Schools In Baltimore

A snowstorm that threatened to dump 3 to 5 inches of snow before turning to freezing rain yesterday led administrators in 11 Maryland school districts to cancel classes -- a move that backfired.The storm was a dud, leaving only a light dusting and patches of freezing rain.Schools in Baltimore County closed; schools in Baltimore City opened. Schools in Carroll and Harford counties closed; schools in Anne Arundel County opened. Schools in Prince George's County opened, then closed."It's a gamble," said Carroll County School Superintendent Brian Lockard.

THE PRICE we pay for democracy need not include harming our children's education, but does. Maryland law provides that all schools must close for primary and general elections, except in six rural counties, because some school buildings serve as polling places.As a result, school is out tomorrow and on Nov. 3.Sure, the days are added on at the end or -- this year -- the beginning so that the mandatory 180-day school year is fulfilled. But missing two Tuesdays hurts the rhythm of education.

Archbishop Curley High School, a Roman Catholic boys school in Northeast Baltimore, has received a $1 million gift from a Cockeysville businessman in what is believed to be the largest donation to a secondary school owned by the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Alan J. Gebhart, owner of a company that owns and manages commercial and residential real estate, made the gift to the school's endowment trust fund, which pays for student scholarships, faculty development, facility improvements and information technology.

A 22-year-old college student who was pulled out of class in New York two weeks ago and arrested in the fatal shooting of a Woodlawn teenager nearly six years ago has been brought back to Baltimore County by authorities, police said yesterday. Nicholas Dudley Pinderhughes Weaver of Baltimore has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of David L. Baskin Jr., an aspiring rap musician who was shot in July 2002 near his Woodlawn home, a day after his 18th birthday. Baskin's mother has said that police told her he was the unintended victim of a group of West Baltimore youths who were feuding with a group from Woodlawn over a girl.

Getting kids to read what's assigned to them in school is sometimes a nightmare for parents, but getting them to read on their own can be absolutely impossible. As the kids see it, there are so many better ways to spend their free time: playing with friends, watching TV, or just sitting around. What's a school to do?Call in the Orioles, of course.For the past three years, the Orioles' organization has been "adopting" elementary schools in Baltimore to get children excited about reading. Each year the team has adopted one school, usually chosen in conjunction with the city school board, and this year's school is Sinclair Lane in East Baltimore.

Judge high schools on how well they prepare studentsIt is not surprising that comprehensive high schools in Baltimore appear to compare poorly with other high schools in the state.Most high schools serve all high school age students. Baltimore's comprehensive high schools serve those students remaining after the highest achieving and most motivated students have elected to attend citywide high schools.Students in Baltimore do not have the privilege of being picked up by a big yellow school buses and dropped off at the schoolhouse door.

Sister LeonardEnglish teacherSister Mary Leonard Leonard, R.S.M., who taught at schools in Baltimore, Washington, Alabama, Georgia and Florida, died Sunday of cancer at The Villa, a retirement home in Pinehurst for members of religious orders.Sister Leonard, who was 75 and moved to The Villa last June, had been assistant professor of communications at Pensacola Junior College in Florida since 1972. For six years before that, she taught English at the Catholic High School in Pensacola.Co-author of a book, "Vocabulary for Everybody," she was a member of several professional groups, including the Sisters of Mercy Higher Education Colloquium, Phi Delta Kappa Business Fraternity and the American Business Communications Association.

Dozens of high school students heard their names called, listened to the cheers of the crowd and climbed onto the stage of the Hippodrome Theatre on Sunday night to receive Cappie awards recognizing achievement in high school theater. But for Carole Lehan, program director for the Cappies of Baltimore, the scene that really captures the spirit of the event happened a few hours earlier, when the daylong rehearsal for the Cappies gala was complete. In a large ballroom, 500 students crowded together and held their hands out toward the middle of the room for a final show of encouragement.

Noting that the Archdiocese of Baltimore recently pledged tens of millions of dollars to improve its schools, a group of rabbis and lay leaders is asking The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore to increase its financial support for Jewish day schools.The group, which calls itself Advocates for Leadership in Educational Funding, is seeking a threefold increase in The Associated's annual allocation for the private day schools that teach religious and secular courses.The Associated's annual campaign last year raised about $24 million for Jewish agencies here and in Israel.

Fresh from the successful killing of a school voucher proposal in California's Nov. 2 referendum, the nation's largest teachers' union has turned its guns on Maryland, where the Maryland State Teachers Association has launched a campaign aimed at preventing a "seizure and privateering of neighborhood schools" bureaucrats of the state education department.The campaign, titled "Hands Off Our Schools," has a hysterical ring to it that would get a failing grade in a high school course in logic, speech or rhetoric.