Neighborhood Schools

FIRST THERE was the junior high, a sort of mezzanine between the hoods, child and adult. Then, 30 years ago, they created the middle school, moving junior high down a notch to account for earlier maturation. Fallstaff Middle, created by converting an elementary school in Northwest Baltimore, was the first in the city. Now there are 25. But middle schools in Baltimore may soon be outnumbered by a model that represents a step into the past. Planners propose converting a dozen elementary schools and one middle (Booker T. Washington)

Membership in the Right Way club at Lindale-Brooklyn Park Middle School isn't open to all pupils. It must be earned. But good grades or athletic achievements won't open the door. Skipping school, yelling at the teacher and getting poor grades might do the trick. Created by Donald Lilley, an assistant principal at Lindale-Brooklyn Park, the Right Way is a 2-year-old initiative to reach some of the school's most disruptive eighth-graders. Pupils see it as a social club, one where bad behavior gets you in and good behavior lets you stay.

MAYOR Martin O'Malley's new Neighborhood Planning Steering Committee will soon attempt to turn PlanBaltimore!, the city's first comprehensive plan in 30 years, into something more than just another document. But if we don't understand the dynamics of neighborhood change in Baltimore -- why some neighborhoods improve while others stagnate or decline -- this well-intentioned effort is likely to fail. Some of our recent work on Baltimore neighborhoods may be a useful starting point. We examined the change in sales prices in the city's 193 census tracts between 1990 and 1997.

At a time when the fair distribution of school resources, staffing and technology is a major topic of debate in Howard County, the perennial questions of where children go to school -- and how they are redistricted -- have become campaign issues. As Howard County voters prepare to choose Tuesday from a pool of 17 school board candidates campaigning for two open seats, The Sun asked for candidates' opinions on redistricting. The four candidates with the most votes will advance to the general election in November -- but residents can vote for only two candidates.

CRISFIELD -- For lifelong residents like Sandy Sturgis and Lee Ann Grosky, much has changed in the hometown that still bills itself as Maryland's seafood capital.They've watched the industry decline that's left the waterfront community of 2,700 with three crab processing houses where a dozen once thrived. They've seen other employers pull out one by one.They've heard the statistics showing Somerset County as one of the state's poorest. They've read the grim test scores that rate its schools among the worst.

The Howard County Board of Education unanimously approved last night a capital budget plan that includes funds for a new northeastern elementary school, a previously approved Fulton area high school that would open in 2002, and additions and renovations to existing schools.Superintendent Michael E. Hickey had proposed a $51 million building plan for fiscal year 2001, and the board made changes that increased it to $53.6 million.The proposal will go to the state Interagency Commission for School Construction for approval.

Shellie Seyer, a Long and Foster real estate agent, had almost closed the deal -- the house in Disney Estates was perfect for the young couple who were expecting their first child. There was only one glitch -- the less than stellar reputation of the local schools.The $225,000 house was in the Meade High School feeder system, a network of 12 schools in the western part of the county that has, over the years, developed a reputation for low academic performance and disruptive students, some of whom live in poverty.

With a new school year about to begin, Howard County officials face a daunting task: a general redrawing of school district lines that will put a public spotlight on emotional issues, from the racial balance in classrooms to pressure for new schools.A new elementary school in the crowded northeast part of the county could result, school officials say, but a major change in racial balance isn't likely, even if some children move from outlying schools to Columbia."There needs to be a general redistricting," school superintendent Michael E. Hickey said, noting the growing county population outside Columbia.

Child left special ed, took rightful place, thanks to Dr. BergerI may not agree with everything Stuart Berger did during his tenure as superintendent of the Baltimore County public schools, but I was very grateful for what he did for my daughter ("Ousted Balto. Co. schools chief speaks at daughter's graduation," May 22).Because of Dr. Berger, Annie graduated on the stage of Towson High School, instead of on the stage of a special education school. She took her place with neighborhood friends and fellow Girl Scouts and was applauded by people who watched her grow and develop, people who probably never expected to see her on the stage of her neighborhood school.

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS ago this winter, several of us from The Sun trooped down to Prince George's County to cover what would be the biggest Maryland education story of 1973: sweeping court-ordered busing.It was a big story because widespread busing hadn't been attempted in the suburbs of the North -- well, Prince George's is south of the Mason-Dixon Line but still a relatively sophisticated suburban district enrolling, among others, the children of many federal workers.Prince George's schools then were 75 percent white, and many white parents raised a ruckus for months, even years, after the day in late January that the buses first rolled.