Mill Middle

THE RED brick building that houses Ellicott Mills Middle School will be demolished this month. For 60 years, the school on Montgomery Road has anchored the Ellicott City community.This year, the school celebrated its 60th anniversary -- and its final year.The farewell tribute was organized by Gifted and Talented Program resource teacher Donna Johnson, who is finishing her first year at the school.When she interviewed for the position last year, Principal David Lovewell specified that he wanted the new coordinator to organize a final celebration.

A Baltimore County girl alleges in a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday ++ that her former teacher at Ellicott Mills Middle School in Ellicott City repeatedly touched her while she was in the sixth grade in 1989.The girl, now 16, is seeking $1.8 million in damages from the teacher, the school's former principal and the county school system in the suit filed in Howard County Circuit Court.The suit states that John Gilbert Reichenbach Jr. of Ellicott City repeatedly touched the girl's breasts and buttocks while in a school classroom between September 1988 and February 1989.

Joshua Parker, a 28-year-old Windsor Mill Middle School teacher in Baltimore County, was named the Maryland Teacher of the Year on Friday night, beating out five other finalists from across the state. The announcement was a surprise, kept secret to everyone but a few state education staffers until it was announced to a large crowd at Martin's West about 9:30 p.m. The son of a Prince George's County teacher who encouraged him to enter the profession, Parker is language arts department chairman at Windsor Mill, a school with a high number of disadvantaged students.

Jean Tyrrell wanted to find activities that would allow students in the autism program at Patterson Mill Middle/High School to be more physically active during the school day. After researching some ideas, Tyrrell said she purchased a Nintendo Wii video game console with a grant that she received. "The kids really like Wii," said Tyrrell, a physical-education teacher. "And I think it's great. It gives the children with autism an age-appropriate leisure activity to do." Since the game was purchased, the children have all learned to play it, said Carolyn Trovinger, who teaches the middle school autism program.

Cynthia Dillon and Shiney Ann John stood outside Oakland Mills Middle School splattered with whipped cream and couldn't have been happier. The two administrators agreed that a pie-throwing contest - where up to 20 lucky students in each grade level got an opportunity to throw whipped cream pies - was the perfect way to end the school year. Students were picked during a raffle where they traded in tickets they had accumulated for good behavior throughout the year for a chance at a slew of prizes, including the pie-throwing contest.

Howard County officials say they are dismayed but determined to improve after learning that for the first time two county schools failed to meet federal test standards two years in a row. Murray Hill and Oakland Mills middle schools were included on a list of 176 poor-performing schools statewide. Any school failing to meet the standards for two consecutive years is classified as"needs improvement." If a school fails five years in a row, the state may take it over. School board Chairman Diane Mikulis said yesterday that the results point out that "middle school is one area where we need to focus more attention."

In an era when new school buildings are becoming common in Howard County, Ellicott Mills Middle School is one of several new facilities, freshly painted, with gleaming glass and the latest equipment. But this school first opened in 1939 as Ellicott City High School. The new structure - reminiscent of an old schoolhouse with white-framed windows and a porch on either side of the entrance - welcomed pupils Aug. 27 on the site where the first building stood for 60 years before being leveled in 1999.

Seven Maryland schools were designated Thursday as national Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence, an award given to those with consistently high performance or a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students who have shown significant improvement. Five of the schools are public, including Eastern Technical High in Baltimore County and Ellicott Mills Middle in Howard County, and two are Catholic. "This is one of the nation's most significant awards presented to public schools," state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick said in a statement.

Ten-year-old Marlee Orr spent three days canoeing with friends, observing deer in their natural habitat and sleeping in a rustic cabin last week. Normally, she goes straight home after school. "I don't really get to run around and stuff," said Marlee, who attends Oakland Mills Middle School. But getting kids outside and giving them an opportunity to appreciate the environment is one of the goals of the school's outdoor education program. Beginning Oct. 1, Marlee and the rest of the Oakland Mills sixth-graders spent three days at Camp Letts, a YMCA facility in Edgewater.

Dan Li, a seventh-grader at Ellicott Mills Middle School, knows what he wants to be when he grows up. "I'm pretty sure I want to be a neurosurgeon," he said. But he still enjoyed the school's annual career day Friday, especially the presentation from two Maryland state troopers, who brought along drug-sniffing dogs. "I don't want to pursue it," the 13-year-old said of a career in law enforcement. "But it was really interesting." Now in its fourth year, career day at Ellicott Mills has become a popular springtime activity for seventh-graders.