Alternative School

The new Antietam Academy school that opens Wednesday has its roots in the Alternative School program that started in 1977 and has been hosted at various schools throughout the years. Before starting the program in September 1977, the Washington County Board of Education visited similar programs in Baltimore and in Howard and Carroll counties, said B. Marie Byers, who served on the board in 1977. Byers said the program wasn’t just for disruptive students, but for students who needed a second chance or a “pause in time.

If it hadn’t been for the new Alternative School in 1977, Joe McPherson said he probably would have ended up in “juvenile hall” until he was 18, or worse. “I was pretty wild,” McPherson said. Instead, McPherson became one of the first students to attend the school that was aimed at catching potential dropouts and eventually getting them back into their home schools. McPherson, who had been expelled from South Hagerstown High, said he found most of the teachers at the Alternative School to be compassionate.

HARRISBURG, Pa. - A bill that would make parents of expelled students pay for alternative education programs passed overwhelmingly Monday in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. cont. from news page House Bill 1576 passed by a vote of 186 to 9, said its sponsor, state Rep. Allan Egolf, R-Franklin. He said the bill's next stop likely will be the Senate Education Committee. "I'm hoping I can get a couple of senators from our area to support it," Egolf said. "The responsibility is on the parents to find the alternative education, but that has to be approved by the school board," Egolf said.

Realignment recommendations included: - Have the directors of elementary and secondary education report directly to the schools superintendent, rather than the assistant superintendent, for instruction. - Put printing and mail room operations under facilities management rather than instruction. - Put the Alternative School under the supervision of the director of secondary education. - Have two secretaries in the superintendent's office to handle community relations, school/business partnerships and educational foundations work.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - An alternative school that deals with students at risk of becoming dropouts will be merged with a state-operated program that helps juvenile delinquents, according to a Jefferson County Schools spokeswoman. On Tuesday, the Jefferson County Board of Education decided to move the Alternative Education Center in with the state-operated Students Out of School (SOS) program, which works with teenage delinquents, youths on probation and students suspended from school, said spokeswoman Liz Thompson.

School board expels a pair of students GREENCASTLE, Pa. - A pair of Greencastle-Antrim High School students have been expelled for separate incidents that occurred in April, according to principal Ed Rife. On April 17, a 16-year-old girl was found to have child pornography downloaded to an iPod. The downloaded media was shared with another student before it was discovered by a third student and reported to administrators. Rife said that the girl, a junior, has been involved in previous incidents and she has been expelled for the remainder of the current school year.

Public officials gathered Tuesday afternoon at the new Antietam Academy to celebrate the official opening of a school that Washington County Public Schools superintendent Elizabeth Morgan called "another option" for the county's students. "We need to leave no child behind, and I believe that a student who is very challenged for various reasons, who has difficulty being in a regular classroom in a large number of students, a student who needs personalized education, deserves to have it," Morgan said.

By DAVE McMILLION Staff Writer The Washington County Board of Education has denied the appeals of two North Hagerstown High School teachers who were involved in a controversial job transfer this year, an official said. Teacher Austin Gisriel and instructional assistant Kurt Britner already have filed suit over their transfers in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, alleging the school board and superintendent of schools violated their constitutional rights when they transferred them to other schools against their will.

Congratulations to William Princeton Young for his appointment to the Washington County Board of Education. Young, who has already been involved in the school system, should be a good addition to the board. In choosing the 56-year-old Young, an assistant warden at Maryland Correctional Training Center, Gov. Robert Ehrlich said that Young shares his commitment to "provide every child with a first-class education, particularly those in low-income neighborhoods. " For his part, Young, who has taught cultural diversity programs for the Department of Public Safety for 11 years, said he hopes to help the system do a better job of dealing with "so-called problem students.

Two juveniles accused in recent bomb threats at their schools were found delinquent Wednesday in Washington County Juvenile Court. A 14-year-old Boonsboro High School freshman, who admitted to a charge of willfully disrupting activities at school, was sent to the child and adolescent unit at the Thomas B. Finan Center in Cumberland for evaluation during the next 30 days. The teenager was charged May 5 after making a threat and speaking of forming a "raincoat mafia" at the school.

In the years since 13 people died when two students went on a shooting rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., more than a dozen years ago, school shootings continue to horrify the nation. “Obviously, it's every superintendent's worst kind of nightmare,” Washington County Public Schools Superintendent Clayton Wilcox said Thursday in a phone interview, three days after another shooting rampage in a school. On Feb. 27, three teenagers were killed and two were seriously wounded in a shooting at Chardon High School in northeastern Ohio.

Public officials gathered Tuesday afternoon at the new Antietam Academy to celebrate the official opening of a school that Washington County Public Schools superintendent Elizabeth Morgan called "another option" for the county's students. "We need to leave no child behind, and I believe that a student who is very challenged for various reasons, who has difficulty being in a regular classroom in a large number of students, a student who needs personalized education, deserves to have it," Morgan said.

If it hadn’t been for the new Alternative School in 1977, Joe McPherson said he probably would have ended up in “juvenile hall” until he was 18, or worse. “I was pretty wild,” McPherson said. Instead, McPherson became one of the first students to attend the school that was aimed at catching potential dropouts and eventually getting them back into their home schools. McPherson, who had been expelled from South Hagerstown High, said he found most of the teachers at the Alternative School to be compassionate.

The new Antietam Academy school that opens Wednesday has its roots in the Alternative School program that started in 1977 and has been hosted at various schools throughout the years. Before starting the program in September 1977, the Washington County Board of Education visited similar programs in Baltimore and in Howard and Carroll counties, said B. Marie Byers, who served on the board in 1977. Byers said the program wasn’t just for disruptive students, but for students who needed a second chance or a “pause in time.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Chris Dye doesn't believe his daughter deserved to be suspended from Musselman Middle School this week for posting video footage of a campus fight on YouTube. "Schools do need to address technology issues, but they do need to do it in line with the Constitution," Dye said. Dye asked that his 13-year-old daughter's name not be published out of concern for her safety. The girl, who is an honor roll student, initially was suspended Monday for two days, but she was allowed to return after one day because Dye notified school officials and asked to talk to the school board, he said.

HAGERSTOWN -- By day, the space is a typical classroom with a white board, American flag and fluorescent lighting. But Thursday night, the overhead lights went off, candles and soft lamps went on, and students took the floor for Antietam Academy's second annual open mic night. "The idea was to make it like a coffee house environment," said teacher Michael Maginnis, who helped organize the event. More than 30 students, staff members and relatives packed the room, snacking on chips and sandwiches and cheering for the students and staff who, sometimes a bit reluctantly, took turns at the mic sharing poetry and singing.

Kudos for the recent opinion letter that drew on the use of classic lyrics from Three Dog Night's "Joy to the Word" song of the 70's. The author is a good citizen of Washington County and must certainly be a product of a Washington County public school education. Our school system has worked hard to instill in students the importance of the classics. It's important to know the past and use the information to create a foundation for sound, knowledge-based decisions. Students are encouraged to reference classic literature to help folks understand the challenges of today.

School board expels a pair of students GREENCASTLE, Pa. - A pair of Greencastle-Antrim High School students have been expelled for separate incidents that occurred in April, according to principal Ed Rife. On April 17, a 16-year-old girl was found to have child pornography downloaded to an iPod. The downloaded media was shared with another student before it was discovered by a third student and reported to administrators. Rife said that the girl, a junior, has been involved in previous incidents and she has been expelled for the remainder of the current school year.

FAYETTEVILLE, PA. - As the finishing touches are being put on Fayetteville Elementary School, its older and, by comparison, run-down namesake next door is in the early stages of its disappearing act. Removal of asbestos from the old Fayetteville Elementary School started last week, said Kevin Weller, the Chambersburg (Pa.) Area School District's construction projects manager. Demolition will begin by late August and the school, built in 1922 and expanded in the 1950s, will become parking and green space for the new $14 million building, Weller said.