Middle School

MY SON, JOE, HAS been released from middle school. I would say "graduated," but that's grandiose. They opened the doors on the last day of school, and Joe and his fellow eighth-graders walked out for the last time.If that description recalls cons leaving the Big House, it is not unintentional. I think the principal even clapped them on the shoulder and said something hopeful about their not returning.And I think I heard the building sigh as they left. I know the teachers did."It's like trying to teach hamburgers to flip themselves," one of Joe's teachers said once.

Thanksgiving vacation arrived just in time. I needed the break. My first three months of middle school were tougher than I expected.I spent August thinking, "28 days to live, 27 days to live . . ." I thought there would be a fight the first day or an ambush in the lav.Turns out, there were no "swirlies" in the john -- I'd heard that's what they did to sixth-graders. But the new gym uniform got ripped off and so did the novel for language arts. Got slammed into the locker once a day by some unknown jerk.

East Middle School has recognized 12 students for their citizenship during the school year 1994-1995.Honored students are Jamie Wilson, Carol Mullinix, Ethan Seney-Himler, Ashley Christensen, Sara Roche, Andrea Drzewianowski, Charles Cotterman, Andrew Leister, Emily Kalda, Nicole Connelly, Andrew Gaver and Lyndi Dinterman.POLICE* Westminster: Two bikes were reported stolen Thursday from residents of Milton Avenue, city police said. One was a 24-inch lime-green Huffy boys bicycle valued at $85. The other was a 24-inch blue Ross girls bike valued at $150.

The Chesapeake Academy will hold a fair for prospective middle school students from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 10 at the academy, 1185 Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd., Arnold. Admission directors from area private schools will be available to answer questions and share information about their schools. Participating schools include Annapolis Area Christian School, Severn School, Queen Anne School, Indian Creek School, Friends School and Bryn Mawr School. Fourth- and fifth-grade students and their parents are welcome to attend.

AND the board broke.Those of us who broke our boards that day carried our souvenirs with us to display to every student, administrator, teacher or staff member we saw in Loch Raven Middle School and to explain our accomplishments to anyone who would listen. (I suspect some very patient people heard our tale more than once.)Dressed in sweats and exercise clothes, we assembled in the mat room off the gym for first period class one morning in September. We were one English teacher, 30 seventh-grade students and our one-day-a-week mentor, Sun reporter Joe Nawrozki.

This table shows the total percentage of Carroll County middle school students who scored at advanced or proficient levels in tests administered as part of the Maryland School Assessment. SIXTH GRADE SEVENTH GRADE EIGHTH GRADE Reading Math Reading Math Reading Math '05 '04 '05 '04 '05 '04 '05 '04 '05 '04 '03 '05 '04 '03 Carroll schools 82.8 80.8 70.9 62.0 81.5 82.9 65.2 64.9 82.9 78.2 75.9 61.9 58.5 52.3 Mount Airy 86.0 88.2 72.6 67.8 87.8 90.2 68.3 64.9 85.1 81.4 78.9 52.3 56.2 49.0 New Windsor 79.6 83.9 65.3 62.7 86.3 82.3 66.0 50.0 85.3 76.3 83.3 49.7 55.9 60.4 North Carroll 78.2 79.4 70.6 55.4 83.4 76.1 60.2 57.7 76.6 76.5 75.6 63.1 58.5 49.1 Northwest 73.8 73.0 65.4 46.3 74.7 76.9 48.9 54.7 79.5 68.5 60.6 52.0 43.8 34.7 Oklahoma Road 87.3 85.7 79.8 67.6 85.7 89.2 72.4 81.9 88.2 89.6 86.7 75.0 74.5 60.6 Shiloh 86.7 81.3 73.9 63.4 81.6 85.8 63.1 70.3 85.7 75.3 77.3 60.9 57.5 56.0 Sykesville 85.9 81.7 75.5 66.2 80.7 84.0 71.7 67.3 85.6 77.5 75.5 75.1 64.6 54.5 Westminster East 77.5 74.6 54.8 61.6 77.1 77.8 68.4 61.6 82.6 73.3 69.2 63.8 51.3 49.9 Westminster West 86.5 82.7 76.1 66.3 82.3 85.0 68.1 68.6 82.0 83.5 78.6 61.6 59.9 56.4

These tables show the percentage of students who scored at advanced or proficient levels on reading and math tests a part of the Maryland School Assessment. The official scores are online at Maryland Report Card Web Site (www.mdreportcard.org). Scores reported here from past years may differ slightly from scores reported online because of interim corrections. Maryland Schools 71.9 70.3 71.1 67.2 67.0 66.4 65.6 60.1 60.1 55.3 55.0 51.7 Anne Arundel County Anne Arundel Schools 76.1 74.5 75.5 73.5 73.0 73.1 72.4 68.3 69.7 67.7 69.2 65.1 Annapolis 58.8 54.4 54.5 55.9 57.5 55.2 60.6 47.8 50.3 46.3 46.7 54.0 Arundel 82.0 82.2 78.5 80.5 76.9 78.8 82.1 75.3 69.8 69.1 69.0 69.9 Brooklyn Park 70.9 63.4 65.1 63.5 61.9 63.1 64.3 48.9 52.9 46.0 48.7 43.7 Central 85.8 88.0 87.8 80.8 81.9 80.3 82.1 81.3 87.5 80.8 83.6 77.8 Chesapeake Bay 78.4 76.7 76.8 74.7 75.2 77.0 73.5 73.5 75.3 69.5 69.5 65.7 Chesapeake Science 78.4 NA 92.0 NA NA NA 70.0 NA 72.0 NA NA NA Corkran School 63.3 69.7 71.0 73.7 66.0 66.3 62.3 64.7 65.6 62.7 65.6 51.6 Crofton 88.8 90.6 92.4 91.1 88.2 92.4 85.9 81.7 83.1 87.0 89.4 80.7 George Fox 80.4 69.3 70.8 68.1 67.3 67.7 70.8 68.0 62.4 59.8 64.3 67.7 J. Albert Adams 18.2 38.5 47.7 25.0 27.2 17.5 8.3 15.4 18.2 15.0 20.0 10.0 Lindale 66.6 66.0 66.1 63.9 60.9 63.3 62.5 57.2 59.5 57.8 61.0 51.4 MacArthur 71.4 68.2 69.4 67.3 71.4 72.0 63.3 59.5 56.2 58.2 53.0 55.1 Magothy River 92.8 90.2 90.0 85.5 88.4 89.7 89.6 90.2 89.3 82.7 88.1 88.1 Marley 58.2 60.8...

The Howard County school system's Naming Committee has suggested the names "Bonnie Grove Middle School" and "Bonnie Branch Middle School" for the northeastern middle school scheduled to open in September, 1999.Comments about the proposed names or suggestions for alternatives should be submitted by Friday by calling 410-313-7193, or in writing to Kathy Agans, Howard County Public School System, 10910 Route 108, Ellicott City 21042.Pub Date: 2/15/98

Board of Education officials will discuss plans to open a new middle school on Mountain Road at a Nov. 30 meeting for Riviera Beach Elementary parents.Children from Riviera Beach, Fort Smallwood and Jacobsville elementary schools would attend the new school, which is on the same grounds as Chesapeake Middle and High schools.The plan aims to alleviate overcrowding at George Fox Middle School.Michael Raible, county director of school planning and construction, will meet with parents at 7:30 p.m. at Riviera Beach Elementary, 8515 Jenkins Road.