Oklahoma Road Middle

Parents at Oklahoma Road Middle School want to know why several classrooms sit empty while some upper-level math classes have 40 students.At crowded Westminster West Middle School, every classroom is used and 12 portables have been added to accommodate students.In the less developed Taneytown area, Northwest Middle School is about half full.The contrast in Carroll's middle schools is the result of the rapid, uneven growth of the county, where elected officials try to keep taxes and spending down as enrollment goes up every year.

SEVERAL HUNDRED Eldersburg residents crowded the gymnasium at Oklahoma Road Middle School Sunday for the school's official dedication.Principal Larry Barnes and Assistant Principal Cathy Hood welcomed county and state government officials, and community activists during the 90-minute ceremony.The ceremony included brief speeches by Sue Krebs, community activist; Charles Frank, general building contractor for the school; Scott Stone, president of the county Board of Education; and Dr. Brian Lockard, Carroll schools' superintendent.

THE STAGE at Oklahoma Road Middle School was christened Friday evening by members of the drama clubs at Sykesville and Oklahoma Road middle schools.Under the direction and guidance of teachers from both schools, 24 actors performed scenes from the theater about teens and starring teens. The scenes were staged with very few props -- a cot here, a school desk or music stand there -- so the performers were the focus of attention.A few of the youngsters came to the stage with performing experience.

WHEN OKLAHOMA Road Middle School opened two weeks ago, one wag joked that the timing of its debut was the source of its name, the Eldersburg institution for 675 pubescent pupils having begun its useful life in the middle of the school year.An anonymous, for good reason, teacher allowed that she felt caught "in the middle of the middle," having to learn a lot of new names and a new curriculum to jump-start the second semester.The $13 million school was a welcome change for lots of the teachers and children who were parked in the 14 portable classrooms at jam-packed Sykesville Middle, where lunchtime lasted all day due to the cafeteria's limited seating capacity.

THERE'S NO DOUBT that this will be a memorable day for middle school students and teachers, as the long-awaited opening of Oklahoma Road Middle School finally becomes reality.Teachers, support staff and administrators worked furiously over the five-day extended weekend to prepare for the arrival of 677 students transferred from Sykesville Middle School.Students were scheduled to be greeted this morning by a videographer from Fil Sibley Productions, ready to record their first day. Students will have the opportunity to purchase the video as a memento of the school's opening.

Following are the bus routes for Oklahoma Road and Sykesville middle schools starting Tuesday.The a.m. time represents the time of the first pupil pickup on the route. The p.m. time represents the first pupil drop-off time.75B OKLAHOMA ROAD MIDDLE 8 A.M.-3: 40 P.M. -- Along Monroe Avenue at Sherryl Avenue & Ridge Road; along Ridge Road at Marvin Avenue; along Marvin Avenue at #6625 and #6607; along Sunset Drive at Fawn Haven Court and #6701; along Marriottsville Road #2 at Walden Way; along Ridge Road at #7108, Beverage Drive, Cable Drive, Blacksmith Drive, Stafford Court; Kali Drive South.

Following are the homeroom assignments for Oklahoma Road Middle School, which will open Tuesday. The 677 students had been attending crowded Sykesville Middle School, where 14 portable classrooms were in use.Grade 6Team 1, Homeroom 6AMs. MentzerApril Adams, Nathan Anderson, Kathleen Bateman, Brian Beares, William Brigham, Brandee Burke, Christina Ciampi, Patrick Cigole, Katherine Cosgrove, Emily Downing, Kimberly Eastwood, Chantelle Ford, Nicholas Georgianna, Allison Hammond, Daniel Hensley, Maria Hogg, Laura James, Bryon Johnson, Daniel Kempler, Carla Kornahrens, Gabriel Lannon, Alisa Macintyre, Thomas Maskell, Kristen McMillan, Elizabeth Mooshegain, Krystina Nelson, Jonathan O'Bannon, Valerie Peeples, Michael Pickett, Julie Polk, Matthew Rout, Sarah Snyder, Michael Squires, Andrew Swift, Heather Varle, Kevin Warner, Jennifer Yost.

WE'VE WATCHED ITS construction for the past 18 months or more and as the Jan. 21 opening of the new Oklahoma Road Middle School draws closer, folks in Eldersburg are curious about the school's interior.Students, parents and residents are invited to visit the new facility for tours before the school's official opening.Principal Larry H. Barnes, Assistant Principal Cathy Hood and several students will conduct tours from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. tomorrow and Thursday, and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 20. Tours also will follow a parent meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday.

CHEERS WILL UNDOUBTEDLY be heard all around southeast Carroll when the new middle school opens its doors in January.The Oklahoma Road Middle School is expected to open for the third term of the 1996-1997 school year and will relieve crowding at Sykesville Middle School.The building is nearly complete, and much of the inside work is nearing the final stages. But anyone who works in a school knows that it's not the physical structure that makes a school great; it's the people who work at the school and the community that supports the school that determine the quality of the education inside.

School administrators narrowed their proposal for who will attend which middle school in South Carroll in a report yesterday to the Board of Education.The plan would allow all Carrolltowne Elementary School students to move on to Oklahoma Road Middle School by January 1997.The Oklahoma Road boundaries also would affect Eldersburg Elementary students who currently go on to Mount Airy Middle and children who live in Presidential Park. After Oklahoma Road Middle is built, those students would go to Sykesville Middle.