New Middle School

The Anne Arundel County Board of Education got its first look at Superintendent C. Berry Carter's proposed $77 million school construction budget yesterday.The request includes 39 major construction projects, including a new Meade area middle school. The total cost of the school would be about $20.9 million, with the state paying about $5.6 million.The board, which did not vote yesterday, has scheduled a public hearing for 7:30 p.m. Sept. 13 at its Riva Road office. A vote is scheduled for Oct. 6.Mr.

The principal of a Catholic elementary and middle school in Nebraska has been appointed head of the Calvert School's new middle school, which is under construction in North Baltimore. Patrick J. Slattery, 29, principal of St. Matthew's School, a prekindergarten-through-eighth-grade coeducational school in Bellevue, a suburb of Omaha, will start his new job July 1, said Calvert School Headmaster Merrill S. Hall. "Slattery was a unanimous and enthusiastic choice," Hall said yesterday. "He has both the education and the experience, as well as the energy and enthusiasm."

Guidance counselors, a new Marley Middle School and school building repairs were on the wish lists of parents, teachers and students at a hearing last night on Superintendent Carol S. Parham's proposed $549 million budget. The first opportunity for the public to tell the school board what it thinks of the proposed spending plan for next year drew approximately 200 people to the Glen Burnie High School auditorium. The proposed budget, which Parham presented to the board last month, seeks higher salaries for entry-level teachers and signing bonuses for teachers in hard-to-fill areas, such as math, science and special education.

Architects are advising county school officials to build middle schools in Brooklyn Park and Lothian instead of trying to renovate or expand existing structures.The cost of two new buildings would be near $47 million, not adjusted for inflation.School board members will review the proposal by consultants Grimm and Parker Architects at their Wednesday night meeting and will vote in February on how -- or whether -- they want either project to move forward. Both schools could open as early as 2000, depending on money and politics.

Tom Hill paced the hallways like a nervous father-to-be outside a hospital delivery room. But rather than awaiting the arrival of his firstborn, the 42-year-old principal of Shiloh Middle School in Hampstead was expecting the first pupils to walk through the doors of his brand-new school. "This is the day Shiloh becomes a school," he said yesterday morning, heading out the doors to greet the inaugural arrivals at the parent drop-off loop. "It's not a school until you have kids in it." By those standards, Shiloh Middle officially became a school yesterday as about 800 pupils streamed off buses, hopped out of cars and scurried across the parking lot for the first day of classes.

The Howard County Board of Education - under scrutiny for alleged violations of state open- meetings laws - decided at its regular meeting last night not to pursue legislation that would repeal three local laws and make it easier for members to meet out of public view. The board's general counsel, Mark Blom, said there was no need for the proposal because it offered only legal clarity, which is expected to come from a court ruling. The board is being sued in the county Circuit Court over its alleged violations.

Three innovative middle schools run by private organizations are expected to make their debuts this fall for children in West and East Baltimore, giving parents more options than their large, sometimes failing, neighborhood schools. The city school board gave approval last night for its staff to begin writing contracts with the operators of the new schools. They would be run by three separate entities: the Living Classroom Foundation; a group of three former city teachers; and a Baltimore teacher trained by a nationally recognized middle school program.

New Windsor Middle School has announced the winners of its photography contest. First-place winners in each category will go on to county-level competition.First-place winners were:* Heather Black, grade level 5-6, color, life studies, "In the Eyes of a Soldier."* Becky Arnold, grade level 5-6, color, landscape, "Snowy Trail."* David Chalker, grade level 5-6, color, still life, "Mickey Mouse on Top of the World."* Justin Barber, grade level 7-8, color, landscape, "Arches of Antietam."* Heather Arnold, grade level 7-8, color, life studies, "Hanging Around;" black/white, life studies, "Want to Race;" black/white, landscape, "Snowy Stream;" color, still life, "Bears."

In the days leading up to tomorrow's start of the new school year, educators around the county put final touches on their classroom decor, worked out scheduling kinks and made sure immunization records were in order. But at Marley Middle School in Glen Burnie, furniture is still being assembled, some textbooks remain stacked in cardboard boxes, and photos and awards line a hallway floor, waiting to be hung. Visible through the many large windows is a pile of rubble, being moved by giant construction cranes, that serves as a reminder of the school's recent past.

Calvert School sixth-graders Stacey Collins and Taylor Adams were so excited about moving into their new middle school building yesterday that they had already cleared out their lockers and were waiting in a basement classroom for word to relocate. About 9:45 a.m., carrying backpacks, laptop computers and a shopping bag filled with gym clothes, basketball shoes and a dry-erase board, the two 12-year-olds linked arms as they walked along a paved pathway to the new building. Led by a bagpiper playing "Amazing Grace," the entire school of nearly 400 pupils, faculty and staff joined the parade to the three-story building for a ceremonial ribbon-cutting.