York School

NEW YORK - A new public high school here has a pioneering cure for "senioritis," the academic "pox Americana" afflicting millions of restless and departing students: eliminate senior year altogether. In fact, Bard High School Early College is scrapping 11th grade as well, jumping students from 10th grade straight to college classes on the same campus, and awarding them associate degrees when others their age are receiving high school diplomas. `A lost opportunity' New York school officials and education reformers are hailing the concept as a breakthrough in the growing effort to rethink the traditional American senior year.

T he road to the national championship goes through Syracuse. And C.W. Post. And SUNY Cortland. And Onondaga Community College. Last year, the aforementioned New York schools captured the Division I, Division II, Division III and National Junior College Athletic Association titles, respectively. So, has the Empire State replaced Maryland as the pre-eminent lacrosse hotbed? One former player turned analyst doesn't see it as a trend, but as a continuation of what has always been.

Baltimore Superintendent Walter G. Amprey last night pulled out of the running for New York City's top schools post, saying he's committed to remaining here to complete his ambitious reform efforts.In a one-page letter sent by facsimile to the New York school board, Dr. Amprey called his decision "particularly difficult.""I have been convinced that the work which I have begun in Baltimore would not be successfully completed were I to leave at this time," the letter said."I am a product of the Baltimore City Public Schools and not only see education as my life's work, but consider education in Baltimore inextricably linked to that mission."

There's a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek painting by American artist Mark Tansey called Triumph of the New York School. In it, Tansey imagines the seismic shift in the art world's center of gravity from Paris to New York that occurred after World War II as an American military victory. In Tansey's whimsical depiction, the generals on both sides are painters and critics -- Picasso, Matisse and Andre Breton for the European modernists; Pollock, de Kooning and Clement Greenberg for the New York School Abstract-Expressionists -- and they're shown in various uniforms arrayed around a field desk near the battlefield as if signing terms of surrender.

NEW YORK - They have been together for only five months, but the students in the pioneering seventh-grade class at the all-girls public school in East Harlem have already begun to leave their marks on their surroundings.First, the girls complained that their blue polyester uniforms were too itchy, and got the principal to commit to switching to cotton and wool.Then they persuaded school officials to admit boys - but only for a night, for a Valentine's Day social. And soon there will be tryouts for the first school basketball team, created at the girls' insistence.

YORK, Pa. -- They took on some of the biggest names in the fiercely competitive world of prep school basketball, and came out on top. They earned college scholarships, some to such big-time programs as Georgia and Nevada-Las Vegas. And even as the Crispus Attucks Eagles collected their championship rings, the school caught the eye of one of the country's best young players. All in the team's first season -- which, it turns out, will almost certainly be its last as a national force. You might think that an inaugural season with so much success would have been a hit in this southern Pennsylvania city, but few in York knew of the team's winning ways.

William Carr,95, an educator who brought an international outlook to his 15 years as executive secretary of the National Education Association, died March 1 at a hospice in Denver.A native of England who saw the world as his classroom and the body politic as his class, he spent most of his career with the National Education Association, the group representing teachers, administrators and other school personnel. He was its executive secretary, the chief administrator, from 1952 to 1967.Jean Margaret Maxwell,81, who helped establish the New York School of Social Work at New York University in the 1950s and the San Diego State University School of Social Work in the 1960s, died Feb. 22 at the Casa de Manana retirement community in San Diego.

There's a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek painting by American artist Mark Tansey called Triumph of the New York School. In it, Tansey imagines the seismic shift in the art world's center of gravity from Paris to New York that occurred after World War II as an American military victory. In Tansey's whimsical depiction, the generals on both sides are painters and critics -- Picasso, Matisse and Andre Breton for the European modernists; Pollock, de Kooning and Clement Greenberg for the New York School Abstract-Expressionists -- and they're shown in various uniforms arrayed around a field desk near the battlefield as if signing terms of surrender.

At the Mitchell Gallery, they don't believe in falling into ruts. In January and February, art lovers came to the intimate museum on the campus of St. John's College to view the elegant, meticulously crafted handiwork of James McNeill Whistler. Now, through April 20, the gallery is playing host to 21 works of modern art in an exhibit titled The New York School and Beyond. Abstract expressionism is the name of the game, and as one views the brash, hyperkinetic slabs of color pushed and pulled onto the canvas by the likes of Jackson Pollock, Hans Hoffman and the rest, the restrained harmony of Whistler seems far off, indeed.

Lloyd Meeds, 77, a former gas station operator who sponsored landmark legislation and hobnobbed with presidents during seven terms in the House of Representatives, died of cancer Wednesday night at his Church Creek home in Maryland's Dorchester County. Mr. Meeds represented a district in northwestern Washington State and worked closely with its senators, Henry M. Jackson and Warren G. Magnuson. After his retirement from Congress in 1979, he had a long career as a partner with the Seattle-based law firm of Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds in its branch in the District of Columbia.

Lloyd Meeds, 77, a former gas station operator who sponsored landmark legislation and hobnobbed with presidents during seven terms in the House of Representatives, died of cancer Wednesday night at his Church Creek home in Maryland's Dorchester County. Mr. Meeds represented a district in northwestern Washington State and worked closely with its senators, Henry M. Jackson and Warren G. Magnuson. After his retirement from Congress in 1979, he had a long career as a partner with the Seattle-based law firm of Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds in its branch in the District of Columbia.

Devon Williams, Track & Field News' reigning indoor High School Women's Athlete of the Year, expected to spend her sophomore year at Towson Catholic competing against some of the nation's best high school runners. It turns out there's some red tape between her and the starting blocks. Williams' school is affiliated with an athletic governing body that isn't recognized by some out-of-state athletic associations. That means she and other track and field athletes at non-public schools in the Baltimore area are not permitted to run, throw or jump at several out-of-state meets this year.

When John R. O'Rourke ascended to Howard County's top education post nearly four years ago, the school psychologist-turned-administrator beat out six other candidates with his award-studded credentials and a reputation for being a good listener. The expectations were high and the praise was effusive for O'Rourke, when he came to Howard three years after being named the nation's superintendent of the year. Now, O'Rourke is being ousted in June after the county school board refused to renew his contract.

MIDDLE VILLAGE, N.Y. - A newspaper clipping hangs on the bulletin board in the gym at Christ the King High School. The picture shows seven seniors on this season's girls basketball team, the one ranked second in America. Before they've played a single game of their final high school season, all seven girls have signed with Division I colleges. George Washington, James Madison, Fairfield, just to name a few. In the photo, on the far right, with a lanky arm draped over a teammate and wearing a giant grin, is Shay Doron.

At the Mitchell Gallery, they don't believe in falling into ruts. In January and February, art lovers came to the intimate museum on the campus of St. John's College to view the elegant, meticulously crafted handiwork of James McNeill Whistler. Now, through April 20, the gallery is playing host to 21 works of modern art in an exhibit titled The New York School and Beyond. Abstract expressionism is the name of the game, and as one views the brash, hyperkinetic slabs of color pushed and pulled onto the canvas by the likes of Jackson Pollock, Hans Hoffman and the rest, the restrained harmony of Whistler seems far off, indeed.

NEW YORK - A new public high school here has a pioneering cure for "senioritis," the academic "pox Americana" afflicting millions of restless and departing students: eliminate senior year altogether. In fact, Bard High School Early College is scrapping 11th grade as well, jumping students from 10th grade straight to college classes on the same campus, and awarding them associate degrees when others their age are receiving high school diplomas. `A lost opportunity' New York school officials and education reformers are hailing the concept as a breakthrough in the growing effort to rethink the traditional American senior year.

Joseph P. Folkoff, former official at Levindale, diesServices for Joseph P. Folkoff, who retired in 1965 as executive director of what is now the Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital, will be held at 1 p.m. today at Sol Levinson & Bros. funeral home, 6010 Reisterstown Road.Mr. Folkoff, who was 94 and lived at Highfield House, died Tuesday of a heart ailment at Greater Baltimore Medical Center.During his 22 years at Levindale, it grew from a shelter of fewer than 200 beds to a chronic and rehabilitation hospital with 270 beds and outpatient and day-care programs.

When John R. O'Rourke ascended to Howard County's top education post nearly four years ago, the school psychologist-turned-administrator beat out six other candidates with his award-studded credentials and a reputation for being a good listener. The expectations were high and the praise was effusive for O'Rourke, when he came to Howard three years after being named the nation's superintendent of the year. Now, O'Rourke is being ousted in June after the county school board refused to renew his contract.

NEW YORK - Growing up in Rochester just after the turn of the century, Mary Ranney was always drawn to the religious life, attending parochial school for eight years and dreaming of becoming a nun. Then, around 1930, she discovered a school operated by the Society of the Sacred Heart. "I met a group of women who loved me," Sister Ranney, 90, said while perched on a pew inside one of the grand Beaux-Arts mansions on East 91st Street that house the society's New York school, the Convent of the Sacred Heart, where she has worked for 46 years.

YORK, Pa. -- They took on some of the biggest names in the fiercely competitive world of prep school basketball, and came out on top. They earned college scholarships, some to such big-time programs as Georgia and Nevada-Las Vegas. And even as the Crispus Attucks Eagles collected their championship rings, the school caught the eye of one of the country's best young players. All in the team's first season -- which, it turns out, will almost certainly be its last as a national force. You might think that an inaugural season with so much success would have been a hit in this southern Pennsylvania city, but few in York knew of the team's winning ways.