New School

We've survived the first week of school and I'm not sure who had more homework, the kids or I. I had to write my contact information for every one of my middle school student's six teachers. Really, can't the school give the teachers this information so I only have to write it once? And if it was OK to give my son a cough drop last year, it's still OK this year. I also signed up to get grade reports for my kids, although I'm thinking it's time to stop nagging my high school junior about doing his homework.

The beginning of the school year often means morning battles between parents and their children who don't want to get out of bed in the morning. But a good night's sleep is crucial to a student's performance in school. Dr. Scott Krugman, chairman of the department of pediatrics at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center and the vice president of the Maryland Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, talks about children's sleep patterns and how to get them on a workable sleep schedule.

Dallas Dance knew a little of what the Perry Hall High School students were going through Monday after a student was critically wounded in the cafeteria by another student. His senior year at Armstrong High School in Richmond, Va., a 14-year-old student had opened fire with a pistol in a hallway, wounding two adults as students took exams. No one prepares superintendents for first days like this, but Baltimore County's new superintendent said school systems always prepare for such acts of violence.

Elizabeth Grace Chesney, Baltimore County Public Schools executive director of research, accountability and assessment, was name Howard County schools chief accountability officer during Thursday night's school board meeting. The school board unanimously approved Chesney, who was recommended for the appointment by new Howard Superintendent Renee Foose, the former deputy superintendent for Baltimore County public schools. Both were hired by the Baltimore County after serving in the Montgomery County School System.

Back to school can also mean back to germs, breaks, sprains and concussions. While most of us know kids need a good night's sleep and a good breakfast, just what exactly do experts define as "good"? And what other basics should parents put on their checklist to ensure a more healthful year ahead? Here are a dozen rules to help you help your kids better prevent schoolhouse maladies. 1. A recipe for a good day. It's easy to pop your late-waking, picky eater in the car with a box of dry cereal or a toasted plain bagel for the drive to school.

Baltimore's school system has been in transition over the past five years, and the next five will see more "stops, starts and uncertainties," with a newfound focus on the classroom, schools CEO Andrés Alonso told principals Tuesday. Against the backdrop of charts and graphs, Alonso led the system's leaders through the achievements they've produced since he arrived in 2007: test scores and graduation rates up, suspensions and dropouts down, and new professional contracts hailed as the most progressive in the country.

Editor:  Dr. Robert Tomback, Harford County Public Schools Superintendent, recently informed David Craig, Harford County Executive, that the Board of Education will be holding a public hearing on Monday, Aug. 20 from 6-8pm at the A.A. Roberty Building, 102 South Hickory Avenue, in Bel Air.  This is our opportunity to address the need for a new Havre de Grace High School for our community. So why a new high school at Havre de Grace? For one, we have the oldest standing high school building in the county.

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and editor Matt Bracken weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland sports. Maryland opened football training camp this week. Which unit - offense or defense - stands the best chance for improvement over last season? Jeff Barker: I think both will improve - this was a 2-10 team last season, after all. I consider the offense a wild card - lots of unanswered questions - but I think the defense has a chance to make notable strides.

I had a lonely feeling as I walked along the empty, isolated blocks just north of the Johns Hopkins Hospital in East Baltimore. In the distance, a bulldozer was eating away at a block of Patterson Park Avenue rowhouses. The emptied lots reminded me of 1950s urban renewal clearance. It's been a full decade since redevelopment was announced for this big chunk of Baltimore: 88 acres bounded by Broadway, Patterson Park Avenue, Madison Street and the Amtrak railway embankment. It's the neighborhood that I often viewed from a train window, a spot that seemed to embody 1940s working-class East Baltimore, when there were abundant jobs at the tin mills, paint factories and garment-making shops.

I agree that state-of-the-art schools are something to aim for, but your letter writer left out the most important part of the ideal classroom: The person who sits behind the desk in the front of the room ("Baltimore needs state-of-the-art schools to grow," June 23). I was seven years old and had been in school for a year and a half when I was transferred from an expensive private boarding school to a public school in Baltimore City. I was left-handed, but nobody had ever heard of dyslexia.