Catholic Schools Try to Get Their Word Out

With prayers and a couple of tosses of holy water, a Roman Catholic bishop this week blessed a roomful of children and a new computer laboratory containing 30 Dell desktops, at St. Matthias Apostle School in Lanham.

Auxiliary Bishop Martin D. Holley 's dedication of the $60,000 lab -- named for Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick , archbishop of Washington -- began a week of events to promote Catholic schools.

In Prince George's County, 29 Catholic schools educate about 9,300 children, from pre-kindergarten through high school. That's more than the 8,100 enrolled in D.C. Catholic schools but less than Montgomery County's 12,300.

At St. Matthias on Annapolis Road, where the tuition is $4,000 a year, about 220 students are enrolled in the elementary and middle grades. Church officials said that some of their schools inside the Beltway in Prince George's are under-enrolled, but that others outside the Beltway are full. They also see enrollment growth in secondary grades -- up 17 percent in their Prince George's schools in the past decade -- some of which has been fueled by students leaving public schools. Catholic school elementary enrollment, however, dropped 6 percent in the same period.

Overall enrollment in the county's Catholic schools was virtually unchanged over the decade. Public school enrollment in Prince George's -- now about 133,300 -- has dipped in the past two years but is still up from 118,500 in 1995.

Patricia A. Weitzel-O'Neill , superintendent of Catholic schools for the archdiocese, sought to dispel the notion that her system competes with Washington area public schools. She said she works closely with Montgomery County Superintendent Jerry D. Weast and did the same with Prince George's schools chief Andre J. Hornsby before he resigned last year. The archdiocese spans the District, Montgomery, Prince George's and southern Maryland.

"All educators recognize it's important to have different options," Weitzel-O'Neill said. "So we work together. We're not in competition. We do different things for different people."

TAG Educators Are Honored

An Annapolis reception last week recognized leaders in the field of talented and gifted education, including several from Prince George's. Among them: Rose Blucher , an expert in gifted students with special needs; Carolyn Monroe and Charles Spicer , teachers at Glenarden Woods Elementary School in Glenarden; Teresa Jackson and Scott Brenner , school system coordinators of talented and gifted programs; Beverly McNeill , an AP English teacher at Largo High School; and Charles Battles , an AP history teacher at High Point High School in Beltsville, for increasing student participation and performance in Advanced Placement programs.

Ten of the county's 199 public schools offer regional talented and gifted programs: Glenarden Woods Elementary , Capitol Heights Elementary , Heather Hills Elementary in Bowie, Henry G. Ferguson Elementary in Accokeek, Kenmoor Elementary in Landover, Longfields Elementary in Forestville, Oakcrest Elementary in Landover, Valley View Elementary in Oxon Hill, Wa lker Mill Middle in Capitol Heights and Kenmoor Middle in Landover.

A Change in CLE Policy?

Students are assigned to what used to be called magnet schools -- now, "contextual learning environment" -- by lottery. Applications for CLE schools for the fall are due March 17; the lottery is in April. A link to the applications was highlighted this week with red lettering on the school system's Web site, http://www.pgcps.org .

Some parents found what appeared to be a significant change in the programs. Currently, younger siblings of CLE students, under certain circumstances, are given preference to enroll in the same school. But a brochure posted on the county schools Web site warned: "PLEASE NOTE: School year 2006-07 is the last year sibling placements will be considered. Beginning school year 2007-2008, all students must enter CLE programs via the lottery application process."

Such a policy change might make parents with two or more children think twice about applying. But it is unclear exactly whether or how the policy has changed.

Quizzed about the matter in an e-mail from a Berwyn Heights mother, Ann Harris Davidson, school board Chairman Beatrice P. Tignor (Upper Marlboro) replied: "Thank you for your e-mail, and I can assure you and other concerned citizens that the information you received, although it [was for] the 2007-2008 school year, is premature. Discussions are ongoing, data are being collected; and there has been no final decision."

Narrowing the Field?

Tignor's board generated some buzz last weekend. It appeared that the nine members were secluded for interviews with semifinalists for the vacant schools chief position.

Some board members declined to comment; others did not return telephone calls.