School Day

Area schools and literacy programs seek volunteers to help children and adults improve reading skills and to assist in related projects.Among them are:Thomas Johnson Elementary School, 100 E. Heath St., in South Baltimore, to work with children on reading during the school day, and in an after-school Reading Club tutoring program. Training will be provided. Hours are 7: 45 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the school day, and 3: 15 p.m. to 4: 15 p.m. after school. Contact: Maria Zozuliak, reading teacher, 410-396- 1575.

AMERICA's September-to-June, seven-hour school day was designed a century ago for a nation where few mothers worked outside the home and farm families needed their sons and daughters for the summer harvest. That's not the way America lives anymore. But few schools have adapted.When Social Security was created during the Depression, an average American could expect to live to 61. So President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Congress, exhibiting a healthy sense of fiscal prudence, set the age for access to benefits at 65. Today, the life expectancy for an average American is 76. But Washington, fearful of the ever-growing gray lobby, has been too slow to raise the eligibility age in response.

When parents help their children prepare for school, they are opening doors to a new, exciting world, and building the foundation for a lifetime of learning. Here are a few suggestions to initiate now:Getting ready* Begin to develop a daily routine for school by gradually setting earlier bed and wake-up times.* Set aside time each day for quiet reading or writing activities, and gradually shorten the TV and video game time.* Visit your child's school for a brief walk-through the week before school opens.

WASHINGTON -- Public school districts must pay for full-time nursing care for disabled students who require that service to attend classes, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday.The decision is likely to cost the nation's schools heavily, but the total is uncertain because the services are so individualized and the number of students nationwide who could qualify is unknown. One estimate put the figure at 17,000.The students' right to the care, the court said, comes from a 1975 federal law designed to assure disabled youngsters that they can attend regular school with students who are not disabled.

Baltimore City public school students would be greeted this September by a battery of tests, a longer school day and smaller classes, under a plan to be proposed next week by interim schools chief Robert E. Schiller.In an interview with The Sun this week, Schiller described the district as "academically bankrupt" and outlined initiatives that he says would represent a first step toward boosting student achievement.Schiller said he believes the greatest short-term benefits to the district will be realized by focusing on the elementary grades, particularly in reading.

More than half the 82 high schools in the Baltimore area have switched from six- or seven- to four-period days in recent years, and despite some drawbacks, many students and teachers are raving about schedules that offer a concentrated jolt of instructional time."

TIRED OF this Winter Wonderland? So are many students.Education Beat went to Catonsville Middle School last week on the eve of the latest phantasmagoria to see what sixth-graders are thinking about the winter and what it's doing to their lives.What is the meaning of "time" in education? Who's more inconvenienced when Mother Nature intervenes -- students or the adults who serve them in places called "schools"? And could students learn at home (with the help of parents and teachers) when the elements prevent them from getting to formal instruction?

With an extra 12 minutes, you can poach four eggs, run more than a mile or watch half a television sitcom, or you could add the equivalent of six days to the school year.Anne Arundel County school officials are studying the costs and logistics of lengthening the school day by 12 minutes, at least for high school students and maybe for all 72,000 students, to avoid a recurrence of the problem they have this year.Because of snow-related delayed arrivals, early dismissals and full days lost, high school students will be short of the state-required 1,170 instructional hours if this school year is not extended.

Liberty wrestling coach Jeff Hash has reason to smile.Part of it is the fact his Lions -- 8-3 -- are off to their best start in eight years. But that is only the beginning, the outside reward for four years of hard work toward building a foundation, something the Liberty program has never completely developed before.What's on the inside is more pleasing to Hash."Everyone's upbeat, it's an immense difference from years past. This year's team has great morale and spirit," Hash said. "You walk into the practice room every day and your spirit is up because you see the wrestlers' spirits are up. It makes all the difference in the world.

With the Blizzard of '96 fresh in their minds, members of the Carroll County Board of Education sent next year's proposed calendar back to school administrators and asked them to add more snow days for the 1996-1997 academic year.Usually, the school calendar has had three snow days built in, but board member Ann M. Ballard sais she has found that since 1990, schools have closed for bad weather an average of five days a year.This school year, Carroll has missed eight days already because of snow.

A couple of months ago, Travis Justice wouldn't have dreamed that he would be riding in a limousine and spending most of the school day with Baltimore Ravens star Todd Heap. The 10-year-old fifth-grader at Elkridge Elementary School entered the NFL's Take a Player to School contest on a whim. He's glad he did. "It tops everything," Travis said. "That was the best day of my life." After picking Travis up from his home in Elkridge, Heap spent more than three hours at the school Tuesday.

Sixth-grader Jenna Martin was still wiping sleep from her eyes as she shuffled through the halls of Marley Middle School. It was a Saturday morning after all, and she could have spent it in bed or watching Hannah Montana or fiddling around online, caring for her virtual Webkinz pet. Her usual Saturday morning schedule, however, is on hiatus for seven weeks. Jenna and dozens of schoolmates are using that time to prepare for the Maryland School Assessments, to be given to third- to eighth-graders April 1-10.

Before the sound of the squeak of sneakers on the gym floor completely vanishes for another year ... In the wake of the Long Reach boys and River Hill girls winning titles last weekend, it may be a little early to suggest that the balance of basketball power, at least in the public schools ranks, has shifted to the comfortable suburbs of Howard County. However, it certainly is worth noting that Howard County, heretofore thought to be the land of soccer, lacrosse and volleyball players, was the only jurisdiction in the state to hit the daily double of state champions in boys and girls basketball.

Stung by criticism from parents about a plan that would ban fatty, sugary snacks at after-school concession stands, the school board is planning to revise its proposed nutrition and wellness policy, deemed one of the most strict in the country. Several booster club members and parents of students in other after-school activities had complained that the policy - being drafted to meet a state mandate - would hurt fundraising, sending school officials back to the drawing board. "They were concerned that we went a little too far by regulating what is sold after the school day is over," Raymond Brown, the school system's chief operating officer, said of the public response.

IF YOU'VE FOLLOWED Don Disney's tenure as Howard County's coordinator of athletics at all, it shouldn't surprise you that his last ideas are about ensuring the safety of the kids. After all, Disney, who will be leaving Howard after 31 years for a similar position in El Paso, Texas, at the end of the month, threatened to drop the hammer last spring on county coaches because he thought they were ignoring an edict about suspending play whenever lightning was merely seen or thunder was merely heard, much less when an actual storm hit. So it can't come as a big shock that a man who has dedicated 20 years as coordinator to making sure that "safety isn't compromised," would propose major changes to protect student-athletes statewide.

It was a day that could haunt the dreams of 700 children for years to come, but Matthew Riley did his best to make it all seem normal. Less than 24 hours after three of their schoolmates had been found slain in a nearby apartment building, pupils at Cross Country Elementary School gathered under a sunny sky behind the red brick building at 8:40 a.m. to hear their burly principal welcome them to just another school day. "My goodness, you are a thing of...

Bebe Martins doesn't know if she'll be able to bring herself to go to second period tomorrow. Seeing the empty chair beside hers could be too much to bear. Tomorrow, Randallstown High will open its doors to students traumatized by Friday's shooting outside the school. Officials say they will try to conduct as normal a day as possible. But the day will be anything but normal for Bebe, a 17-year-old junior who is used to sitting next to William Thomas during her business law class and then seeing him again fourth period in African-American history.

The Howard County Board of Education voted last night to lengthen the school day by 15 minutes for middle and high school students in the fall, a move necessary to meet state instruction requirements. An analysis by The Sun in December showed Howard County high schools routinely fall short of the 1,170 instructional hours required. This year, the system missed the mark by 42 hours, and an early calendar proposal for next school year was short by 36 hours. The extra 15 minutes - five added to the start of each day and 10 at the end - will lengthen the day from 6 1/2 hours to 6 3/4 hours and bring high schools into compliance with state law, at a cost of $143,000.

When Carroll County school officials invited the public to weigh in on ways to make up this year's extra snow days, they tentatively set last Friday as the deadline for accepting suggestions. But the mail has kept rolling in. By the close of business yesterday, the school system had received 1,235 e-mails, faxes and letters from school employees, parents, students and others with an interest in how the district recoups lost class time. The influx persuaded school officials to extend the deadline to 4 p.m. tomorrow, one hour before school board members are scheduled to meet to discuss the issue.

With more wintry weather in the forecast this week, Carroll County school officials are soliciting ideas for making up lost days. With February just starting, the county already has one day to make up because they have used more than the four emergency closing days that were built into the 2003-2004 school calendar, said Superintendent Charles I. Ecker. "There's more snow coming," said Ecker. "We want to get the word out about the various options we have for the make-up days." Ecker is considering the Presidents Day holiday, Feb. 16, as a possible make-up day. He will submit a recommendation on making up lost school days when the county school board meets Feb. 11. The county school system must obtain a waiver from the State Department of Education to eliminate an official public school holiday.