Patterson High School

MORE THAN 200 parents of Baltimore schoolchildren recently drafted a petition urging the state to disapprove the 1997-98 improvement plan of their children's school, Patterson High School.The many issues raised by these parents come at a critical point. Fifty Baltimore City schools have been named "reconstitution-eligible" by the state. Patterson High School was so named in 1994, one of the first two in the city.If reconstitution has not had a positive effect at Patterson, significant changes must be made before the state sends more schools down that same road.

A teen-ager was sentenced to life plus 60 years yesterday for the 1995 murder of Terrence Augusta McKoy, 19, a Morgan State University student who was shot while waiting at a bus stop, the city state's attorney's office said.Kenneth Andrew Bond, 17, of the 4600 block of Marble Hall Road was sentenced by Judge Kathleen O'Ferrall Friedman. On Sept. 11, a Circuit Court jury convicted Bond of first-degree murder, attempted robbery with a deadly weapon and other offenses.The victim was waiting for a bus in the 4600 block of Hillen Road, across the street from Morgan State on Nov. 27, 1995, when he was shot.

Disperse 'special' students among schoolsI have several suggestions for the new Baltimore City public schools leadership team.First, immediately stop the practice of moving middle-school students to high school merely because they are too old, too mature or just too large to remain in middle school. Thousands of kids are ''socially promoted'' (certain groups don't want to use this phrase although that is what it is) and enter high school unprepared to do high school work (where they actually have to earn credits to be promoted)

Joseph George Fisher, 86, coach in Baltimore schoolsJoseph George Fisher, who coached several championship teams and taught in Baltimore public schools for 41 years, died Oct. 2 at Maryland Shock Trauma Center of injuries he received that morning in a traffic accident in Parkville. He was 86 and lived in Gardenville.He was inducted into Patterson High School's Soccer Hall of Fame in 1993, said his son, Dr. J. Gunnar Fisher of Baltimore.Mr. Fisher began his long career at Patterson High School, teaching physical education and coaching soccer, wrestling and baseball from 1934 to 1941.

Baltimore was among the winners yesterday as the state allocated the remaining millions from the biggest school construction fund in two decades.The Maryland Board of Public Works approved $44.3 million to build schools and additions and to replace windows, roofs and boilers across the state. The city's share of yesterday's bounty totaled $1.6 million and will help finance science labs, windows and cooling systems for six schools."Considering what we asked for initially, I feel we did extremely well," said Del. Elijah E. Cummings, a Baltimore Democrat.

At Patterson High School, administrators and teachers plan to fight student failure with a divide-and-conquer offensive.In a drastic departure for a traditional institution that crams 1,800 teens into football-field-length hallways for up to 10 period changes a day, Patterson will become, in effect, five schools in one."Our ultimate goal is to have failure outlawed at Patterson," said teacher William Morrison, who yesterday helped unveil details of the planned reorganization for the state Board of Education.

The failed plan to have the Hyde School of Bath, Maine, take over Baltimore's educationally bankrupt Patterson High School fulfills one of Murphy's Laws: If things can go wrong, they will.In Patterson's case, they could, and they did. City school officials failed to include all of the Patterson constituency in the initial planning for Hyde. They allowed a group of parents and teachers intent on maintaining the status quo to set the agenda. Hyde founder Joseph W. Gauld and the troupe of Hyde students he brought to perform at the school were treated with unbecoming rudeness.

Patterson will fail without cooperationWhy does Baltimore City have to contract an out-of-state school to try and control one of its own schools?It is pretty obvious that the problem lies among the students, parents and the school system. It's like a marriage; if the parties involved are going in different directions, the relationship isn't going to work.When I was at Patterson High School in the early 1970s, you had a choice to decide what curriculum in which you wanted to major.At that time, there were several choices such as academic, business, general and vocational.

Bashing teachersThe recent proposal by State Education Superintendent Nancy Grasmick that teachers rated less than satisfactory be stripped of their certification is another example of the phony reforms being mandated by a state government that lacks the integrity and the insight to initiate real reform.The state knows the number of teachers rated as unsatisfactory represents less than a tiny fraction of Maryland school teachers.Nevertheless, the proposal, albeit narrow-minded and laughable, is politically attractive.

Baltimore City and Maryland state officials want the Hyde School, a New England boarding school, to take over the educationally bankrupt Patterson High School in East Baltimore. It now turns out that Patterson's problems extend to a lack of good manners, too.Hyde's program stresses "character-building." It tries to inculcate in its students -- at its Maine school and at a troubled New Haven, Conn., public school -- the values of courage, integrity, leadership, curiosity and concern. It requires a heavy dose of parent participation.

Spat over scholarships The dust-up over scholarships that were promised - and then rescinded - at Patterson High School shows that there may be such a thing as bad publicity after all. Howard Castleman of Castle Toyota/Scion pledged $8,400 for four graduating seniors, to be presented at the school's senior assembly. But then Patterson's beloved JROTC instructor died, and the ceremony became more like a memorial service. The media were banned, Mr. Castle withdrew his offer, and bad feelings ensued on all sides.

Castle Toyota/Scion in Southeast Baltimore promised $8,400 in scholarships to four graduating seniors from Patterson High School to cover tuition at Baltimore City Community College. But in a dispute over publicity, the dealership withdrew its offer, leaving all parties feeling bitter. The money was to come from Castle's advertising and marketing budget, and the owner wanted news media present at the school's senior farewell awards ceremony to document his gesture of goodwill. Then, the week of the ceremony, Patterson's longtime JROTC instructor collapsed in the school parking lot and died of a heart attack, and the principal decided the ceremony should assume the tone of a memorial service.

The first 50 Baltimore residents to participate in the city's hazardous waste material drop-off day Saturday will receive a free tree as part of the city's effort to enlarge its canopy, officials said yesterday. Hazardous materials will be collected from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Patterson High School, 100 Kane St.; 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, at Patterson; and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 4 at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. Proof of city residency will be required to drop off material.

Houleye Sall has a reputation around Patterson High School for being a perpetually happy teenager. Whether she's playing lacrosse, studying English or performing community service, the senior always has a smile on her face. Behind that smile, however, lies a depth of appreciation for the lifestyle of an American teenager that few, if any, of her peers could ever comprehend. "The kids don't know. They just see me as a happy person going down the halls. They don't see me inside. They don't see somebody who's gone through a hard time," said Sall, 18. Few of her peers know that until six years ago, Sall lived in a refugee camp in the west African nation of Senegal.

Walking through the basement at Patterson High School in Southeast Baltimore yesterday was like taking a trip back in time. Here's a Reading Proficiency Test, 1979 edition. There's the Golden Years of Choral Music for Mixed Voices, copyright 1966, and Secular Choral Music, copyright 1940. And a typewriter table, a metal mop wringer, and a crumbling orange-and-white sign advertising a $1 car wash to benefit the Key Club. By today, these little pieces of history - and big pieces of clutter - will be gone.

In Patricia O'Neill's first-grade classroom, there has been a cultural turnabout - African-American and white children have become the minority, and they're the ones doing their best to assimilate. "They say, `I can speak Spanish, too,'" O'Neill said. Of the 22 pupils in her class at General Wolfe Elementary, 18 are of Hispanic descent learning to speak English. And the Upper Fells Point school is the first Baltimore school in decades to have a majority Hispanic population. With the arrival of a wave of young immigrants, the face of Baltimore - long thought of racially as black and white - has been changing in the past several years, perhaps faster than census or official population figures indicate.

What backpacks hide can divert students' focus As a teacher of many years, I find it hard to believe Susan Reimer is so concerned that the backpack her daughter carried isn't stylish enough, or that her daughter and fellow students will somehow have their self-esteem (there's that term again) damaged because the school system is sending a message of mistrust by requiring that they carry clear backpacks instead of "fashionable" ones ("Backpack rule reveals a sad message to the students," Aug. 26)

With one-quarter of the school year over, city school officials are taking the unusual step of transferring 50 teachers to different schools Monday. The moves, which will affect many more than 50 classrooms in the city, are meant to address crowding in some classrooms and under-enrollment in others. About 122 teachers were mailed letters last week, telling them to report to a different school Monday. But by yesterday, the number of teachers that would be moved had been significantly reduced, said Sheila Dudley, head of human resources for city schools.

Keep dreams alive, despite the detours Elton Elizabeth Keith Class of 1996 Patterson High School Elton Elizabeth Keith didn't allow a major detour to prevent her from becoming the "triple threat" she has envisioned since childhood. Today, Keith, trained as a singer, dancer and actor, is continuously involved in local theater productions, while teaching music at two Baltimore elementary schools. Keith's path to the stage took an unexpected turn after eighth grade. She had always assumed that she would attend the Baltimore School for the Arts.

A 17-year-old Patterson High School student and standout wrestler who aspired to attend college on an athletic scholarship was found slain yesterday morning in his East Baltimore rowhouse, city police said. Kevan Fletcher Jr. had been dead for several hours when he was discovered by a friend about 8:10 a.m. in the home on the 2500 block of Orleans St., police said. Fletcher had suffered head trauma and might have been shot, police said. Fletcher's friend told police he was going to walk with the teen to catch a bus for school, but got no answer when he knocked.