School For Boys

IN A PRESTIGIOUS New England prep school long known for its liberal social conscience, a pair of senior boys cornered an underclassman and carved the word "HOMO" on his back, from shoulder to shoulder, using a pen knife.The victim had made the mistake of saying he liked the British rock band Queen, whose lead singer died of AIDS. He waited two days before coming forward to report the assault, which took place in late May.One of the two boys accused in the incident had been accepted to the U.S. Naval Academy, which last week rescinded its offer.

I walked into the administration building of the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School for boys and saw him in person for the first time. The gray suit was impeccably pressed. The smile came almost immediately.He was shorter than I'd expected, but that didn't matter. I knew the man was, to many people, a giant in so many other ways. So I'd met face-to-face with Boyse Mosley at last.Just that morning, news reports said Baltimore's school board might have to extend its search for a new school chief.

Saying "Happy birthday, Gilman," and smiling for a far-off camera, the 970 students of the Gilman School posed yesterday for an anniversary photo that, their headmaster said, "will be on the walls of Gilman for another 100 years."The boys assembled on stone bleachers and spilled onto the grass of the football field on the Roland Park campus, as a photographer stood half a field away shouting, "One more picture."The photo preceded a convocation that marked the opening of this school year and of the private boys' school's 100th year.

ALUMNI converging on Gilman School's centennial homecoming this weekend look in vain for the Lower School. It consists of portable classrooms behind the original building. Where it was, a foundation exists upon which a larger Lower School will rise, with one more classroom per grade level to reduce class size for the current enrollment, along with other improvements.Baltimore's best-known independent school is not merely celebrating a century of survival with self-congratulations. It is planning aggressively to play as important a role in its next century as in its last.

They came from Paris, Hong Kong and all neighborhoods of metropolitan Baltimore to celebrate 100 years of learning at Gilman School.Yesterday, as bagpipers solemnly led a parade of Gilman alumni to the stately private boys' school's Roland Park campus, hundreds of graduates tipped their hats to the institution in a spirited birthday tribute marked by rowdy cheers, sweet memories and emotional reunions.Centered under a white tent nearly the size of two football fields, the school's centennial weekend called about 2,000 Gilmanites back to the Colonial red-brick campus to pay tribute to past educational successes and toast future endeavors.

They call themselves the Thoroughbreds because their home turf is part of the famous Wyndham Walden 260-acre Bowling Brook horse farm that was once home to seven Preakness winners.But the only race the 40 boys at Bowling Brook school in Middleburg in Carroll County are running is one they hope will take them back into society.For many of these repeat offenders in the juvenile justice system, this is their last chance to turn their lives around.They have been selected by Bowling Brook, a private, juvenile court-operated school for boys 16-18, because they have shown a potential to be helped back into the mainstream of life.

An emergency fund-raising effort has produced money to cover back pay for teachers at the Talmudical Academy through May 15, and at least one more paycheck will be coming soon, organizers say."We're moving along," said Rabbi Tzi Hersh Weinreb of the Shomrei Emunah Congregation in the 6200 block of Greenspring Ave. Rabbi Weinreb is leading the fund-raising effort.In two weeks, $265,000 of the $440,000 needed to pay teachers for the entire academic year has been collected.Dr. Michael J. Elman, new president of the school's board of directors, said efforts are continuing to resolve the school's larger financial problems.

Elizabeth P. Forbes, a former teacher in Baltimore's public schools and several private schools, died of heart failure Friday at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. She was 72.Services for the Ruxton resident were being held today at Roland Park Presbyterian Church, 4801 Roland Ave.Born in Baltimore, the former Elizabeth P. Smith grew up in Roland Park and attended Roland Park Elementary School. She graduated from Western High School in 1938.In 1942, she earned a bachelor's degree in education from what is now Towson State University.

As the Schmoke administration pushes a proposed middle school for disruptive students, a Catholic parish is trying to start a middle school for boys from poor families.St. Ignatius Church wants to model its school after a successful Jesuit-run school on New York's Lower East Side that surrounds its students with attention -- days, evenings, weekends and summer vacation.The Rev. William Watters, pastor of the Jesuit parish at Calvert and Madison streets, wants to open the school by September 1993.

A Maryland section story in The Sun yesterday misspelled the name of the priest at St. Ignatius Church who is attempting to start a middle school for boys from poor families. His name is the Rev. William J. Watters.The Sun regrets the errors.As the Schmoke administration pushes a proposed middle school for disruptive students, a Catholic parish is trying to start a middle school for boys from poor families.St. Ignatius Church wants to model its school after a successful Jesuit-run school on New York's Lower East Side that surrounds its students with attention -- days, evenings, weekends and summer vacation.

How many people remember middle school as the best years of their life? Hardly anyone, we'd guess, and for good reason: It happens during that awkward, fidgety purgatory called adolescence, when the growth spurt sets in and kids' minds and bodies are so painfully out of sync that girls and boys seem to inhabit different planets. With all those raging hormones, it's a wonder anybody ever learns to diagram sentences or convert fractions to decimals. You'd think there had to be a better way, and in fact there always was. Among private schools, there's been a long tradition of separate institutions for boys and girls.

The boys in the seventh-grade classroom wave their hands wildly and squirm in their seats, unable to contain their joy in a competition involving singular and plural nouns. Their teacher seems undaunted by the outbursts of cheering. These are boys, after all. Sometimes they are loud. In a struggling East Baltimore neighborhood, the middle-schoolers have begun their second year at an all-boys charter school whose creation marks a distinct shift in thinking about single-sex education in the public schools.

DIEPSLOOT, South Africa -- Joshua Masekwameng stood outside his mother's shack absorbing the good news: His tuition for hotel management school next year would be paid in full, thanks to some generous strangers 8,000 miles away in Baltimore. Two weeks ago, the 260 middle school students at St. Paul's School for Boys raised $1,573 for his education. That sum, coupled with contributions from individuals who had earlier read about him, will more than cover the $2,600 cost for the second year of his two-year diploma program.

On July 3, 2006, ANNE KEFAUVER (nee Mansvetov), beloved wife of Alan P. Kefauver; loving mother of Alex Kefauver. Friends may call at St. Paul's School Chapel, Sunday, 2:30 to 3:30 P.M., where a service will be held at 3:30 P.M. Interment private. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Paul's School for Boys, 11152 Falls Road, Brooklandville, MD 21022. Arrangements by the family owned Ruck Towson Funeral Home, Inc.

William M. Barnes, a retired educator whose career in Baltimore public schools and the old Maryland Training School for Boys spanned 40 years, died in his sleep Sunday at Caton Manor Nursing Home. The Glen Burnie resident was 84. Mr. Barnes was born and raised in Rocky Mount, N.C., and earned a bachelor's degree in education in 1945 from Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina. He then played quarterback for several years with the Norfolk Brown Bombers of the American Football League in Virginia.

Frederick Leist Jr., a retired St. Paul's School for Boys faculty member and Navy lieutenant commander, died of complications from a stroke Tuesday at Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center & Hospital. The Roland Park resident was 76. Mr. Leist taught history at the Brooklandville school for 20 years and often infused his lectures with personal observations of world affairs. Born in Baltimore and raised in Stoneleigh, he was long fascinated by history. As a boy, he frequently visited the Confederate Soldiers Home in Pikesville and listened to aged Civil War veterans tell their stories.

On the year's hottest day so far, boys with rolled-up sleeves and girls with rolled-down knee socks trekked across the campus of Trinity School, taking in during one walking tour -- simultaneously -- the past, present and future of Howard County's oldest private school. Trinity, in Ellicott City, celebrated its 60th anniversary yesterday, but there has been a school on the property since 1912. And if those who love it have anything to say about it, the school will have an even longer future.

IN ADMIRATION and gratitude, I applaud the tough, courageous stand that St. Paul's School for Boys has taken in the sex video matter. In an age of MTV culture and Clintonian morals, the school's decisive disciplinary actions proclaim a clear and unequivocal message -- there are standards and principles of decent human behavior which students must not only comply with, but should also honor and esteem. If you've missed what happened, a 16-year-old sophomore on St. Paul's junior varsity lacrosse team videotaped himself having sex with a 15-year-old girl without her knowledge.

St. Paul's School for Boys has canceled its varsity lacrosse season and expelled a player who videotaped himself having sex with a girl and showed the tape to his teammates, the school's headmaster announced yesterday. In addition, eight players were removed from the junior varsity lacrosse team for the remainder of the season, according to a written statement from the headmaster, Robert W. Hallett. Disciplinary action for three other students has been delayed pending investigation, he said.

The disciplinary fate of three student-athletes who were involved in a sex scandal that has rocked St. Paul's School for Boys is expected to be announced today. Members of the school's board of trustees as well as top administrators and teachers met behind closed doors yesterday at the Brooklandville campus to discuss possible sanctions, including expulsion, suspension, community work and counseling, said Claire Acey, director of public relations and publications. Just how many members of the school's top-ranked lacrosse team could be disciplined was unknown, Acey said.