School Begins

The lime-green shoots of tulips are beginning to push their way through a patch of rich dirt in front of Germantown Elementary School. Principal Walter Reap parks beside this garden every morning, and sometimes he considers the tulips' slow and perseverant reach for the sun and sky as a symbol of the gradual rebirth he is seeing at his school. Reap is in his first year as head of an Annapolis school that has grappled with drastic demographic shifts during the past decade. A school that once had nearly 600 students evenly split between white and African-American, saw its enrollment drop in 2001 to barely 400, with Hispanic students making up a third of enrollment, as white students dropped to 15 percent.

Renovations of the Columbus School (also known as public school 99) began this week and the developers expect that people will be able to occupy the new affordable housing units there this fall. The $13 million conversion of the school, in Baltimore's South Clifton Park at the northeast corner of the intersection of E. North Ave. and N. Washington St., will create 50 residences for people who make 60 percent or less of the city's area median income, according to a statement by the developers.

Students at Mount Hebron High School in Ellicott City were dismissed at 10: 15 a.m. yesterday after timers -- which normally activate the air conditioning about 90 minutes before school begins -- failed.After the head custodian and two heating-and-air-conditioning specialists were unable to make repairs, school was dismissed because of the heat, said Assistant Principal Jack Bridner.The air conditioning was fixed and operating again by about 2 p.m., he said."It should be much better" today, Bridner said.

Beginning this week, the Baltimore County school system will begin live-streaming its bi-weekly school board meetings on its website, in part for the public's convenience but also to continue fulfilling a pledge to be more transparent, officials said.  The meetings, normally held the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month, can be watched here.  The first meeting of the month starts at 7:00 p.m. The second meeting each month, typically a...

Q. My husband has a job opportunity that would require a two-year stay in Paris. We have two daughters, ages 9 and 4, and we're considering the move because it could be an exciting, educational opportunity for all of us.Our 4-year-old is flexible, but our 9-year-old is a sensitive, quiet, bright child who needs time to adjust to changes. She says she does not want to go.We feel that in the future she'll look back on the overseas experience as a wonderful memory. However, we don't want to traumatize her by taking this assignment.

One more week until school begins. Time for the last vacation Bible school of the season.Brooklyn United Methodist Church will sponsor Bible school from 6:30 until 8:30 p.m. today through Friday.Classes are available for children in kindergarten through high school. Come join in the fun and fellowship.To register or for more information, call 355-8740.*North County High School news: There will be a staggered opening to provide ninth-grade students with an orientation program. Ninth-graders only will report to school Aug. 28. All students will report to classes Aug. 29. Doors open at 7:10 a.m., with classes starting at 7:25 a.m.* There will be a PTSA executive board meeting at 6 p.m. tomorrow in the conference room.

AS THE CITY population continues to decline, so does the number of students in its public schools. Superintendent Walter G. Amprey says last year's 113,000 students may decline by as many as 4,900 this year. Yet many classrooms will be at capacity when school begins next week, with up to 40 students per teacher at some high schools and 25 to 35 per teacher in the lower grades.The inability to reduce class sizes is testament both to the school system's poverty and to the unpopularity of gritty urban schools among today's teacher corps.

The recruits who attend the U.S. Ordnance Center and School at Aberdeen Proving Ground are not part of the glamour of Army life, driving the tanks and flying the helicopters that star in recruitment videos.They are part of the support units that make sure the Army runs efficiently -- units that repair the small arms, the trucks and the generators used by the fighting force.They rise at 4 a.m. with a sharp wake-up call.When school begins, they either go to school or to a work detail that could include everything from raking leaves to typing memos and other paperwork.

The Linthicum Elementary School family would like to welcome several new staff members to the school for the 1995-96 school year.Dawn Datson, an teacher from High Point Elementary, will be the new special education teacher, replacing Will Robinson, who has taken a teaching position in Delaware.Debbie Martin will be joining us from Harmans Elementary to be the new second-grade teacher. She is taking the position left vacant by the retirement of Romaine Wilson.New part-time instructors are physical education teacher Debbie Shacklock and art teacher Susan Brisson.

Dedication and love of music brought Karenn Marold, 18, back to school early to help prepare new band members for their first year.Also, she said, "I'm so bored, I can't wait to get back to school.""This is where I get to be with all of my friends," said Karenn, a trombone player who recently joined several Patterson High School band members for a hot afternoon's practice days before the start of school.Two other band members, Brian Pisani, 16 and Scott Guinto, 17, were downright joyful about their return to school.

As schools opened Tuesday in Anne Arundel County with a record 76,600 students, Bates Middle School sixth-grader Londell Owens said he's looking forward to learning much in his classes "and having fun doing it. " Among those who were in attendance at Bates on Tuesday morning were Superintendent Kevin Maxwell, several board of education members and interim state Superintendent Bernard Sadusky, who took over when long-time superintendent Nancy S....

Open house - Open Arms half-day program, Thu., Aug. 4, 3:30-6:30 p.m., Open Arms School, Our Savior Lutheran Church, 13611 Laurel Bowie Road. Children and parents invited to meet the director, staff and teachers who will be working with children during the 2011-2012 school year. 240-568-9352. Vacation Bible school - Monday, Aug. 15 through Friday, Aug. 19, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Solomon's Porch Worship Center, Quality Inn and Suites, fifth floor Patuxent Room, 1 Second St. Take a trip down Gratitude Avenue, Compassion Drive, Forgiveness Lane, Grace Parkway and Faithfulness Road.

During the early portion of this week's Howard County Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Sydney Cousin was showered with awards and accolades for his years of service to the school system. Later that evening, board members took the first step in choosing Cousin's successor, holding a public hearing and workshop. The board also said it would use a search firm to help narrow a nationwide pool of candidates. Chaun Hightower, president of the PTA Council of Howard County, said the board must select a superintendent who recognizes the role of parents in the education process.

Students were not the only ones who woke up early and spent the day going from classroom to classroom as the first day of the new school year arrived. Howard County Superintendent Sydney L. Cousin and school board Chairman Frank Aquino were up and out early, visiting seven schools Monday as part of Cousin's annual ritual. The two started at Howard High School just before 7 a.m., where 125 staff members, playing percussion instruments, welcomed students back to school. The teachers toted drums and formed "rhythm circles" near the school's entrance as buses pulled up. Cousin said he was impressed by the display of enthusiasm.

The lime-green shoots of tulips are beginning to push their way through a patch of rich dirt in front of Germantown Elementary School. Principal Walter Reap parks beside this garden every morning, and sometimes he considers the tulips' slow and perseverant reach for the sun and sky as a symbol of the gradual rebirth he is seeing at his school. Reap is in his first year as head of an Annapolis school that has grappled with drastic demographic shifts during the past decade. A school that once had nearly 600 students evenly split between white and African-American, saw its enrollment drop in 2001 to barely 400, with Hispanic students making up a third of enrollment, as white students dropped to 15 percent.

The Centennial High School Boosters will hold their second session of Eagle Baseball School, a summer camp for boys ages 7 to 14, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 30 through Aug. 3. The camp, to be directed by Centennial's boys varsity baseball coach Denis Ahearn, will offer instruction and drills in throwing, hitting, fielding, base-running, catching and strategy. Area players and coaches will give lectures and demonstrations. The emphasis will be on fundamentals, sportsmanship and fun. The program includes contests, treats, a report card and certificates.

The private Calvert School, whose collaboration with the city's Barclay School has surpassed the most optimistic expectations, is expanding to another public school in the fall.Calvert will take its detailed curriculum stressing mastery of the basics -- along with materials, support staff and training -- to Carter G. Woodson Elementary in Cherry Hill, Superintendent Walter G. Amprey said yesterday.Woodson eventually would serve as a training site for staffers who would become Calvert curriculum coordinators and take its program to other city public schools.

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.

Fourteen-year-old Corey McLaurin returned to school in Northeast Baltimore yesterday to find much had changed since he left in June. Thurgood Marshall Middle, where he thought he would begin eighth grade, had moved from a regular building to portable classrooms in the parking lot, making room for a high school that now shares the campus. But then Corey learned he was no longer enrolled there. The middle school had cut its enrollment, sending Corey and other pupils elsewhere. Corey said he never received a transfer notice.