Ready For School

Michael Hale of Laurel had a fun and relaxing summer. He went to the beach with his family and participated in a nature camp and sports camp. Now he is ready to put those carefree days behind him and begin his career as a pupil. Next week, he will start kindergarten at Laurel Wood Elementary School. "I want school to start right now," Michael said. And why is he so eager to say goodbye to summer? "School is a good way to learn," he said. He is also excited about riding the bus. Michael and about 15 other children were at the Savage branch of the Howard County Library on Wednesday taking part in a half-hour get-ready-for-kindergarten program called "Kindergarten, Here We Come" run by Rita Snyder, a library associate in the children's department.

Discouragement and deep fears for the future are felt afterreading the 245-page ''report card'' on school progress, issued by President Bush and the 50 state governors.This first of 10 reports to be issued, fulfilling the pledge of the celebrated Charlottesville, Va., education ''summit'' two years ago, is filled with ''Fs'' and ''incompletes.''Worse, not a scintilla of evidence is found in the report -- or anywhere else -- that education will be in any way better in 1994 or 1997, or even the target year of 2000.

IN THE BOMB drills of the 1950s, we dove under our desks, covered our heads with our arms - and prayed it wasn't an A-bomb en route from Moscow. Here's the 2003 "Code Red" terrorist drill in Montgomery County: Children close the classroom blinds, huddle in a corner, stay quiet - and pray it's not some madman who has unleashed a chemical attack. If the kids are noisy during the drill, a note from a roving administrator is slipped under the door. "You're dead," it reads, meaning that those who don't take the threat seriously are risking their lives and the lives of others.

"Do you have company?" she asked. "If you have guests I can come back later."Shaking my head, I ushered her in."I saw the strange car outside in the driveway. . . ." She stopped as it began to add up. "No guests. Strange, clean car. No oil slick. EPA warnings have been removed from the garage."Rushing to the window she gasped, "Where's the Buick?"Gone, I replied calmly. Twelve years, two transmissions and an odometer that's read 76,123 miles since 1989 -- all gone.And with it's demise, an era in my driving career ended:* No more special attention at traffic signals, where passing motorists who saw the steam spewing from assorted radiator leaks would frantically call out, "You're car is on fire!"

Most parents agree that getting the kids ready for the new school year is definitely not an easy undertaking. Balancing family needs with your children's wants can give the best of us an anxiety attack. The newspapers and magazines are full of advice and helpful hints from experts on avoiding the annual rush.We're advised to start preparing immediately for the big day, which is less than two weeks away. Here are a few of their helpful hints, just in case you missed them.* Shop for the basics, such as underwear, socks, pencils, pens and notebooks.

"We're so pleased to see your bright, shiny faces -- including those of the adults," Judith Schwartz said over the intercom at Lutherville Elementary School about 9:15 yesterday morning.Not long before, the principal of Baltimore County's newest school greeted parents, students, teachers and visitors in the halls of the renovated building, which closed 10 years ago because of declining enrollment. And she was certainly one of those smiling. Opening the school was a little "like I was going on stage," she said.

AMMAN, Jordan - A senior American diplomat in Jordan, Laurence Foley, was gunned down outside his house yesterday, shot eight times at close range in what appeared to be the latest in a string of terror attacks against Western targets in the region and beyond. The assassination reverberated through this often-sleepy capital, not least among the expatriate community. Foreign residents said they had been rudely awakened to the realization that the potential for escalating violence on both sides of Jordan - in the West Bank as well as in Iraq - could roil a city long considered safe.

SUMMER unofficially comes to a close Monday, when children begin trundling back to school. It seems as though I've paid closer attention to the opening of school this year than I have before.My reason is purely selfish. If we get through this year, I'm done. By my count, I will have graduated from high school three times -- once on my own, twice with my kids.Mother Hen will be out of chicks after this year. No more shopping for back-to-school anythings. I do not include packing a kid off to college in that shopping category.

PRESTON - It's easier to find a roadmap than a children's book in this little town on a highway on Maryland's Eastern Shore. There are two gas stations but no grocery store. There's no traffic light. And there's no library. Yet Preston, surrounded by flat fields and steeped in farming traditions, is the birthplace of an early-childhood literacy campaign that has impressed large schools and leading educators in the state. All because of the Preston school principal, Susan K. Frank, who set about changing the way this largely working-class community thinks about reading with an unswerving sureness of purpose.

Carroll County Public Schools will open on Aug. 28 for the 1995-1996 school year. About 23,500 students will attend public schools in the county this year, and nearly 21,500 of those students will be riding the familiar yellow school buses.To handle an increase in growth, the Pupil Transportation Department of the Carroll County Board of Education will be operating 267 buses, which will travel more than 4.5 million miles providing daily school transportation this year. Each bus has had a thorough inspection during the summer months to insure safe and reliable service.