Back To School: Find the Facts About Catonsville Area Schools

It's been an odd start to the school year, with all Baltimore County Public Schools opening two days late and a few even later. Do you still feel like you're playing catch-up with all of the information from your child's school?

Here's what some area principals shared with Patch about what you need to know to get through the school year.

Principal Linda Miller

New teachers at the school: Jennifer Coker: vocal music, and Jenna Shaffer: fourth grade

Before coming to Catonsville: Coker comes to us from Hawthorne Elementary School. Shaffer is a Towson University graduate and a former Catonsville Elementary School intern.

New projects at the school: The school has a , front loop and pickup/drop-off zone.

PTA contact information: President Ed Doll: edoll22@msn.com

Biggest volunteer need: None at this time. Our school has very involved and supportive parents. We have many volunteers from our families and from the community.

Back-to-school night: Sept. 15 at 6:30 p.m.

Other upcoming activities: None at this time.  We will be in touch as our activities for the year unfold.

Message from the principal: We are happy to welcome back our staff and students! Thank you to BCPS and our school community for our new parking lot! We know that it’s going to be a great year!

Principal Terry McVey

New teachers at the school: Christa Wheeler: third grade, and Crystal Grazaitis: second grade.

Before coming to Hillcrest: Christa is a new hire. Crystal worked as a special educator in two schools in the southeast region of Baltimore County.

New projects at the school: The school has a new driveway, which allows one-way traffic to the school's parking lot.

PTA contact information:  President Greg Rathmell: hillcrestelementarypta.com.

Biggest volunteer need: Rocketing Readers and Number Crunchers, programs that support our at-risk students.

Back-to-school night: Sept. 6 at 7 p.m.

Other upcoming activities: Math and Science Night, Literature Night, Family Reading Night

Message from the principal: We are looking forward to a great school year! 

Principal Peggy DeCrispino

New teachers at the school: Dori Ewell: first grade, Andrea Gibble: third grade, and Krissy Weber: fifth grade.

Before coming to Westchester: Dori was a former first-grade teacher at Carroll Manner Elementary School, Andrea was a former teacher at Edmondson Heights Elementary School, and Krissy used to teach at Westchester Elementary School.

New administrators: Missy Thompson, assistant principal

Background: Missy taught at Halethorpe Elementary School and was an assistant principal at Woodholme Elementary School.

New projects at the school: The PTA has been mulching and planting flowers in the school’s gardens, and will be planting a new garden by the school’s new two-classroom trailer.

PTA contact information: President Amy Breznak: amy3224@hotmail.com

Biggest volunteer need: Cafeteria

Back-to-school nights: PTA Welcome Committee Parent Night: Sept. 6 from 7-8:30 p.m.; Back-to-School Night: Sept. 20 from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Other upcoming activities: Westchester Elementary Independence Day (all students go to their classrooms on their own, without parent escorts) on Sept. 12.

Message from the principal: Westchester Elementary has had a wonderful opening week for the teachers and an outstanding turnout for the Welcome Back Social on August 25. We are excited about our new staff members and look forward to seeing all our returning and new students and their families on opening day.

Principal Michael Thorne

New teachers at the school: Barbara Bates: health, Bonnie Sullivan: English and math, Marlene Porter-Blair: special education department chairperson and IEP team chairperson.

Before coming to Catonsville: Barbara comes to us from Towson High School, where she formerly taught physical education. Bonnie is transferring to us from Orems Elementary School. Marlene formerly held the IEP chair position at Southwest Academy.

New projects at the school: Health education will now be a year-long course instead of a one-semester course. This will allow us more time to implement the college and career education units within that course. The health course will also include a unit on peer/social interactions with an emphasis on strategies that can promote healthy peer relations and reduce bullying. Another benefit of the longer health class is that students will have more time to complete class projects involving technology, such as Web 2.0 tools.

We are also focusing our school-wide efforts to help students develop the skills they will need to be successful in college and the workplace. Students at CMS will learn the 10 Habits of Mind, which the staff identified after studying the Common Core State Standards in reading/English and mathematics. The Habits of Mind are also a logical extension of the school's vision—that Catonsville Middle School is where good leaders become great leaders.

Every student at Catonsville Middle School will write a personal leadership goal that is directly aligned to at least one of the 10 Habits of Mind, and all students will become well-versed in the meanings of the 10 Habits of Mind descriptors and what those habits look like in practice. Following is a list of the 10 Habits of Mind for Catonsville Middle. All CMS students are expected to be: self-reliant, prepared, attentive, critical, perseverant, tech savvy, creative, convincing, considerate and responsible.

PTA contact information: President Janet Herilla: janetted1@verizon.net or Catonsvillems@gmail.com.

Biggest volunteer need: We are always looking for volunteers to help with our spring mulch sale and to help with clerical needs such as duplicating instructional materials for teachers. We also could use extra assistance with some of our PTSA activities such as the straight-A breakfast.

Back-to-school night: Sept. 7 at 6:30 p.m.

Other upcoming activities: Ice cream social for new students on August 25 from 3-5 p.m. Informational meeting for High School Musical, Jr. auditions at 3 p.m. in the library. PTSA Meeting on Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. 3rd Annual Faculty Variety Show for NorthBay, on Nov. 12 at 7 p.m.

Message from the principal: On behalf of the staff of Catonsville Middle School, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new and returning students. We are eager to see everyone on Monday, August 29 for our opening day of the 2011-2012 school year. Catonsville Middle School has a rich history of academic excellence and is steeped in tradition. We have become known throughout Baltimore County and the state as the middle school where good leaders become great leaders. One of our goals is to develop the leadership potential of our students by instilling in them 10 Habits of Mind that will lead to success in college and the workplace.