School Day

The holiday that Baltimore County kids were supposed to have spent in school turned out to be the day that tens of thousands of them played hooky.Memorial Day 1996 -- made into a school day to recoup time lost during the repeated snowstorms during the winter -- drew fewer than half of the county's 101,735 students yesterday, school officials estimated. Baltimore County was the only school system in the region open for Memorial Day.Family vacations kept many students at home. In other cases, children simply stayed home.

School day will shrink if temperature tops 90BEL AIR -- Harford County school officials said yesterday that elementary and middle schools will close two hours early every day this week when the temperature tops 90 degrees.High schools will open two hours late and close on time because students have final exams in the afternoons, said school spokesman Donald R. Morrison."We are looking at this on a day-to-day basis," Mr. Morrison said.Schools will close two hours early Friday, the last day of classes, regardless of the weather.

At Germantown Elementary School in Annapolis, students receive physical education once a week. Officially, that is. Unofficially, students are engaging in the same level of activity as their "go-outside-and-play" parents of previous generations. At recess, before classes and after school — and in some cases even during classroom instruction — youngsters are getting workouts by playing traditional games, learning new ones and creating their own spinoff versions. Germantown Elementary is among the first schools in the area to implement a San Diego-based physical education program called SPARK, which stresses to children the importance of physical fitness, then provides grade-level equipment and instruction to back it up. SPARK officials said the program began in 1989 as a result of a study supported by the Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health and San Diego State University.

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.

Anne Arundel County high school students, whose day starts at 7: 25 a.m., would have to rise and shine eight minutes earlier next year under a plan that calls for the school day to start at 7: 17 a.m.The earlier starting time is the favorite option among several the county school board is studying to meet the Maryland State Department of Education's required 1,170 classroom hours for high school students.Other options include eliminating all late arrivals and early dismissals, and adding five minutes at the start of the school day and having students attend school all day during final exams.

American schools must spend substantially more time teaching the basics and less on frills to catch up with the nation's economic competitors, a federal report released yesterday concludes.The report by the National Education Commission on Time and Learning recommends that schools spend at least five and a half hours a day on "core" subjects such as English, math, science and civics, a significant increase from the three hours that an average student now receives."We're saying to communities you have to examine your own priorities, make sure you're spending the time on the core academic subjects," said Christopher T. Cross, a commission member from Chevy Chase who also sits on the Maryland State Board of Education.

Brother James Kelly, president of Mount Saint Joseph High School for the last decade, died of prostate cancer early Saturday at his order's residence in Irvington. He was 64. In a letter he wrote to students and parents in October, he quoted the writings of St. Paul: "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. " He also said, "When I can't teach, I will know it's over. " He taught until the middle of last month. Born in Worcester, Mass., he earned a bachelor's degree in Latin and Greek from the Catholic University of America, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Jina Shin, a South Korean schools budget analyst in the U.S. for three weeks of study, stood in a schoolyard among a boisterous crowd of children, teachers and parents at dismissal. The end of the school day at St. Mark's School in Catonsville is fairly typical of most in terms of noise, enthusiasm and organization. "It is strange to see so many parents here to pick up their children," she said. "In Korea, children, even the little ones, get home by themselves. " Although she has also found American students a bit more lively in the classroom than their Korean counterparts, she has noticed more similarities than differences in the schools systems, she said.

For the first time since it set up shop in the city 18 years ago, Teach for America is spreading into the suburbs, sending teachers into low-performing schools in Baltimore County that leaders say need as much help as those in the city. The move into four Baltimore County middle schools — Old Court, Deer Park, Windsor Mill and Golden Ring — will give the district 14 new TFA teachers to help decrease class sizes in reading and math. "We thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to begin providing additional resources in schools where students need assistance," said Donald A. Peccio, the county's assistant superintendent for human resources.

The Baltimore County school board is to decide tonight how the time lost to the bad winter weather will be made up. As it did two weeks ago, Superintendent Stuart Berger's staff again will recommend making up the time by extending the school day 45 minutes -- the option that staff members think would result in the best quality instruction time, said Deputy Superintendent Anthony Marchione.For nearly two weeks, board members and school administrators have looked to teachers, parents and other county residents for guidance on the best way to make up five "snow days" -- by extending the school day or the school year.