Manchester Elementary

Hampstead Volunteer Fire Company Auxiliary will hold basket bingo April 5 at the fire hall. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and games will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door for three cards for 20 games. Refreshments will be sold. Additional cards, jackpot games and raffles will be available. Tickets may be purchased at Raver Insurance Agency and Petals Flowers & Gifts in Hampstead. Sponsors for baskets are needed. Anyone wishing to sponsor a basket or donate a door prize should call the numbers below.

Some people may wear their hearts on their sleeves, but the second-graders at Manchester Elementary School added other major organs to their outfits. With glue, scissors and brown paper bags, the pupils fashioned anatomy aprons - vests on which they attached pictures of organs that they had cut out and colored in. The project was part of a Carroll County lesson plan at Manchester that culminates each year in a public performance that combines biological education with musical presentation.

Hampstead and Manchester elementary schools are joining in a program that allows teachers from one building to pair up with teachers in the other and coach each other on better ways to do their jobs.Principals of the two schools heard their teachers saying they wanted more opportunities for professional feedback in nonthreatening ways, in addition to the evaluation that administrators do.So Hampstead Principal Judy Walker and Manchester Principal Robert Bruce wrote a grant request to the county superintendent.

Carroll County's Manchester has a new window on the world. It's a glass wall in an eight-sided wooden frame building set in a meadow of the town's Pine Valley Park, down the hill and through the woods from Manchester Elementary School.The new nature center was formally opened for the community this month, although the school has been using it for outside classes for a while now. It's a place to recall the discoveries of a nearby field trip, to work on art and writing projects, to display nature projects and student artwork.

FAMILY FUN will be the theme for Spring Garden Elementary's annual Spring Garden Party on Saturday.The carnival is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the school on Boxwood Drive in Hampstead.Games that cost 25 cents each, a free magic show and food choices are scaled to the elementary school child.Crafts this year include sand art, bracelets that display one's name, spin art and colored hair spray -- perhaps the most popular choice for all ages last year, said one teacher.At noon, Hampstead magician Cal Horelick will present his "Magic by Cal" show on the school stage.

Even the first-graders at Manchester Elementary School know that if their new principal, Robert Bruce, is wearing a button on his lapel, he's having a good day."No button means tread lightly," said Mr. Bruce, who wore a button every day last week, his first week of classes in Manchester.Friday's button read, "You can make a difference."Mr. Bruce has collected buttons for 13 years. About 1,400 hang on banners in his office. He believes they are one of the little touches that will help him make a difference at Manchester Elementary.

Team Six students at East Middle will participate in Europe Day on Friday.Foreign exchange students from Westminster High -- Jens Rakowski of Germany, Therrese Fasko of Switzerland, Jari Selin and JiinaTuominen of Finland and Caroline Maillet of France -- will explain the culture and customs of their native countries.Also, Maria's Restaurant in Westminster has agreed to cater a special lunch of chicken kapama, mousaka, xoriatiki, bread and butter and rizzogalo.Other school programs include:* Manchester Elementary's student council is sponsoring a food collection for the Northeast Social Action Program through Nov. 26.Students and teachers are bringing in boxed and canned food.

A Carroll County family that has temporarily moved a quarter-mile across the Baltimore County line must pay tuition for their children to continue attending Manchester Elementary School, the school board has ruled.Board members refused Wednesday to change the policy to allow a one-year grace period from tuition for families that have been living in Carroll County but move out of the county temporarily while their new homes are being built.Rose and Charles Frase of Grave Run Road had asked the board to change the policy or waive it for them because of what they termed extenuating circumstances.

Manchester Elementary School Principal Bonnie Ferrier has been promoted to supervisor of elementary education for county schools.The county school board approved Ms. Ferrier's promotion at its meeting yesterday, along with the reassignments of several assistant principals.Ms. Ferrier has been principal at Manchester since 1988. She has spent a total of 26 years as a teacher and school administrator, all in Carroll.Her successor has not yet been appointed.The board also voted to transfer the following assistant principals:* Robert B. Bowden from Liberty High to South Carroll High.