution does indeed represent a successful outcome.

Every few years, officials of the county government and its school system pour too much time and resources into a process that creates ill feelings among parents and children and headaches all around, all because no one seems able to predict with any degree of certainty where local classroom populations will bulge and where they will shrink. School redistricting is inevitable, of course, but the seemingly endless need for wholesale changes to the map points toward systemic flaws.