2009-07-03 10:05:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Lancaster County's 17 public school districts have kept tax increases for the new fiscal year to near-record lows, a boon to residents struggling to keep afloat in the weak economy.Two districts — Penn Manor and Pequea Valley — aren't raising property taxes at all for 2......
2009-07-03 10:04:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Teacher contract talks in Columbia Borough School District are headed for fact-finding.Negotiators for the teachers' union have asked the state Labor Relations Board to appoint a fact-finder to try to craft an agreement suitable to both sides.The school board and teachers would ......
2009-07-03 10:02:00
DEAN LEE EVANS
A failed referendum, taxpayer backlash and public surveys led Donegal School District officials to scale back a proposed building plan scheduled for a referendum in November.The revised plan discussed by officials June 25 proposes the construction of a high school, while leaving all other ......
2009-07-01 00:03:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School District of Lancaster board members Tuesday unanimously approved the takeover of Buehrle Alternative School by a private company next school year.They also approved the district's 2009-10 budget, which includes a 3.52 percent tax hike.That vote was not unanimous, with Mic......
2009-06-30 22:51:00
CIVIA KATZ
The resignation of Manheim Central's superintendent effective Oct. 1 was approved by a divided school board June 23.The 5-3 vote will entitle Carol Saylor to leave the district with a package of vacation and sick days for the entire 2009-10 school year, which starts today.The si......
2009-06-30 19:36:00
JAMES BUESCHER
Once, teachers had only a handful of tools at their disposal to discipline students.They could hand out a detention or send pupils to an in-school suspension. In extreme cases, they could contact the administration for an out-of-school suspension or even an expulsion.But what about ......
2009-06-28 00:02:00
JEANNETTE SCOTT
When I decided last March that I would give hunting a try, there was just one hurdle: a hunter education class. Successful completion of a hunter-trapper education class is required to get a Pennsylvania hunting license. With precious few exceptions, the course is held at sportsmen's c......
2009-06-26 05:00:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Seven-year-old Sam Cox kneels on a blanket, opens a book and starts to read. The sentences come slowly at first, and then more confidently. Without saying a word, his audience, Maggie, is all ears, offering warm-eyed acknowledgment — and maybe a tail wag or two. As part of Readi......
2009-06-26 00:21:00
BRIAN WALLACE
A dozen McCaskey East High School students are enjoying a nine-day summer camp at Millersville University.Since Saturday, the students have been frolicking in the Pucillo Gymnasium pool, lounging in the lobbies and halls of their dorms and basking in the sunshine around MU's pond....
2009-06-25 01:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
With inner-city Fulton Elementary School as his backdrop, Gov. Ed Rendell defended his call for higher state taxes as a "moral obligation" to children.Noting that Republican lawmakers have drawn a line in the sand against a tax increase, the governor drew his own line.&quo......
2009-06-25 00:32:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Gov. Ed Rendell and legislators in Harrisburg, currently wrangling over a budget that could result in hefty cuts to libraries, are about to hear from a lot of upset Lancaster countians.Facing cuts that could lead to fewer hours and reduced programs and services, Library System of Lancaster......
2009-06-25 00:22:00
DIANA MARTIN
Amanda Kieffer had a problem.As the space station commander, she had mere moments to act when a scientist who had narcolepsy collapsed.And that was only one of the disasters on board."The cargo doors wouldn't shut, and when I was flying the space shuttle we landed in......
2009-06-24 00:24:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Gov. Ed Rendell issued a simple warning Tuesday to Republican lawmakers who want to slash millions in public school funding from next year's state budget: "Don't mess with education."Education is too important to the state's future to fall victim to cost-cutting in th......
2009-06-23 23:21:00
JAMES BUESCHER
Due to increased operating expenses and the cost of paying for students to attend charter schools — among other challenges — Columbia Borough school board approved a 5.9 percent tax hike Thursday."This is a tight budget. Costs for things like health insurance are going up ......
2009-06-23 00:56:00
BRIAN WALLACE
John, who has three children attending Manheim Township public schools, is worried that one of his kids could end up like him.John started smoking marijuana at age 9 and moved on to "speed," cocaine, heroin and crystal methamphetamine. He eventually dropped out of school and work......
2009-06-20 00:33:00
STEPHANIE WEAVER
The Elizabethtown Area school board unanimously passed the 2009-10 budget Tuesday, facing no community objections to the 2.5 percent tax hike it includes.George Longridge, district business manager, announced a few changes to the previously passed draft, including a $250,000 increase in th......
2009-06-20 00:26:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Pennsylvania Academy of Music last week named Robert Schoener and Alan Wyand 2009 Volunteers of the Year.The distinction honors PAM volunteers for outstanding service to the academy, which provides comprehensive music education for children and adults through private and classroom instruct......
2009-06-19 00:52:00
BRIAN WALLACE
If Barack Obama had run his campaign from a public school building, he never would have become president, according to Alan November.Schools routinely ban Internet access to such sites as YouTube and Facebook and restrict the use of iPods and cell phones — all of which Obama used rel......
2009-06-19 00:49:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Manheim Township school board Thursday approved a $74.9 million budget for 2009-10 that will boost property taxes by $98 next year for the average homeowner.The spending plan increases the district's tax rate by 4.1 percent, the maximum permitted by the state, to 16.55 mills.Und......
2009-06-19 00:37:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
The Lancaster YWCA was among three groups or individuals honored Thursday with the first-ever Champions of Diversity Award.Sponsored by the Urban League of Lancaster County and the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the award is presented to those who meet three criteria:......
2009-06-18 00:01:00
Budget battles in Pennsylvania are rarely collegial. Rather than working to bridge the gap between revenue and expenditures, the two parties tend to migrate to their own aisles and throw barbs at each other.Faced with the largest deficit in state history, lawmakers this year have reverted ......
2009-06-17 11:37:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
Restaurateur Sam Allen spends a lot of time indoors. But when he has a few hours off, he often winds up outside, along the Susquehanna River. Allen, who co-owns Bube's Brewery, Mount Joy, takes full advantage of the vast recreational playground that runs right through our backyard &mda......
2009-06-17 00:53:00
PATRICK BURNS
Homeowners in Eastern Lancaster County School District will finally share property tax relief revenues with residents in the state's 501 other districts.The Elanco school board voted Monday to accept $446,713 being provided this year under the state's 2006 Taxpayer Relief Act....
2009-06-17 00:18:00
BRIAN WALLACE
In a move designed to reduce conflicts and give students a stronger connection with their peers, McCaskey East High School plans to require that its technology students wear uniforms next year.About 400 pupils enrolled in the McCaskey Institute of Technology small learning community would ......
2009-06-16 00:48:00
JEFF HAWKES
Making her first visit to the county's Youth Intervention Center, Cindy Moyer worked on calming her jitters.A Hempfield School District retiree, slender, white-haired and vivacious, Moyer taught art for 35 years and encountered every kind of student.But passing through a metal d......
2009-06-16 00:31:00
CINDY HUMMEL
Lampeter-Strasburg High School students in extracurricular activities this fall will be subject to random drug testing.The L-S school board, in a 6-2 vote Monday night, approved new drug policies for the district, including random drug testing for students in extracurricular activities or ......
2009-06-16 00:27:00
PATRICK BURNS
The strings music program is no longer a core academic subject in Eastern Lancaster County School District.The Elanco school board voted unanimously Monday to follow Superintendent Robert Hollister's recommendation to shift the orchestra program to a co-curriculum, after-school program......
2009-06-16 00:01:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Marelly Guzman liked to play with LEGO® when she was younger, but her dream job was to become a model.The high school junior later realized she was "too shy" for modeling, but still enjoyed "building stuff, creating different stuff."That love of tinkering led......
2009-06-15 11:30:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
Not a lot of educators can list both "head football coach" and "spring musical director" on their resume. Donald Stewart can — and he also can jot in "former English teacher." One of the many cherished letters he has received in recent weeks congratulati......
2009-06-13 00:33:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Kristin Broich is "thrilled" that her daughter, Zoe, will be learning in both English and Spanish when she starts kindergarten in the fall.Broich knows that enrolling Zoe in a dual-language immersion program being piloted at Wharton Elementary School next year isn't without r......
2009-06-12 01:07:00
BRIAN WALLACE
For the second time in two years, School District of Lancaster is considering hiring an outside firm to run one of its alternative-education schools.But this time, school officials say, the company that would run Buehrle Alternative School is well-suited to the task.School board mem......
2009-06-12 00:47:00
MADELYN PENNINO
In the fields of Lancaster County Central Park, student scientists peer into the mysteries of tree swallows.Five students in Franklin & Marshall College biology professor Dan Ardia's life history of evolution course have spent weeks studying the birds' behavior and incubation h......
2009-06-12 00:36:00
LAURA KNOWLES
It hasn't been an easy year for Warwick High School, but the Class of 2009 was ready to move beyond the trials and tribulations with a sense of humor.At Thursday's commencement, which had to be moved indoors because of the threat of thunderstorms, 362 spirited seniors acknowledged ......
2009-06-12 00:18:00
JEFF HAWKES
State Sen. Lloyd Smucker of Lancaster County last week described the Senate Republicans' no-tax-increase budget bill as putting Pennsylvania on "the new road of responsibility."Sen. Jake Corman, the Centre County Republican and Appropriations chair, similarly called the deep ......
2009-06-11 10:12:00
DAN RORABAUGH
Memories both happy and sad flooded the main auditorium of the Lancaster Host Resort on Wednesday at the Pequea Valley High School commencement. From the boys' basketball team's impressive run in the district playoffs to the untimely passing of two teachers in three days, student speakers told ......
2009-06-11 10:00:00
KATY HOPKINS
In a nearly unanimous vote, Donegal school board members opted Tuesday to make extensive repairs and keep Maytown Elementary School, rather than buying a new roof to stop leaks. Although board member Jim Morrisey was absent from the meeting, the other members voted 8-0 to spend up to $212,000 o......
2009-06-11 00:57:00
PATRICK BURNS
A consultant hired just last week to help the Pennsylvania Academy of Music through economic hard times and the man who hired her are no longer associated with the city school.Gone are consultant Sylvia Strobel and Paul W. Ware, the chairman of the academy's board of directors, PAM off......
2009-06-11 00:01:00
CYNTHIA HUMMEL
The close community supporting 160 Pequea Valley High School graduates Wednesday night shared tears and cheers through commencement ceremonies at Lancaster Host Resort and Conference Center.Relatives, educators and even school bus drivers came out to watch the graduation.Before the ......
2009-06-11 10:18:00
DAN RORABAUGH
As fun and educational as living with a German family for three weeks was, the trip wasn't Daniel Russo's most memorable experience abroad. That distinction goes to the two weeks he spent working at a Sunday school in Kenya, where nearly 200 children listened to the Warwick High School senior t......
2009-06-10 12:49:00
CHAD UMBLE
As dark clouds threatened rain outside, family and friends of the 465 members of the McCaskey High School Class of 2009 filled the school auditorium Tuesday night to wish the students goodbye and good luck. For the newest Red Tornado alumni, it was a rousing sendoff. "We heard reports......
2009-06-10 00:51:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Pedro Rivera, presiding over his first commencement as head of School District of Lancaster, declared that McCaskey High School graduates were ready for takeoff Tuesday."Graduates, the diploma you have earned at McCaskey will give you the ability to soar," Rivera, who was named S......
2009-06-10 00:48:00
DIANA MARTIN
Suzanne Hutt has a knack for flight, and she demonstrated it again Tuesday night in the auditorium of Calvary Church.Hutt, who played the title role of Peter Pan in the school musical, was swept off her feet by classmates Trey Draude and Jessica Neuman as the trio performed "Oh, the P......
2009-06-10 00:39:00
ROXANNE TODD
The Solanco Class of 2009 is mighty fine.That sentiment was evident in the words spoken by several of Solanco High School's commencement speakers Tuesday evening.Retiring principal Gerard Rosolie praised the 287 graduating seniors for achieving a higher percentage of proficiency......
2009-06-10 00:37:00
ROXANNE TODD
Reading, writing and arithmetic were part of Toni Rivera's recipe for a successful education. So was a new heart.Rivera, who graduated Tuesday evening from Solanco High School, is looking ahead to a career in nursing.Her past has done a lot to shape her dream of helping others....
2009-06-09 22:09:00
PATRICK BURNS
A popular music program probably will survive budget cuts in Eastern Lancaster County School District, but it will likely operate differently at Garden Spot High School.Elanco superintendent Robert Hollister on Monday offered the school board four alternatives to maintain the district'......
2009-06-09 20:11:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Correction — A Hempfield High School graduate who spoke at Monday's commencement was misidentified in the story below, posted on LancasterOnline Tuesday. The graduate's name is Michael Quay Groff.&b......
2009-06-09 10:30:00
KATY HOPKINS
The fate of Maytown Elementary School will again be at issue at tonight's Donegal school board meeting tonight. In a district plagued with aging buildings and space issues, possibilities for repairs, renovations or rebuilding the school will be considered as the board reviews newest repair esti......
2009-06-06 01:11:00
BRIAN WALLACE
The Diocese of Harrisburg on Friday announced that Dermot Garrett has retired after 13 years as principal of Lancaster Catholic High School, which has been beset in recent weeks by financial woes.The Rev. Edward J. Quinlan, the secretary for education for the diocese, said the financial di......
2009-06-06 01:01:00
CIVIA KATZ
A small miracle, a first and a little bittersweet occurred at commencement for Manheim Central School District's Class of 2009 at Lancaster County Bible Church.The small miracle occurred when graduate Kyle Crist rose from his wheelchair and with the aid of a walker stepped across the s......
2009-06-06 00:56:00
CINDY HUMMEL
One could say the Lampeter-Strasburg Class of 2009 went out with a bang Friday night in the school's performing arts center.Principal Carroll Staub noted the class had the honor of being the largest L-S class ever, with 277 graduates, along with having the highest PSSA scores. The clas......
2009-06-06 00:46:00
JAMES BUESCHER
Ducking out of the rain Friday, 269 graduating seniors from Garden Spot High School in New Holland received their diplomas in the high school gymnasium while friends and family looked on — many via large projection screens set up in the nearby auditorium.The 53rd annual ceremony &mda......
2009-06-06 00:42:00
JOHN FRIEL
When Cocalico moved its high school graduation from its stadium in 2005, some mourned the end of a long-standing tradition.But Friday night would have marked the third rain-soaked ceremony since then, and there were no complaints among the full house of graduates, families and friends at C......
2009-06-06 00:37:00
CHAD UMBLE
The newest Cocalico High School graduates woke up this morning with their secondary school years barely behind them.But as they most likely were told in many different ways, it is not so much the end of one thing as it is the beginning of another.One of their administrators can rela......
2009-06-05 18:11:00
AMANDA KENNEDY, 18, Freestyle
Students who are feeling college's pinch in their pocket may be in luck.In April, Gov. Ed Rendell held a conference call for high school journalists across the state to ask questions concerning the future of public education. Eighty students from 31 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties to......
2009-06-05 10:59:00
KATY HOPKINS
The Donegal High School class of 2009 had spent 2,340 school days together, valedictorian Kristina Shultz calculated. Which is about 15,900 hours, she added. Or, she said, roughly a third of their lives. And in their remaining moments together at graduation Thursday night, Shultz addr......
2009-06-05 01:17:00
DIANA MARTIN
Beach balls the size of tires, a plastic crab and an octopus, bouncy balls, bubbles and even an inflatable monkey wearing a "Seniors: Class of 2009" T-shirt joined in Ephrata High School's commencement Thursday night."It's a circus out there," one faculty member......
2009-06-05 01:09:00
STEPHANIE WEAVER
While high school graduation is a milestone for every graduate, Penn Manor's 2009 commencement marked a huge accomplishment for two young men and the farewell of three prominent faculty and school board members.Graduates Robert Peters II and Ronald Reis have each seen their share of ha......
2009-06-05 01:06:00
MADELYN PENNINO
The sweet memories of high school won't fade for Conestoga Valley High School graduates.More than 300 seniors graduated during the school's 51st commencement Thursday at Calvary Church on Landis Valley Road. While students said they are ready to move on, they will not forget the fr......
2009-06-05 01:02:00
LORI VAN INGEN
Tide Pride is what it's all about, according to Columbia High School commencement speaker Michael G. Gerfin.Gerfin told the 2009 graduates Thursday night that at a 1978 Columbia Chapter Sports Hall of Fame banquet he said there were two kinds of people in this world — people from......
2009-06-05 00:52:00
JAMES BUESCHER
Trading country sunsets and summer breezes for ballroom seating and air conditioning, Octorara Area High School held its 53rd annual commencement ceremony Thursday.The rite celebrated 204 seniors, who received their diplomas at the Host Resort's Expo Center on Lincoln Highway.Th......
2009-06-05 00:47:00
DEAN LEE EVANS
Donegal's 55th annual commencement went smoothly and without delay Thursday night, despite being held indoors for the first time in more than a decade because of wet weather.High school principal John Felix thanked Donegal's maintenance staff for working feverishly to prepare the h......
2009-06-04 10:14:00
DIANE BITTING
When Luis F. Marcelino came to this country from the Dominican Republic nearly two years ago, he spoke little English. "It was kind of difficult because my English was really bad," says Marcelino, who obviously doesn't have that problem now. "It was pretty tough," recalls the Lancaster ......
2009-06-03 14:45:00
STAFF and WIRE REPORTS
The Donegal School District closed its middle school today because of concerns over swine flu and said it would remain closed Thursday, the last day of the school year, as a precaution, The Associated Press reported. The Donegal Middle School in Marietta closed at 11:30 a.m., becoming the first......
2009-06-03 00:28:00
PATRICK BURNS
The Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board will receive $1 million in federal funds to help at-risk young parents obtain education and skills training.The money is part of nearly $10 million in grants, the U.S. Labor Department said Tuesday, that will be made available to help parents......
2009-06-02 11:37:00
TIM MEKEEL, JANE HOLAHAN and TOM MURSE
When the Pennsylvania Academy of Music opened its $25 million building last June, the academy was hailed as a catalyst for downtown revitalization. But just one year later, it's unclear how much the academy will be contributing to city vitality. Citing significant drops in donations an......
2009-06-01 00:00:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Millersville University senior Alex Davies is soaking it up.Davies is among a group of MU students who will be learning about ocean temperature and how to measure currents at Wallops Island, Va., this week –– but he's already getting a head start.Davies is now at NASA's ......
2009-05-31 00:21:00
SUZANNE CASSIDY
Sixteen-year-old Alexandra Poff said her parents already have laid down the law on texting and talking on the cell phone while driving. "They've definitely made it clear that if I'm driving, and they catch me on the phone, I'm done driving," said Alexandra, a sophomore at ......
2009-05-30 00:56:00
BRIAN WALLACE
As work wraps up on an $83 million renovation and expansion at Manheim Township High School, district officials are planning improvements for two areas of the school largely left out of the project — the swimming pool and convocation hall.Renovations totaling an estimated $650,000 ar......
2009-05-30 00:42:00
MADELYN PENNINO
As children, Samuel Deng and Del Akech Del traveled thousands of miles from their home across rivers and deserts and picked fruit off trees to survive.Deng and Akech Del spoke to Conestoga Valley high school and middle school world cultures students Friday about their experiences being par......
2009-05-30 00:01:00
In 2004, as the School District of Lancaster attempted to extricate itself from the Ricardo Curry scandal, the board turned to a trusted friend, retired Warwick superintendent John Bonfield.It was the second time Bonfield had served the district in retirement. The first was in 1998 when he......
2009-05-29 09:59:00
KATY HOPKINS
When this year's Lancaster Catholic seniors were mere freshman in high school, religion teacher Kathy Alton whispered a prayer each time she passed one of them in the hall. "Please don't make me teach them next year." But she did get them, and last night, as Alton address......
2009-05-29 01:13:00
STEPHANIE WEAVER
Thursday's rain arrived on cue to congratulate the Lancaster Catholic High School Class of 2009.The ceremony, which was moved inside to the gymnasium from Rossmere Stadium due to threats of scattered thunderstorms, ended moments before the first drops of rain fell from the sky.T......
2009-05-29 13:55:00
DAN RORABAUGH
When the Lititz Christian School's student council organized a cancer awareness benefit for two of its teachers, Jeremiah Hershberger thought he had the perfect slogan. Another student had one Hershberger thought was "cheesy and kind of corny," but that the rest of the council ......
2009-05-29 13:52:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
Even at a young age, Becca Yoder has already learned how to "do what I am able to do ... while recognizing that I can't do everything."' But the 18-year-old Lancaster Mennonite School senior, who graduates Saturday, has been able to do a great deal, both in school and her c......
2009-05-28 19:59:00
LINDA ESPENSHADE
Count them: Seven, eight, nine worms.Third-grader Davion Abrante holds the mass of wiggling worms in his hand.He watches over his classmates' shoulders as they dig holes, planting green beans, lettuce and pumpkin plants outside Buchanan Elementary School — snatching up the......
2009-05-28 09:57:00
DIANE BITTING
Who knew that a kid could make beautiful music from empty coffee cans, shoeboxes, plastic water bottles and cardboard tubes? The students at Donegal Springs Elementary School in Mount Joy have done just that, thanks to a local composer who recently spent time at the school as an artist-in-resid......
2009-05-28 00:28:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Faculty members and coaches at Millersville University may be able to smoke on campus again, according to a recent ruling by a state labor panel.The panel ruled last week that the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education can't bar faculty members and coaches from smoking outdoors ......
2009-05-27 10:34:00
DAN RORABAUGH
At 8 o'clock on a typical Wednesday morning, Annie Riley, Maria Figueroa and Jade Snook would be in math, science and communication arts classes at McCaskey High School. Today, however, they were picking up trash and planting flowers outside Duke Manor Apartments. The three were among ......
2009-05-27 00:58:00
LORI VAN INGEN
John R. Bonfield, Warwick School District's superintendent for 21 years, died Monday at Moravian Manor, Lititz, after a battle with cancer. He was 72 and lived at 408 E. Second Ave., Lititz.Bonfield served as superintendent of Warwick School District from 1977 until his retirement in 1......
2009-05-27 00:58:00
LAURA KNOWLES
Warwick school board was barraged with questions and complaints about leadership May 19.Several area residents attended the meeting to level criticism at the school board and district administration for a slate of issues, including a racial incident that occurred two years ago, inappropria......
2009-05-26 22:51:00
CINDY HUMMEL
The Lampeter-Strasburg school board last week continued its discussion on proposed random drug testing.The district formed a drug and alcohol task force to study the issue and to make recommendations to the board. Its suggestions included the institution of random drug testing for students......
2009-05-26 00:01:00
BRIAN WALLACE
The top two finishers in the 2009 North Museum Science & Engineering Fair took their projects on the road this month and returned to Lancaster with international awards.Jonathan Rajaseelan of Lancaster Country Day School and Benjamin Meeder of Manheim Township High School both won hono......
2009-05-24 00:21:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
The way Matt Przywara sees it, there's a freight train speeding down the tracks. And the School District of Lancaster is tied to the rails. So at Tuesday's budget meeting Przywara, the district's chief financial officer, recommended that the school board hike taxes this year......
2009-05-22 10:28:00
MELANIE HERR
Bill uses a piece of paper to guide some soil into a pile on the table in front of him. Some of the youth resist touching the soil, wondering if, perhaps, something unsavory is in there, say, manure or bugs. Chris wants to know more about pesticides and why some gardeners question their use....
2009-05-22 10:12:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
A Lancaster pastor and his church are now writing letters to President Barack Obama and U.S. Sen. Robert Casey Jr. to save a school for at-risk children from closing. The nearly 300 boys and girls who attend the Scotland School for Veterans' Children "will have no home if it closes," says the R......
2009-05-22 00:29:00
MADELYN PENNINO
After five weeks of studying the history of Venezuela, Fritz Elementary School sixth-grader Brody Hastings has come to the conclusion that Americans are lucky."There are some poor countries in Latin America like Venezuela that are much poorer than this country is," Brody said. &q......
2009-05-21 00:41:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Both public and private schools continue to look for ways to save money in the weak economy, and Lancaster Catholic High School is no exception.On Tuesday, principal Dermot Garrett sent a letter to the parents of students informing them of a reduction in staff: Garrett said he was forced t......
2009-05-20 01:38:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School District of Lancaster expects to limit a tax hike in next year's budget to 3.52 percent — the lowest increase in six years — provided federal stimulus money comes through.The school board Tuesday approved a draft final 2009-10 budget totaling $158.1 million, an incre......
2009-05-20 00:54:00
STEPHANIE WEAVER
Ben Stiles sat motionless as emergency-service teams swarmed around him, removing pieces of his crashed vehicle, bit by bit.The counselor at Lancaster County Career & Technology Center's Willow Street campus soon would be carted out of the vehicle and taken to a SkyFlight Care heli......
2009-05-19 14:16:00
STAFF
Lancaster Catholic High School will cut teaching positions for the 2009-10 school year. The high school, at 650 Juliette Ave., is eliminating four teaching positions and reducing two full-time teachers to part-time hours, Principal Dermot M. Garrett said in a letter addressed today to parents....
2009-05-19 10:15:00
JANET KELLEY
They wouldn't follow rules and didn't always get along with others. Some have emotional issues or social problems. Most came from bad or broken homes. But after a couple months behind the tall fences topped with rolls of razor wire surrounding the State Correctional Institutio......
2009-05-19 00:26:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
When Elanco orchestra teacher Jeff Hackenberger decided to retire after 30 years, he thought it was time to replace old blood with new. He never entertained the idea that the administration might decide to replace him with no blood at all.Yet that could happen.Last month, Elanco sup......
2009-05-18 10:03:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
It took Tyler Hoover months to write and prepare the song "Sunset Rose" for his graduation project at Warwick High School. He rehearsed, recruited musicians and a cameraman to make a video. He conducted "Sunset Rose" at Warwick High School's spring concert. For 16 y......
2009-05-18 09:40:00
CINDY HUMMEL
Composer Michael Story of Houston writes an average of one commissioned piece for a school each year, in addition to his full-time position with Alfred Publishing of Los Angeles. Often when composing for a school, Story works solely with band directors, who sometimes offer little input on the p......
2009-05-18 00:05:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Like every school system in Lancaster County, School District of Lancaster has been hammered by the recession.Interest rates on SDL's investments have plummeted from a high of 4.25 percent in September 2007 to about 1 percent this month.As a result, the district expects to see a $60......
2009-05-16 01:36:00
STEPHANIE WEAVER
Jim Murray has worn a lot of hats throughout his lifetime.The 70-year-old worked in the St. Louis Cardinals baseball organization, led the Philadelphia Eagles as general manager for more than nine years, served in the Marine Corps Reserve, co-founded the first Ronald McDonald house in 1974......
2009-05-16 01:26:00
MICHAEL YODER
The path to graduation for Martha Colyer has been fraught with tragedy, perseverance and accomplishment.The memory of lost family members was not far from Colyer's thoughts as the Millersville resident walked down the aisle of Good Shepherd Chapel of Lancaster Bible College on Friday a......
2009-05-16 01:17:00
ENELLY BETANCOURT
With excitement, curiosity and perhaps a hint of nervousness, they strutted out of the chauffeured red convertible, she in a green gown, he in a tuxedo.For Tiffany Perez, a 21-year-old Penn Manor High School student with Down syndrome, prom night Friday was simply magical.Back in ea......
2009-05-15 01:01:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Residents of Manheim Township School District would see their property tax bills rise an average of $98 next year under a proposed 2009-10 budget approved Thursday by the school board.The $74.9 million spending plan would boost the tax rate to 16.55 mills, an increase of 4.1 percent, the m......
2009-05-14 12:45:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
Reading and math scores were not what school officials had hoped to see. Out-of-school suspensions went up, and so did alcohol and marijuana use. School attendance rates are stagnant. School District of Lancaster's Small Learning Communities at McCaskey High School have fallen bel......
2009-05-14 09:29:00
CINDY HUMMEL
A survey shows marijuana use among Lampeter-Strasburg School District sophomores went up 5.5 percent from 2005 to 2007, school board member Scott Riekers said last week, and a district task force has come up with some possible methods of dealing with the issue. At a May 5 board meeting, Riek......
2009-05-13 00:33:00
BRIAN WALLACE
The five candidates for four seats on the School District of Lancaster board shared their views Tuesday night on everything from school board protocol and parental involvement to phonics, early education and Everyday Math.Real-estate agent Nick Jabbour of 427 Rabbit Hill Lane, attorney Ric......
2009-05-13 00:26:00
P.J. REILLY
Adam, Eric and Greg Wier are about as close as three brothers can get.They like the same music, playing the fantasy game Warhammer 40,000 and spending a day on the gun range shooting targets.They hope to one day be professors at a small, liberal arts college.They've lived......
2009-05-13 00:19:00
MADELYN PENNINO
In the eyes of civil-rights activist and author K. Coralee Burch, football legend Ernie Davis was faster, stronger and just plain better than anyone else she knew.And 46 years after Davis' untimely death, Burch, who was a high school and college classmate of his at Syracuse University,......
2009-05-12 09:12:00
BARRY DECKER
On a cool day recently, a group of Martin Meylin Middle School seventh-graders ventured into a southern Lancaster County stream with one objective in mind. The students, from the Lampeter-Strasburg School District, wanted to find the perfect spot for nearly 150 young brook trout to thrive an......
2009-05-12 01:09:00
JEFF HAWKES
State Rep. Mike Sturla calls it "outdated, unfair and … an abuse."He could have called it absurd, too.The target of his scorn is special-education funding in Pennsylvania.The state, by law, must provide special-needs children with schooling that prepares them......
2009-05-09 01:09:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Isaac Gainer admits it was "a little scary" when he stepped up to the starting line last month in the F1 in Schools state competition at Seven Springs Resort in Champion.Isaac was the starter for Donegal Middle School's Fox Racers, a team of students that meets each day to de......
2009-05-08 10:08:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
School District of Lancaster has offered this rigorous course of study at McCaskey High School for more than 10 years. And now, Manheim Township School District wants to bring an International Baccalaureate Diploma Program to its high school. If it happens, it would become just the second ......
2009-05-08 00:14:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School District of Lancaster board members Wednesday approved nearly $31 million worth of upgrades to three schools after an hourlong debate about whether rebidding the projects would save the district money.The board approved bids for renovations and additions to Lafayette, Ross and Whart......
2009-05-08 00:02:00
STAFF REPORT
The James Hale Steinman Memorial Scholarship Fund has awarded $20,000 scholarships to five high school seniors who achieved academic and community service honors.Peggy Steinman presented a check to each senior at the 46th annual awards dinner Thursday. The scholarship honors the accomplish......
2009-05-08 00:01:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Students at Mountville Elementary School were on their feet Thursday stomping, clapping and singing along with Grammy-nominated children's entertainer Red Grammer.Grammer visited Mountville as part of Red Day, which was a culminating event of the school's social skills program call......
2009-05-07 01:14:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Two Lancaster County school districts have won permission to raise property taxes above a state-mandated inflationary index, but only one plans to use the extra wiggle room.The state Department of Education this month approved referendum exceptions for Eastern Lancaster County and Solanco ......
2009-05-07 00:57:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Brownstown Elementary School fifth-grader Pao Choua Pha has been doing something out of character lately — he's speaking up.That's because storyteller Jan Kinney has captured Pao's imagination through movement, special effects and miming.Kinney, of Altoona, has spe......
2009-05-06 00:43:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Hempfield school board Tuesday narrowly approved a 2009-10 preliminary budget of $95.3 million that would include a 3.5 percent tax hike.The board's vote was 5-4 in favor of the spending plan, which would be an increase of about 2 percent over the current school year's $93.5 millio......
2009-05-05 09:51:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
If you own property in the Penn Manor School District, your tax bill is not going up. The Penn Manor School Board on Monday approved unanimously a preliminary 2009-10 budget that raises spending $207,957 from this year to $64,685,934, and calls for no tax increase. Meanwhile, the Hempfield......
2009-05-05 14:37:00
AD CRABLE, Outdoor Trails
Here's a chance to do the scientific work scientists in Pennsylvania can't do. And, you can probably do it on your normal walks, maybe even in your backyard. It's so easy even a child can do it, and hopefully will. The Commonwealth's salamanders, frogs, turtles, snakes and ......
2009-05-04 18:14:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Correction — Sandy Mauer's name was misspelled in the article below, posted on LancasterOnline Saturday, about the cancellation of a student trip to Sano City, Japan.•••Sw......
2009-05-02 00:01:00
STAFF REPORT
Graduation is weeks away, but Manheim Central High School honored its seniors Friday during the school's first Decision Day celebration. During lunch, seniors placed stars on a giant map of the United States in the cafeteria to indicate where they'll attend college, train for the military......
2009-05-02 00:01:00
JANE HOLAHAN
Odds are, if you were a music student in Lancaster County in the last 40 years, you've crossed paths with David Leithmann.Not only did Leithmann teach music at Hempfield High School for 30 years, but since his retirement in 1997 he's worked with kids throughout the county in a numb......
2009-05-01 05:00:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
Not too long ago, Chris Torchia wasn't interested in break dancing — or any kind of dancing. He was more into skateboarding, which he pursued almost to the point of obsession for more than a decade. Now, five years after he first rocked a beat, Torchia says he believes anyone ......
2009-04-30 11:24:00
ROBYN MEADOWS and CINDY STAUFFER
Parents are being encouraged to arrange emergency child care. School custodians are beefing up their cleaning routines. Bulletin boards are popping with with swine flu advisories. Local school districts are preparing for a possible swine flu pandemic and reviewing their school-closing......
2009-04-30 01:00:00
JEFF HAWKES
Gov. Ed Rendell is right.An examination of whether Pennsylvania's taxpayers and students would be better served having fewer than 500 school districts is long overdue.Rendell in his budget address raised the issue, saying that "in today's economy, we cannot afford"......
2009-04-30 00:23:00
BRIAN WALLACE
State Rep. Mike Sturla has introduced legislation that would revamp Pennsylvania's special-education funding formula.The Lancaster city Democrat is co-sponsoring House Bill 704, which would replace the current funding formula with one based on the 2007 "costing-out" study com......
2009-04-29 01:01:00
MICHAEL YODER
The swine flu outbreak has caused uncertainty and alarm all over the world, and mitigating those concerns in a large institution where people live close together can be daunting.As the world comes to grips with the potential pandemic, Millersville University has started its own flu prepare......
2009-04-29 00:36:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Thanks to "lots of people contributing a little bit" of money, hundreds of children will get their hands on saxophones, trumpets, congas, djembes, violins and glockenspiels in the coming months.What kind of music they make with the instruments will be up to them and their teacher......
2009-04-29 00:31:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Eastern Lancaster County School District's idea to scrap strings from its music program has struck a sour chord in the community, and some 40 people attended a budget meeting Tuesday, asking the board to reconsider.According to an April 23 letter from superintendent Robert M. Hollister......
2009-04-28 22:48:00
JAMES BUESCHER
It was only a brief discussion item on the Columbia school board's agenda, but it's one that could change the way schools across Pennsylvania operate:What will classrooms in the future look like?To answer that question, the Columbia school board — as well as representa......
2009-04-28 11:00:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
How many school districts should Pennsylvania have in order to save taxpayers money? A 15-member state commission would need to answer that. State Sen. John N. Wozniak, a Cambria County Democrat, introduced legislation today to move forward with the possible consolidation of the state's 50......
2009-04-27 10:04:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
John Franklin looks up at the mural hanging on the wall inside Lampeter Elementary School. "It seems like I always see something new every single time," the second-grader says. The brightly colored painting contains 169 drawings made by second-graders including John's, a mail truck. A......
2009-04-27 10:00:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
Dig out the cameras and the box of tissues. Your babies are grown and are graduating from high school. High school graduation season begins in Lancaster County in a little over a month. Here's a list of graduations for public and private high schools in the county.
W......
2009-04-25 00:39:00
P.J. REILLY
Living Word Academy and Lancaster Christian School are planning to merge.Beginning in fall 2010, the two schools will be operated by one administration under the direction of one school board."We feel that by coming together we can provide better opportunities for our students,......
2009-04-25 00:28:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
If you were Millersville University president Francine McNairy, right now you'd be crossing your fingers and toes, holding tight to that lucky rabbit's foot and avoiding black cats, breaking mirrors or walking under ladders.Some anonymous donor has been giving away millions of doll......
2009-04-24 05:00:00
CATHY MOLITORIS
My pen is more than plastic and ink It's more than something to grip It is my time capsule It carries me through Thick and thin, Through tears and laughter. It is like all Of my thoughts were filled inside Mixed in with the Ink...
2009-04-24 00:22:00
BRIAN WALLACE
McCaskey High School students can enroll in one of seven small learning communities geared toward college, trade school or careers in medicine, technology, communications, business and other fields.They can take classes in everything from personal wellness and cosmetology to honors trigono......
2009-04-24 00:01:00
By any measure you care to choose — poverty, homelessness, test scores, household income — the numbers add up to this: most of the children in School District of Lancaster face hurdles much higher than those set before other kids in our community. So, then, do the people who try to te......
2009-04-23 17:43:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Correction — Donnie Thornton, the former Warwick High School science teacher who resigned last week amid allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a student, was divorced. The article below, posted on LancasterOnline on April 17, con......
2009-04-22 13:35:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Something magical must be in the air at this small, city elementary school housed in an old-fashioned building tucked away, under the trees, on West Orange Street. In the past five years, Fulton Elementary School has produced 10 nationally recognized poets, all under the age of 12. Meet......
2009-04-22 11:17:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
Long's Park was strewn with trash this morning. It was in the water and on the ground. Twenty-five students from a Hempfield alternative program at Rohrerstown Education Center toiled until noon, cleaning up the litter. The students, ages 12 to 20, joined an estimated one billion peopl......
2009-04-22 00:40:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Without comment or discussion, the Warwick school board on Tuesday accepted the resignation of a faculty member accused of inappropriate behavior with a student.Donnie Thornton, a science teacher at Warwick High School, resigned effective April 13.Thornton, of 319 S. Cherry St., Mye......
2009-04-22 00:24:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Thanks to the influx of millions of dollars in federal stimulus funds, School District of Lancaster expects to limit its property tax increase for 2009-10 to 3.52 percent.The school board Tuesday reviewed a preliminary $160 million budget that would boost the millage rate to 23.26, increas......
2009-04-22 00:11:00
DEAN LEE EVANS
Donegal school board members and administrators debated roofing and heating problems at the aging Maytown Elementary School but made no decision April 7 about patching or making repairs for long-term use of the building.Board member John Coleman listed repair needs in the absence of any lo......
2009-04-22 00:07:00
DEAN LEE EVANS
Donegal School District must reach out to a greater number of residents if officials intend to see success with a second referendum slated for November.The advice was delivered by Thomas Grosh IV, 1844 Cloverleaf Road, to board members April 7, a week after the district invited the public ......
2009-04-22 00:02:00
STAFF REPORT
Study or hang out at the mall? Practice now or wait until tomorrow? Follow your dreams or just give up? These are just some of the decisions facing tweens every day — and making the right choices is not usually very easy or very popular.St. Anne School junior high students received p......
2009-04-22 00:01:00
News that the United States is in the throes of another baby boom raises a host of questions for government policymakers, social welfare leaders and each of us.More babies were born here in 2007 than any other year in the nation's history. The 4,317,119 births topped the previous recor......
2009-04-21 10:35:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
For Michael McCord, having his own laptop to use in school and at home would mean "freedom." "It would make it easier to get our work done," said the Warwick High School freshman, "and work (on projects) that you are doing in class. You wouldn't have to sign i......
2009-04-21 09:45:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
Tony Dastra kneels on the floor of the hallway at Lincoln Middle School. He places a robot at the edge of black tape, and it begins a journey. The robot has a trailer attached to it, and inside sits a hot cup of coffee from Turkey Hill. Dastra and a few classmates place a second robot a......
2009-04-21 01:08:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Bids on proposed upgrades at Wharton and Ross elementary schools came in slightly higher than expected, totaling about $17.2 million.Exactly how much the two projects will cost will be determined in the coming weeks, as School District of Lancaster officials pore over the numbers before th......
2009-04-20 09:40:00
JOAN KERN
Little 2½-year-old Trenton Seibel wishes he could go to Story Time at Lancaster Mennonite High School every day. That's what he tells his mother, Katie Seibel. Unfortunately for Trenton, the child development class project, which began Feb. 25 and ends May 13, is held just once ......
2009-04-17 10:40:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
Sitting in a circle, 15 kindergartners crane their necks and listen to a story. Centerville Elementary School teacher Colleen Whiteside stops reading, "Harry the Dirty Dog," looks at her pupils, and asks, "What is Harry looking for?" The kids shoot their arms into the a......
2009-04-17 01:14:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Every year, thousands of parents of School District of Lancaster students must fill out an income eligibility form to qualify their children for free or reduced-price breakfasts and lunches.Many parents forget to return the forms by the Oct. 1 deadline. Others don't bother to apply bec......
2009-04-16 01:14:00
MICHAEL YODER
When Chris Wright introduced then-Sen. Barack Obama at a campaign rally in Buchanan Park in September, the registered Republican said two core beliefs had drawn him to the GOP.One was fiscal responsibility, where "the ends justify the means." The other was personal responsibility......
2009-04-16 00:47:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
East Hempfield Township supervisors on Wednesday approved a conditional use that paves the way for The Jenkins School to move to Holy Spirit Lutheran Church.The supervisors also granted a request from the school to forego creating a land-development plan to house the nonprofit school for k......
2009-04-15 00:51:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Beginning next fall, a group of kindergarten students at Wharton Elementary School will be learning math, science, social studies, art, music and spelling in a language they don't understand well.For some of the students, this "foreign" language will be Spanish; for others, i......
2009-04-11 00:19:00
STAFF REPORT
Twelve Lancaster County libraries will receive a collection of books from the National Endowment for the Humanities under a program that strives to increase the public's interest in American history and culture.Each library will receive hardcover copies of 19 books for readers from kin......
2009-04-10 01:07:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Growing up in a tough New York City neighborhood, Maribel Vasquez didn't have many aspirations — until her first year of high school, when she befriended a Posse scholar named Johanna.The Posse Foundation identifies public high school students who have extraordinary academic and ......
2009-04-10 00:56:00
MADELYN PENNINO
A group of Lancaster County teachers will travel to Puerto Rico this summer with the goal of becoming better educators through Millersville University's Latino Language, Pedagogy, and Culture Immersion Institute.The program is sponsored by the school's office of global education an......
2009-04-09 01:21:00
BILL HANNEGAN, Staff and CIVIA KATZ, Correspondent
The president of Manheim Central school board announced her resignation Tuesday in a letter she read at a district executive meeting.Dixie Winters said Wednesday that her departure, effective April 30, was not linked to a controversy over administrative pay raises, but resulted from change......
2009-04-08 10:59:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
When they graduate from high school, they will not have their licenses to drive. Ben Clark, Jordan Goldstein and Eric Sherman are what some might call whiz kids. All three are students at public high schools in Lancaster County. Ben is 13 and a sophomore at Penn Manor High School. Jorda......
2009-04-06 20:57:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Correction — The story below, posted on LancasterOnline Monday, about proposed staff changes in School District of Lancaster incorrectly attributed quotes from a principal. Camille Hopkins, principal of Ross Elementary School, said ......
2009-04-06 09:59:00
CHAD UMBLE
Former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Barbara Hackman Franklin was visiting her old high school today to talk to Hempfield students about her own career path, serving in government and U.S. relations with China. Franklin, who graduated from Hempfield in 1958, was arriving on campus late this mornin......
2009-04-06 09:55:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
Fewer student field trips. Turning computers off at night. Postponing the purchase of athletic uniforms. To cope with the weak economy, officials in some school districts say they are trying to cut expenses anywhere they can, while keeping the ax away from the classroom. Cocalico, Elizabet......
2009-04-06 09:40:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
The five McCaskey High School graduates walked into their alma mater this morning. For one of them, it had been 43 years since he'd been there. For all of them, it was a chance to be honored for their accomplishments after high school. James Spoo, Nancy Hite Giles, Barbara Barr......
2009-04-02 10:29:00
CINDY STAUFFER
A former Warwick High School Band instructor who had a relationship with a 16-year-old student was sentenced to five years of probation Wednesday. Michael David Gottier, 23, a college student when hired to help with the band's brass section, also was ordered to undergo sex offender treatment an......
2009-04-01 11:11:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
The economy will likely influence the teacher contract negotiations that are under way in five of the 16 local school districts. Officials from the Pennsylvania Education Association and local districts say it's just too early in the process to say how. The districts that are bar......
2009-04-01 01:26:00
BRIAN WALLACE
A former Cocalico High School physical education teacher has lost her teaching license for allegedly sending inappropriate text messages and photographs to one of her students.Bonnie Hirneisen, who taught at the school from 2005 to 2009, surrendered her teaching certificate in lieu of bein......
2009-04-01 00:02:00
MARICHELLE ROQUE-LUTZ
Computers and cell phones can be an educational boon for schoolchildren, but they also carry serious risks.Parents need to become computer literate and learn of these dangers in order to help their children, according to Jon C. Landis, who teaches educational technology and educational lea......
2009-03-31 10:17:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
It was in the early days of February that the planned closing of the Scotland School for Veterans' Children in Franklin County made headlines, hearings were held, and the news crews went home. But a Lancaster pastor hasn't forgotten the Pennsylvania school or its young students. He......
2009-03-31 00:01:00
CAROLE DECK
Bosses typically don't expect praise and public recognition from employees.Christopher Irvine never dreamed he would be the recipient of the coveted 2009 Boss of the Year Award, presented Wednesday at the Lancaster County Association of Educational Office Personnel's 50th annual Bo......
2009-03-30 10:58:00
LAURA KNOWLES
John Beck Elementary students got to tour a museum filled with the work of regional and national artists Friday. And they never had to leave the school grounds. The Susquehanna Art Museum in Harrisburg brought the museum to the school as part of its VanGo! art museum on wheels program....
2009-03-27 10:50:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
She looks like any other typical 17-year-old about to graduate from high school. She wears jeans and sneakers. She works at a grocery store. She earns A's and B's, and plans to go to college. But her classmates at a suburban Lancaster County high school do not know that every night......
2009-03-27 02:16:00
MATT BLYMIER
Call them the Golden Girls.Not the 1980's NBC sitcom following four women in Miami.These Golden Girls are the four captains of Penn Manor's lacrosse team — Cathryn Altdoerffer, Jenn Bradley, Maggie Brommer and Kathi Weidman.That foursome first struck gold with a......
2009-03-27 00:52:00
JAMES BUESCHER
It's not a "done deal" by any means, according to Columbia school board president Tom Strickler, but at least now residents have a better idea of what $17 million might do for Columbia Junior-Senior High School.On Thursday, about 150 people packed the high school's auditorium to learn deta......
2009-03-26 01:09:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Say the word "urine," and what comes to mind?Not exactly pleasant stuff.So when high school drama departments decide they want to perform a musical called "Urinetown," the reaction can be pretty negative."Urinetown" is coming to the McCaskey High......
2009-03-26 00:53:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Lancaster County school districts are scrambling to take stock of their employees' retirement contributions after a company hired to administer the funds failed to deposit some of the money in a timely manner.School officials aren't accusing the company, Gatekeeper Administration and Consu......
2009-03-26 00:29:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Pennsylvania State Department of Education's Charter School Appeal Board has upheld a decision by Conestoga Valley School District to reject a charter-school application.In a ruling March 17, the Charter School Appeal Board said parts of a proposed application failed to provide important i......
2009-03-25 11:00:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
In the end, it was Jonathan Rajaseelan's night. The 16-year-old sophomore from Lancaster Country Day School won the Grand Champion award Tuesday at the 2009 North Museum Science & Engineering Fair. Rajaseelan, of Millersville, won Junior Champion honors at the 2007 Science Fair and......
2009-03-24 01:26:00
ED GRUVER
Scott Feldman said he saw it coming more than two years ago.Saw the downward turn that would leave McCaskey's football program groping for answers to a 3-7 finish in 2007 and an 0-10 campaign last year that was second-worst in program history to an 0-11 record in 1975.Unable to ......
2009-03-24 00:54:00
JENNIFER TODD
Brandon Stone encountered a little bit of an obstacle while setting up his science fair project Monday afternoon.Hindered by a cast on his right arm, he enlisted the aid of his mom, Sandy, who helped out by carrying her son's large cardboard display into Mayser Gymnasium at Franklin &a......
2009-03-24 00:33:00
MADELYN PENNINO
People who have lost their jobs and don't think they have the money to go to college should think again.Officials at Harrisburg Area Community College announced a dislocated-worker initiative Monday to help those who have lost their jobs retrain for new careers through tuition assistance....
2009-03-23 00:03:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Bus drivers working in the Hempfield School District have formed a union, the Pennsylvania State Education Association announced.The Hempfield Transportation Support Professionals, which is associated with PSEA, met March 11 to elect officers and ratify a constitution, PSEA said.The......
2009-03-22 00:04:00
P.J. REILLY, Woods and Waters
We started off with a rough morning. The water was choppy as well as communication with navigation. Due to the loss of communication, we had to change routes. The trip took a little longer because of the detour, but we made it. We had to calm down and relax, then regroup to w......
2009-03-21 01:20:00
BRIAN WALLACE
This much is clear: School districts in Lancaster County will be getting at least $34 million over the next two years from the federal economic stimulus bill. But beyond that, not much else is known — at least for now. District officials don't have specifics on what they can spend th......
2009-03-20 11:11:00
CINDY STAUFFER
No news became news Thursday, as Bill Ayers came and went at Millersville University, and nothing happened. A phalanx of police officers from across the county ringed the building where Ayers appeared, checking everyone who entered with a metal detector, closing nearby streets and keeping a ......
2009-03-20 11:09:00
AD CRABLE
There were no hecklers inside where Bill Ayers spoke. And the couple dozen students and people who supported or protested the former radical's appearance outside politely agreed to disagree. With a massive police presence and tight security, feared confrontations, speech disruptions and eve......
2009-03-20 01:20:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Bill Ayers did not hesitate Thursday to say he was sorry about helping to bomb public buildings like the U.S. Capitol during the Vietnam era to protest the war....
2009-03-20 01:10:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Bill Ayers is not a worldly man.That's the impression Millersville University sophomore Kellie Coupal had of him as she listened to his thoughts on education Thursday during Ayers' visit to the college.Still, Coupal, a special-education major, is a big fan of Ayers'. In fact, she pe......
2009-03-20 01:06:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Amid the police barricades, metal detectors and protesters at Millersville University, Bill Ayers gave a surprisingly intimate and upbeat talk Thursday about what it means to be a good teacher.Ayers, senior university scholar and professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chic......
2009-03-20 00:39:00
STAFF REPORT
Undergraduate students at Millersville University will pay $229 more for room and board per semester in the 2009-10 school year, according to a news release issued Thursday by the school.The Millersville University Council of Trustees approved the increase for the cost of room and board at......
2009-03-19 12:29:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
A broken, 10-speed red Huffy bike lay on the grass inside the city's Northwest Corridor Park this morning. A screwdriver sat abandoned on a bench. Wrappers were scattered around on the patchy grass. Then, about 8:15 a.m., a bus dropped six McCaskey High School seniors at the park&......
2009-03-19 10:43:00
CARLA DI FONZO
A 16-year-old girl who allegedly had been showing off a knife to other students Wednesday at Solanco High School has been cited for possession of a weapon on school property, police said. State police said they were called to the school around 10 a.m. after some concerned students told teacher......
2009-03-19 00:02:00
BRIAN WALLACE
After searching for more than a year, Manheim Township school board is expected to appoint an educator at a rural Maine high school as the new principal of Manheim Township High School.The school board tonight is scheduled to vote on hiring Debby Mitchell, principal of Massabesic High Scho......
2009-03-18 11:16:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
Your child's school needs someone to chaperone an overnight trip to the state competition. But before you pack those bags, you might have to obtain three separate background checks. More and more, public schools in Lancaster County are requiring volunteers to undergo background checks.......
2009-03-18 10:59:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Remember James Comer? Of course you don't. Comer delivered last year's Anna Funk Lockey Education Lecture at Millersville University. Comer has educational chops, as a Yale University faculty member and child development expert. His talk on academic achievement and life succes......
2009-03-18 00:52:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School District of Lancaster plans to take advantage of the recent drop in interest rates to save up to $600,000 by refinancing nearly $16 million in debt.The SDL board Tuesday approved a resolution enabling the administration to refinance two bonds when market conditions are favorable eno......
2009-03-18 00:45:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Courtland Hoose said he wouldn't be attending Lebanon Valley College if it wasn't for Army ROTC.The 18-year-old freshman said his family simply couldn't afford the private school.As the cost of higher education continues to rise, many students have taken advantage of the......
2009-03-18 00:33:00
LAURA KNOWLES
Warwick school board voted Tuesday to appoint April Hershey as the school district's first female superintendent.Hershey will begin her new post July 1. Her four-year contract calls for her to be paid $130,000 annually."I am very excited to join the Warwick School District,......
2009-03-17 11:15:00
TIM MEKEEL
Retired teacher and former union president Don Smith was just looking for a way to fill his days. As he put it, "You still have to have something to do. You can only play so much golf." So five years ago, he became a school bus driver, as a handful of former Hempfield educator......
2009-03-17 11:01:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Students lined up this morning to have their bags searched before entering Elizabethtown Area High School, a day after officials evacuated the high school and connecting middle school at midday due to threatening language found in a boys' bathroom Monday morning. "I heard someone wrote......
2009-03-17 00:21:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Tony Gallagher grew up in Northern Ireland in a time when people died because of their religious beliefs.Despite witnessing decades of political turmoil and violence, Gallagher, the education supervisor at Queen's University Belfast in Belfast, Northern Ireland, remains an optimist &md......
2009-03-16 11:52:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
There is only so much learning you can squeeze into one day. For that reason, most local educators surveyed about the president's request to extend the school day or the school year said they would favor a longer calendar year. Summer break, some say, lasts too long. "You los......
