Ring Factory

Ring Factory Elementary School in Bel Air has adopted Lorien Assisted Living as its community outreach partner for character education. On the second Thursday of each month, the school's Character Counts Committee will sponsor an activity at the Lorien facility from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Student and parent participation is voluntary, allowing families an opportunity to put into action the six pillars of character of the Character Counts program: responsibility,...

Sometimes it's a bit too easy to lose sight of the big picture when focusing on one of a large organization's faults. Such is the case with Harford County Public Schools, and public schools in general. Locally, there are certainly valid questions to be raised about increases in non-teaching staff levels even as enrollment in Harford County has been inching downward. And that's not the only problem with the local school system. But there will be plenty of opportunities in the future to point out ways the school system can be improved.

Several schools in Harford County opened last week with new students and an old problem -- too many students.Ring Factory Elementary is either 305 students over capacity orif half-day kindergartners are counted as half-students, 186 over capacity.Either way it's a very crowded school.Classroom space at the school on Emmorton Road near Ring Factory Road in Bel Air has been increased by adding nine portable classrooms, but there is no way to expand other facilities, such as the library, gym or bathrooms.

With increasing support from Freedom Federal Credit Union, 10 Harford County elementary schools provided incentives to students this past school year to complete their Patriot Program requirements. The Patriot Program is a voluntary program where students learn about patriotism and gain an appreciation for American history. According to Freedom Federal Credit Union, the Patriot programs are supported at Bakerfield, Emmorton, Forest Lakes, Havre de Grace, Joppatowne, Norrisville, Prospect Mill, Ring Factory, William S. James and Youth's Benefit elementary schools.

At Ring Factory Elementary School the thinking process doesn't end with the afternoon dismissal announcement. For more than a dozen pupils, the most challenging part of the day is just beginning. They are participants in Destination ImagiNation, an educational and global competition program designed to stimulate creative problem-solving in teams of students ranging from kindergarten to the university level. Two teams at Ring Factory Elementary and two from Bel Air Middle School will be leaving this week to participate in the worldwide competition Wednesday through Saturday at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Origin of Ring Factory Road On Jan. 23, 1824, the Baltimore American, advertising the amenities of a farm for sale in Harford County, stated that a "New woolen factory is now erecting in the neighborhood." This is perhaps the first written record of the woolen/cotton mill, which operated from the 1820s through the mid-century on what is today's Ring Factory Road. The factory was part of quite an industrial complex powered by Winters Run, and, contrary to popular belief, did not manufacture rings for wagon wheels.

The redistricting battle over Emmorton Elementary School, a 600-student building under construction near Harford Glen Environmental Center, has intensified as more parents join the fight to keep their children in the schools where they are enrolled.Bel Air neighborhoods have been pitted against each other since December, when a 28-member committee, created by the school system, released its redistricting proposal.Some children who live south of town and attend Ring Factory Elementary or Homestead/Wakefield Elementary schools would be transferred to Emmorton when it opens.

Camp Invention arrives at Forest Hill Elementary School tomorrow for a weeklong run. Children entering grades one through five will design machinery from old appliances, have fun with physics, play amateur detectives and communicate with aliens. During the version of the camp that was held at Ring Factory Elementary last week, students built cars, boats and planes - and antenna to contact spacemen. Forest Hill, just north of Bel Air, is the last elementary school to participate in the camp program, sponsored by the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio.

A team from Ring Factory Elementary School placed third in the worldwide competition at the annual Destination ImagiNation tournament held last week at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Destination Imagination is a nonprofit educational organization that works with schools to stimulate creativity, problem-solving and teamwork. Students participating in the program range from kindergartner to university level. As part of their competition, the seven members of Ring Factory Elementary School Once Improv A Time team were required to write a story with a lesson to be learned, make their own props and costumes using only newspaper and tape, and act out the play.

Sometimes it's a bit too easy to lose sight of the big picture when focusing on one of a large organization's faults. Such is the case with Harford County Public Schools, and public schools in general. Locally, there are certainly valid questions to be raised about increases in non-teaching staff levels even as enrollment in Harford County has been inching downward. And that's not the only problem with the local school system. But there will be plenty of opportunities in the future to point out ways the school system can be improved.

Some of the students at Ring Factory Elementary were excited when they heard a steel drum band was being started at the school. Olivia Vach played drums at home but wanted to try something new. Daniel Cullinan wanted to be challenged. And Christopher "CJ" Plumer wanted to learn an instrument that not everybody plays. "Steel drums are unique," said CJ, 10, a fifth-grader from Bel Air. "I think having a steel drum band in our school gives kids a chance to see what it's like to do something challenging when they get older.

Tasked with replicating a hovercraft out of cardboard, teams of young students worked in a Forest Hill Elementary classroom to make a craft light enough for air to lift and durable enough for a long voyage. Hovercraft construction was only one of several thorny problems tackled by participants in Camp Invention, a weeklong program held at three Harford elementary schools over the past three weeks. "It's hard to think of an idea that is going to work," said Alison Pullen, 9. "You have to imagine it in your head and think."

Camp Invention arrives at Forest Hill Elementary School tomorrow for a weeklong run. Children entering grades one through five will design machinery from old appliances, have fun with physics, play amateur detectives and communicate with aliens. During the version of the camp that was held at Ring Factory Elementary last week, students built cars, boats and planes - and antenna to contact spacemen. Forest Hill, just north of Bel Air, is the last elementary school to participate in the camp program, sponsored by the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio.

Among the more than 41,000 Harford County public school students who will show up for first day of class tomorrow are the last group of full-day kindergartners, completing the county's switch from the half-day format. With the last eight schools welcoming 5-year-olds for a full day, Harford's 24 elementaries are in compliance a year ahead of the state's deadline for all-day kindergarten. Ring Factory Elementary School, just outside Bel Air, has been preparing for a year for the transition with teacher training, renovated classrooms and additional materials and furniture.

Origin of Ring Factory Road On Jan. 23, 1824, the Baltimore American, advertising the amenities of a farm for sale in Harford County, stated that a "New woolen factory is now erecting in the neighborhood." This is perhaps the first written record of the woolen/cotton mill, which operated from the 1820s through the mid-century on what is today's Ring Factory Road. The factory was part of quite an industrial complex powered by Winters Run, and, contrary to popular belief, did not manufacture rings for wagon wheels.

A team from Ring Factory Elementary School placed third in the worldwide competition at the annual Destination ImagiNation tournament held last week at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Destination Imagination is a nonprofit educational organization that works with schools to stimulate creativity, problem-solving and teamwork. Students participating in the program range from kindergartner to university level. As part of their competition, the seven members of Ring Factory Elementary School Once Improv A Time team were required to write a story with a lesson to be learned, make their own props and costumes using only newspaper and tape, and act out the play.

The boundary lines of a new Harford County school in Abingdon were decided last night after months of bickering and pleas from hundreds of parents, involving more than 20 neighborhoods.The school board decided to accept a redistricting proposal for Emmorton Elementary that would transfer about 400 Bel Air area students from one of the county's most crowded schools: Ring Factory Elementary, which is 43 percent over capacity.The board, after hearing testimony at two public forums in March, followed most of the recommendations of a school-sanctioned committee that included parents and administrators.

Harford County school officials vow to have the new Emmorton Elementary completed in time for school in September.The 600-pupil school on Wheel Road near Bel Air will relieve severe crowding at nearby Ring Factory Elementary. Ring Factory had nearly 900 students, or about a third more than its designed capacity, during the past school year.At a special meeting Tuesday, the school board approved spending up to $465,000 to ensure that work at Emmorton Elementary is done by Aug. 24. The 1994-1995 school year begins Sept.

At Ring Factory Elementary School the thinking process doesn't end with the afternoon dismissal announcement. For more than a dozen pupils, the most challenging part of the day is just beginning. They are participants in Destination ImagiNation, an educational and global competition program designed to stimulate creative problem-solving in teams of students ranging from kindergarten to the university level. Two teams at Ring Factory Elementary and two from Bel Air Middle School will be leaving this week to participate in the worldwide competition Wednesday through Saturday at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Ring Factory Elementary School in Bel Air has adopted Lorien Assisted Living as its community outreach partner for character education. On the second Thursday of each month, the school's Character Counts Committee will sponsor an activity at the Lorien facility from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Student and parent participation is voluntary, allowing families an opportunity to put into action the six pillars of character of the Character Counts program: responsibility,...