Scribbles From the Margen

Seize the New School Year!

A new school year begins with endless opportunities and possibilities.

Today is the first day of school for most local K-12 students. To make me feel even older and more removed from my own school days, I did a little math. Today's new freshmen are members of the Class of 2016. Today's new kindergartners are members of the Class of 2025. I don't know about you, but when these kindergartners graduate, they will do so 50 years after I graduated from high school. It just doesn't seem possible. I have a relationship with my school days that I'm sure many—if not all of us— have. Some school memories, including some from first grade (I'm so old my school—Mars Estates Elementary School in Essex—did not have kindergarten when I was that age) seem like they were so recent I could simply reach out and touch them. …

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Dance To Investigate Magnet School Rule Change

Parents of students at Cromwell Valley Elementary School protested a rule change that would get rid of priority placement for kindergartners who have siblings at a magnet school.

Protests against a recent controversial magnet school rule change have paid off. At a Tuesday evening Board of Education meeting, parents of Cromwell Valley Elementary School students appealed to the school board and Superintendent S. Dallas Dance to reconsider a rule change that, starting in the 2015-2016 school year, does away with priority placement for kindergartners who have siblings at Baltimore County's seven elementary magnet schools. "The superintendent has directed staff to study the issue," said Charles Herndon, a school system spokesperson. Herndon said Dance hasn't yet taken a stance on the matter, but the input from parents at the meeting and through other communications have encouraged him to look seriously at the rule …

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