Odyssey School

GREEN SPRING VALLEY - Pupils from the Odyssey School in Baltimore, which educates those with the reading disability known as dyslexia, held a parade and groundbreaking ceremony May 25 to mark the start of construction of a school off Greenspring Avenue in Baltimore County, set to open its doors in fall 2002. The $8 million project, on a site adjacent to the campus of St. Timothy's School, will replace Odyssey's school in Baltimore's Roland Park neighborhood. Officials say the school, which was founded in 1994 and has nearly 80 pupils and 30 teachers, has outgrown its current location and needs room for expansion.

Lindsay D. Dryden Jr., a Baltimore fuel oil company executive and Florida businessman, died Wednesday of cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. He was 85. The son of an oil company executive and a homemaker, Mr. Dryden was born and raised in Guilford. He attended the McDonogh School. Mr. Dryden went to work for the family business, Dryden Oil Co., which had been founded by his grandfather in 1893. After his father's death in 1952, he took over its operations, and as president and later chairman of the board, expanded the business to more than 450 employees and established 17 locations in the East.

A former consultant to a Baltimore County private school for dyslexic children pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday afternoon to stealing more than $55,000. Daniel Charles Llewellyn, 40, of Towson admitted that he stole from the Odyssey School while working as a purchasing consultant in 2002 and 2003. The Odyssey School, a private elementary school in Stevenson, received two federal grants totaling $99,200 from NASA between 2001 and 2003. According to the statement of facts presented at the hearing yesterday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, Llewellyn defrauded the school by taking educational funds for equipment purchases that he never made.

Alexander Hamilton "Ham" Bishop III, a respected headmaster who led five independent schools during his lengthy career in education, died of kidney failure complications Saturday at Manor Care Health Services Dulaney. He was 85 and lived in North Baltimore. Educational colleagues said he was often sought out as a school administrator. In 1994, he was the first head of the Odyssey School, founded by parents of dyslexic children. "He gave the new school instant credibility," said Marty Sweeney, Odyssey's head.

What started as a dream has become an adventure for the Odyssey School in Baltimore. The school for dyslexic children was organized by parents six years ago and opened in a four-story Roland Park mansion. There were 40 pupils and a dozen teachers. Today, those numbers have doubled. Science equipment is crammed into closets, meetings are held in a foyer and sports events are played on fields at other schools. Every year, the school turns away more applicants. "To see the sign on this building, I used to cry every time I drove by here," said Lara McLaughlin, one of the founding parents who now teaches at the school.

The headmaster of the Odyssey School in Stevenson has resigned to accept a position as head of a college preparatory school that educates young men with dyslexia. M. Bradley Rogers Jr., who has been headmaster at Odyssey since 1996, will become headmaster at the Gow School in South Wales, N.J., next year. His resignation is effective June 30. "Leaving the Odyssey School is like leaving my family," Rogers said yesterday. "Together, the trustees, parents, teachers and students of this school have created one of the finest models of how to educate students with dyslexia.

The Odyssey School for dyslexic children announced yesterday that it has received a gift of up to $1 million to build a gymnasium. Lindsay D. Dryden Jr., former owner of Dryden Oil Co., will give $500,000 immediately, according to a statement from the Stevenson school. He is offering another $500,000 in matching funds as Odyssey embarks on a $5 million capital campaign. "We're beside ourselves with glee," said Claire Miller, a member of the school's board of trustees. Dryden, 76, has been a friend since grade school of Gordon R. Jones, vice chairman of Odyssey's board.

Lindsay D. Dryden Jr., a Baltimore fuel oil company executive and Florida businessman, died Wednesday of cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. He was 85. The son of an oil company executive and a homemaker, Mr. Dryden was born and raised in Guilford. He attended the McDonogh School. Mr. Dryden went to work for the family business, Dryden Oil Co., which had been founded by his grandfather in 1893. After his father's death in 1952, he took over its operations, and as president and later chairman of the board, expanded the business to more than 450 employees and established 17 locations in the East.

Nearly 80 acres of prime Green Spring Valley real estate near St. Timothy's School will be transformed into a campus for Baltimore-based Odyssey School and a gated community of 19 luxury homes, ending a five-year neighborhood dispute. Greenspring Investment Group LLC, a group of 19 private investors, has donated $2.8 million to the Odyssey School, allowing the school to purchase 42 acres from St. Timothy's. Gaylord Brooks Investment Co. Inc. has purchased 36 adjacent acres, where it will build the Bridle Ridge development.

Gwendolyn M. "Gwen" Bruggman, a homemaker and volunteer, died Aug. 9 from complications of a broken hip at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. The Brightwood resident was 84. The daughter of a businessman and a homemaker, the former Gwendolyn Medill was born in Baltimore and raised on Bolton Hill. After graduating from Notre Dame Preparatory School in 1945, she attended Washington College for a year. She was married in 1946 to G. Harry Bruggman, a manufacturers' representative, and lived for many years in Roland Park and Ruxton.

Gwendolyn M. "Gwen" Bruggman, a homemaker and volunteer, died Aug. 9 from complications of a broken hip at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. The Brightwood resident was 84. The daughter of a businessman and a homemaker, the former Gwendolyn Medill was born in Baltimore and raised on Bolton Hill. After graduating from Notre Dame Preparatory School in 1945, she attended Washington College for a year. She was married in 1946 to G. Harry Bruggman, a manufacturers' representative, and lived for many years in Roland Park and Ruxton.

Mercy High School alumna named Fulbright scholar 2 Mercy High School alumna Dorothy Smith, a recent Boston College graduate, has been named a Fulbright scholar. Smith, a Parkville resident who graduated from Mercy in 2005, will travel to Jordan to study Arabic for two months before arriving in Oman in August. During her year in Oman, she will conduct research on water conservation education and awareness. She is the first alumna in Mercy's 49-year history to be named a Fulbright scholar.

A former consultant to a Baltimore County private school for dyslexic children pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday afternoon to stealing more than $55,000. Daniel Charles Llewellyn, 40, of Towson admitted that he stole from the Odyssey School while working as a purchasing consultant in 2002 and 2003. The Odyssey School, a private elementary school in Stevenson, received two federal grants totaling $99,200 from NASA between 2001 and 2003. According to the statement of facts presented at the hearing yesterday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, Llewellyn defrauded the school by taking educational funds for equipment purchases that he never made.

The Odyssey School for dyslexic children announced yesterday that it has received a gift of up to $1 million to build a gymnasium. Lindsay D. Dryden Jr., former owner of Dryden Oil Co., will give $500,000 immediately, according to a statement from the Stevenson school. He is offering another $500,000 in matching funds as Odyssey embarks on a $5 million capital campaign. "We're beside ourselves with glee," said Claire Miller, a member of the school's board of trustees. Dryden, 76, has been a friend since grade school of Gordon R. Jones, vice chairman of Odyssey's board.

The headmaster of the Odyssey School in Stevenson has resigned to accept a position as head of a college preparatory school that educates young men with dyslexia. M. Bradley Rogers Jr., who has been headmaster at Odyssey since 1996, will become headmaster at the Gow School in South Wales, N.J., next year. His resignation is effective June 30. "Leaving the Odyssey School is like leaving my family," Rogers said yesterday. "Together, the trustees, parents, teachers and students of this school have created one of the finest models of how to educate students with dyslexia.

So they bound me, and put me in the hold of the ship. But one day, when they were having their supper on shore, I loosed myself from my bonds, and leapt into the sea, and, swimming to RTC land, so escaped."