Schools In Howard

THE MARYLAND School Performance Assessment Program not only provides snapshots of schools that are successfully teaching, but insight into why others fail. A correlation often exists between test scores and family income.That's evident even in Howard, one of Maryland's most affluent counties, as a two-part series in The Sun recently showed.Howard's Laurel Woods Elementary, for example, more closely resembles an inner-city school than one in a suburban setting.Its North Laurel surroundings include dense population, drug abuse and petty crime.

Council's school debate reeked of parochialismIt was with great dismay that I read the reports on the advertised "public meeting" scheduled by the Howard County Council to begin addressing some of the educational concerns in Howard County. I had viewed the session as the beginning of a dialogue that could benefit the community.However, the council's decision to hear only the opinions of a selected few left me with the impression of politics at its worst.Education of our children is the pride or peril of our community -- our entire community -- not just the east or west side.

A Good Friday schedule of government offices, services and attractions in the region published in yesterday's editions included incorrect information on Baltimore libraries, Baltimore County offices and the reopening dates for the schools in Howard and Carroll counties.City libraries are closed today, Baltimore County offices are open today, Carroll schools reopen April 17 and Howard schools reopen April 20.The Sun regrets the errors.Pub Date: 4/10/98

Wilde Lake High principal a 'visionary'Visionaries such as Roger Plunkett, principal of Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, know that positive and productive change often requires adaptation to what is best for the majority and release of a self-serving or territorial perspective, which holds to the "we have always done it this way" philosophy.Mr. Plunkett is apparently operating completely within the framework of authority granted to and used by every principal in Howard County.The media blitz and personal vendettas of a small but vocal group of dissenters would dissipate if participants came to the realization that being a responsible and accountable leader does not require pleasing all of the people (or loudest dissenters)

Mary Williams of Elkridge teaches in a public school and grew up attending public schools in Howard County. But -- as long as she has the money -- she will never, ever send her 7-year-old grandson Chapman Kittrell to a public school.Even in Howard County? Especially in Howard.Even though the county's public school system continues to rack up the state's highest test scores, parents are increasingly rejecting Howard's public schools in favor of private schools and schooling their children at home.

What should a high school for 2001 look like? What kind of rooms? How should it be laid out? And how big?Those are a few of the questions that a school-board-appointed committee of about two dozen parents, teachers and principals began preparing to answer yesterday. They plan to write the specifications for the next two high schools to be built in Carroll County -- at Linton Springs for 2001 and in Westminster for 2002."Traditional schools have had the straight hallways and rooms on either side," said David Booz, principal of South Carroll High School.

Before Donna Mamula's second-period reading class at Murray Hill Middle School took its first test of the year Friday, students spent 30 minutes on last-minute spelling drills and then heard a pep talk on test-taking from their teacher.Mamula then gave them the three-part test and started on this week's lessons before it was time for the period to end.If this doesn't sound like the time-crunched atmosphere that some teachers bemoan, that's because it isn't -- classes at Murray Hill in Laurel are 90 minutes each.

Parents who have been pushing for more than four years to open a Catholic high school are homing in on a target: the Route 32 corridor in southern Carroll and northern Howard counties.Sykesville also happens to be where the state is expected to declare a 131-acre site at Springfield Hospital Center surplus property. But the hospital's Warfield complex is only one place being suggested for the school, said Michael Balhoff, a layman who is chairing a committee on expanding Roman Catholic schools in the region.

Parents who have been pushing for more than four years to open a Catholic high school are homing in on a target: the Route 32 corridor in southern Carroll and northern Howard counties.Sykesville also happens to be where the state is expected to declare a 131-acre site at Springfield Hospital Center surplus property. But the hospital's Warfield complex is only one place being suggested for a school, said Michael Balhoff, a layman who is chairing a committee on expanding Roman Catholic schools in the region.

Maryland schoolchildren yesterday braved slushy streets, ice- and snow-covered sidewalks and bus stops piled high with snow, but most managed to arrive for the first day of classes since the Blizzard of '96.One school-related injury occurred when a Howard County student on his way home was hit by a car and scraped his face.Heavy traffic and semi-plowed streets and parking lots made for harried morning and evening commuting, and late arrivals were almost universal. At some Baltimore County schools, principals and assistant principals were directing traffic.

A number of top-ranking Howard County school system officials say that they like the way the showing of President Barack Obama's speech to the nation's students was handled, despite having little time to adequately prepare for it. The school system was given a couple of days' notice about the speech, which made it difficult to coordinate a better plan to share it, according to Sydney L. Cousin, superintendent of Howard County Public Schools. Most Baltimore-area districts let individual schools determine whether they showed the speech.

Six schools in Howard County fell short of meeting state-ordered progress goals in the past year and were placed on a list of underperforming schools, despite appeals filed by county education officials. The elementary schools were Bollman Bridge in Jessup and Stevens Forest in Columbia. The middle schools were Harper's Choice in Columbia, Patuxent Valley in Jessup, Murray Hill in Laurel and Oakland Mills in Columbia. At Bollman Bridge, students who receive free or reduced-price lunches, and those in special-education programs did not meet the proficiency standard in math, which led to the school's being placed on the Adequate Yearly Progress list.

Afternoon tea set for female educators The women's giving Circle of Howard County will hold an Afternoon Tea for Women Educators from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Feb. 13 at Ten Oaks Ballroom in Clarksville. Linda Perlstein, journalist and author of a book based on her experiences at Wilde Lake Middle School, will speak. The topic, which is also the title of her book: Not Much Just Chillin': The Hidden Life of Middle Schoolers. Perlstein, who worked as a reporter at The Washington Post from 1994 to 2004, wrote about education and children.

Cousin to discuss special education The Howard County Special Education Community Advisory Committee will hold a question-and-answer session with school Superintendent Sydney L. Cousin at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Faulkner Ridge Center, 10598 Marble Faun Court, Columbia. To submit a question: Kelly Meissner at Meissner6@verizon .net. Information on the Special Education Community Advisory Committee: www.howardsecac.org. 9 schools to offer SAT/PSAT courses Registration is open for SAT/PSAT preparatory courses to be held at nine high schools in Howard County.

For the past month, Austin Kopnitsky has been grappling with constitutional issues. Is it OK to ban smoking in Howard County restaurants? Should government officials be allowed to meet in secrecy? Austin and fellow fifth-graders in Todd Garner's class at Atholton Elementary School argued and argued. They had not fully resolved the questions by Wednesday, when he and his classmates - dressed in their formal best - sat behind a table and answered questions before three judges. The event was the Simulated Congressional Hearings, which are taking place in 19 Howard County elementary schools this month and next.

Howard High School's old auditorium and cafeteria have been knocked down. Scaffolds surround the building, and the main office has been relocated to the media center. The county's oldest high school is undergoing a major, three-year renovation project, which is slated to bring the aging building up to par with the district's newer schools. "It's quite dramatic," said Bruce Gist, the school system's construction program manager. When the multiphase, $30 million project is completed in December 2007, Howard High will have several new or updated features: a 900-seat auditorium, a larger cafeteria, an auxiliary gym, a wrestling room, a girls locker room and a music complex.

John Francis Sullivan, an educator for nearly three decades who was a former assistant superintendent of schools in Howard County, died of Alzheimer's disease Friday at Ruxton Health and Rehabilitation Center in Pikesville. He was 84. Known as a self-effacing, gentle man who shunned a retirement party when he left the school system in 1978, the longtime Timonium resident loved studying. He earned three advanced degrees at the Johns Hopkins University while working as a teacher, principal and administrator.

Four Howard County schools closed by 11 a.m. yesterday -- sending more than 2,500 students home -- after it became clear that crews would not be able to restore electricity knocked out by Tuesday's storm. Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. "was successful in restoring power in so many schools that there was optimism about the prospect of their being able to restore power in our school as well," said Napoleon Saunders, assistant principal at Reservoir High School, which had to close at 10 a.m. Schools spokeswoman Patti Caplan said 17 schools lost power Tuesday night, but 13 of them had regained by early yesterday.

Four schools in Howard County closed by 11 a.m. yesterday - sending more than 2,500 students home - after it became clear crews would not be able to restore electrical power knocked out by Tuesday's storm. "[Baltimore Gas and Electric] was successful in restoring power in so many schools that there was optimism about the prospect of their being able to restore power in our school as well," said Napoleon Saunders, assistant principal at Reservoir High School, which had to close at 10 a.m. Schools spokeswoman Patti Caplan said 17 schools lost power Tuesday night, but 13 of them had regained it by early morning.

Children from area schools have discovered that Howard County Fairgrounds' cavernous main auditorium is a great place to fly paper airplanes. Normally, teachers might scold their students for such behavior. But this was the regional competition for MESA (Math, Engineering and Science Achievement) programs. Paper airplanes were just one way for youths to display their technical skill this month. Through after-school meetings and competitions, MESA uses hands-on projects to encourage children in math, science and engineering.