The Bowie School Opened 100 Years ago this Fall

One hundred years ago this fall, some Bowie area students started attending classes in a new school on the corner of 8th Street and Chestnut Avenue in the building that is now home to the Huntington Community Center.  In 1912, the Bowie Elementary School had only four classrooms (two upstairs and two downstairs) and no indoor restrooms.  Additional classrooms were added in 1923 for high school students.  The school for the upper grades was known as Bowie High School, but the entire school was commonly referred to as The Bowie School.

The portion of the building closest to 8th Street (pictured here) was part of the original structure from 1912.

The high school was shutdown in 1945, forcing students to attend either Laurel High School or Bladensburg High School.  The elementary school stayed open until 1962 when students started attending classes at High Bridge Elementary School.

Area schools in this era were segregated, and only white students attended classes at The Bowie School.

Valentino-Smith Proposes School Funding Disclosure Legislation

The following is a press release from  Maryland District 23A Delegate Geraldine Valentino-Smith:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                            CONTACT: GERALDINE VALENTINO-SMITH        

JANUARY 26, 2012                                                           PHONE:  301-858-3101

                                                                                                E-MAIL:  geraldine.valentino@house.state.md.us

VALENTINO-SMITH SEEKS TO STRENGTHEN PUBLIC’S

PARTNERSHIP WITH PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD

In keeping her pledge to strengthen the public’s partnership with the Prince George’s County Public School System, Delegate Geraldine Valentino-Smith has authored and introduced legislation requiring the Prince George’s County School Board to develop and operate a searchable web site which would allow the public to search school funding by individual school. 

Currently it is difficult to determine the funding for individual schools and how the funds are spent at each school.  The budget books are so voluminous that it is extremely difficult to extract information from them for each individual school.  Through ongoing communications with her constituents, the Delegate realizes that most parents don’t have time to attend lengthy School Board meetings and comb through the complex data in the budget reports. 

With the passage of PG 410-12 Education-Prince George’s County School Board Budgets-Transparency, the public would be given access to important school board spending data in a clear, easy to read format.

Says Valentino-Smith, “Enactment of this bill will enable parents, students, teachers and our county citizens to readily and easily access information regarding how education funding is spent at the local school level.  This kind of web-based information will demonstrate a full commitment to making the public partners in our important mission to ensure clarity and understanding for education investment and spending.”

The bill has garnered enthusiastic support from a wide range of organizations including SEIU 400, ASASP, AFSCME 2250, the Prince George’s County NAACP, the African American Democratic Club of Prince George’s County, People for Change of Prince George’s County and PGCMA.

The bill is currently up for discussion in the Prince George’s County Delegation and will be voted on in the coming weeks.

Whitehall Elementary Achieves Blue Ribbon Status

Whitehall Elementary School in Bowie is one of six schools to be designated a 2012 Maryland Blue Ribbon School, and the school will compete for National Blue Ribbon School honors later this year.

“The Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a national and state program that recognizes and honors elementary, middle, and high schools that exhibit high performance and/or significant improvement in student achievement,” according to a fact sheet on the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) web site.  Each year the MSDE chooses six public schools that are honored as Maryland Blue Ribbon Schools and are nominated as finalist for the National Blue Ribbon School program.  The number of schools selected by each state is determined by the U.S. Department of Education based on population.

The schools designated as Maryland Blue Ribbon Schools are not guaranteed to become National Blue Ribbon Schools, but all MSDE selected schools have gone on to achieve National Blue Ribbon School honors since 2003, according to MSDE.

As a Maryland Blue Ribbon School, Whitehall Elementary School will be rewarded with a Joe Corbi’s school-wide pizza party and a “technology classroom” from SMART Technologies that includes an interactive white board and projector.

The other 2012 Maryland Blue Ribbon Schools are:

• Crofton Meadows Elementary School (Anne Arundel County)
• Pocomoke Elementary School (Worcester County)
• Rachel Carson Elementary School (Montgomery County)
• Ring Factory Elementary School (Harford County)
• Woodholme Elementary School (Baltimore County)

The Maryland Blue Ribbon School program does not honor private schools, although private schools are eligible for the U.S. Department of Education’s National Blue Ribbon School program.  Private school nominations for the national program should be announced later this month.

Related Links

• Whitehall Elementary School Web Site
•  Maryland State Department of Education Blue Ribbon School Program
•  Maryland State Department of Education Blue Ribbon School Program Fact Sheet (PDF)
• U.S. Department of Education's National Blue Ribbon Schools Program Web Site
• 2011 National Blue Ribbon Schools (PDF)
• U.S. Department of Education:  Number of Nominations per State

Timeline of Bowie Schools

Pam Williams at the City of Bowie Museums is looking for some help. The first thing she would like to know is the date/year that the Dutch Pantry opened in Bowie. Anybody know? The second thing she is trying to put together is the list of when each public school in Bowie opened - specifically the ones that opened in the 60s. The following link contains what I could find on the Internet. What do you remember?

Feel free to contribute your classroom pics to Bowie Living email address listed on this page.


High Bridge Elementary (1962)

• Land ownership transferred to the Board of Education: March 15, 1961
• Anonymous (see comments below) recalls the school opening in 1962.

Somerset Elementary (Fall, 1962)

• Student recalls hearing announcement of Kennedy assassination over school's loudspeaker, November 22, 1963
• Deb Israel Sullivan recalls two siblings attended Somerset in 1962.
• Gail Winstanley recalls Somerset opening in 1962. She attended first grade that year with Mrs. Mirrors.

Somerset Elementary - Spring 1976 - Grade 6 - Mrs. Sitka (contributed by Brian McAleer)

Kenilworth Elementary (1963)

• Land Ownership Transferred to Board of Education from Levitt and Sons: June 19, 1962
• Comment from Christopher Reid on Facebook: Kenilworth opened for the 63-64-school year. We were bussed to "Old" Bowie Elementary before that.

Kenilworth Elementary School, July 27, 2009

Buckingham Elementary (1964 to 1981)

• Land Ownership Transferred to Board of Education from Levitt and Sons: December 17, 1963
• Maxine Cunningham was the first principal. According to Buckingham Elementary School graduate Jeff Krulik, the school opened in 1964 and closed in 1985. Click here to see Krulik interview Maxine Cunningham in 2009. The video includes footage of one of the annual Halloween parades at the school.
• Buckingham Elementary Facebook page
• Comment from Jill Ifkovits Kries on Facebook: Buckingham closed at the end of the school year in 1981. I was in 6th grade and our class was the last class of 6th graders to finish Buckingham.

Belair Junior High



Benjamin Tasker Middle School

• Land Ownership Transferred to Board of Education: ????

Benjamin Tasker Middle School, September 8, 2012

Foxhill Elementary (January, 1966)

• Land Ownership Transferred to Board of Education: ????
• Roger Chamberlain from Bowie High Class of '74 recalls the following:
  I remember when Foxhill Elementary School opened- after Christmas break- January 1966. It was not ready in time for the 1965-66 school year, and Bowie High School had just opened. So they sent us to BHS from September-December 1965 because... they had room for us. 1st, 3rd and 5th grades went in the mornings, 2nd, 4th and 6th went in the afternoons. It was about a 4 hour school day for us.

Foxhill Elementary - 1968-69 - Grade 1 - Mrs. Barr (contributed by Jim Devlin)

Tulip Grove Elementary (Fall, 1964?)

• Land Ownership Transferred to Board of Education: ????
• New Belair Section, The Baltimore Sun, July 14, 1963. This article announced the opening of the Tulip Grove section. "Opening" appears to mean that the section had been designed, and orders were being taken for house to be built in the neighborhood. The article refers to the section as Tulip Grove Park. In the plan for the section is an elementary school that, according to the article, is scheduled to open in the fall of 1964. If things went according to plan, Tulip Grove Elementary school would open in the fall of 1964.

Meadowbrook Elementary (1964 to 1981)

• Land Ownership Transferred to Board of Education: ????
• Steve Morris recalls the following: I moved into Bowie in May 1964 at the age of 8 years old. I would assume this may have been the first year for the school since the homes were still being built, lawns were still dirt and they were paving the streets. I can’t remember exactly who the Principal was but I remember the name’s Pasquala or maybe it was Biscontini but I think he was later at Samuel Ogle or Bowie High.. I also remember getting paddled buy the Meadowbrook principal for not doing my English homework…ahhh the good old days...
• Message from anonymous (son or daughter of Meadowbrook Elementary School's first principal):  Meadowbrook Elementary- First principal was George L. Pasquella. I have a newspaper clipping dated Aug. 1964 with the photo of the new school. "MEADOWBROOK SCHOOL - Located at 3501 Moylan dr., Belair, In the new section north of Rt. 450. It cost $572,850 and was equipped at an estimated cost of $57,889. The 20-room school was designed by Edwin F. Ball. George Pasquella will be the principal of this elementary school." George, my father was principal for 6 years before he was elevated to Supervisor for the elementary schools in the Bowie area. 
• Comment from Mark Behringer on Facebook:  Meadowbrook opened in 64 and closed in 81. I was there from 69 to 76. I was in the first kindergarten class.

Samuel Ogle Middle School (Fall, 1967)

• Land Ownership Transferred to Board of Education from Levitt and Sons: September 16, 1965
• Anne Baldini's sister recalls attending Samuel Ogle during it's opening year in 1967-68. Anne believes that Vernon Houts was the first principal.

Chapel Forge Elementary (early 1969)

• The real estate records show two properties: the school itself and an adjacent plot of land. The adjacent plot of land was transferred to the Board of Education from Levitt and Sons in 1970.
• M. G., Class of 75' recalls the following: I moved into Chapel Forge in 1965. In the fall of 1966 (going into 4th grade), I was supposed to be going to Whitehall Elementary but it was not finished so I was bused to Foxhill. That lasted about 6 months, maybe? Then I went to Whitehall for the rest of 4th grade and 5th grade. But then I was redistricted into Chapel Forge but it wasn't built yet so I was bused to Rockledge. I spent the last six months of 6th grade in Chapel Forge Elementary. That would have been the first half of 1969. In the fall of 1969, I entered Samuel Ogle Junior High. I talked with my sister. She confirmed that Chapel Forge opened about half way through the school year, when she was in 4th grade and I was in 6th.

Bowie High School (1965)

• Land Ownership Transferred to Board of Education: ????
• The first school year at Bowie High was '65-'66, but there was no senior class that year.  The first class to graduating class was '66-'67.
• The back cover of the Starliner's Space Chasin' album indicates that the school was open by the fall of 1966, although that might not have been the first year.
• Roger Chamberlain from Bowie High Class of '74 recalls the following:
  The high school Class of '66 was allowed to finish at DuVal so there was no graduating class from BHS in 1966- as it was just 10th and 11th grades. The first at BHS was the Class of '67.

Whitehall Elementary (late 1966)

• Land Ownership Transferred to Board of Education: ????
• Jeff Randolph recalls Whitehall Elementary opening in late 1966. He started the 1966-67 school year at High Bridge Elementary, and he was switched to Whitehall Elementary once the new school was ready.
• M. G., Class of 75' recalls the following: I moved into Chapel Forge in 1965. In the fall of 1966 (going into 4th grade), I was supposed to be going to Whitehall Elementary but it was not finished so I was bused to Foxhill. That lasted about 6 months, maybe? Then I went to Whitehall for the rest of 4th grade and 5th grade. But then I was redistricted into Chapel Forge but it wasn't built yet so I was bused to Rockledge. I spent the last six months of 6th grade in Chapel Forge Elementary. That would have been the first half of 1969. In the fall of 1969, I entered Samuel Ogle Junior High.

Rockledge Elementary

• Land Ownership Transferred to Board of Education: ????

Yorktown Elementary (1967 to

• Land Ownership Transferred to Board of Education: ????
• Comment from Jeff McCusker on Facebook:  I moved to Bowie/Idlewild Section in '66. I had to attend Foxhill Elementary for 5th Grade starting in '66. Then Yorktown Elementary opened in '67 and I was the first 6th grade graduating class from there. Then on to Ogle Jr. High.

Heather Hills Elementary

• Board of Education purchased land from Levitt and Sons for $3,500: February 9, 1965

Pointer Ridge Elementary

• Board of Education purchased land from Levitt and Sons for $38,496: November 9, 1970

Northview Elementary (August 20, 2007)

• Land Ownership Transferred to Board of Education from Levitt and Sons: January 21, 1975
• First Day of School: August 20, 2007. See photo from Washington Post.

Prince George's County School Board Reverses Boundary Changes

The school board unanimously overturned an earlier decision to move approximately 140 Bowie students from Whitehall Elementary School to Kenilworth after consideration of an emergency agenda item during last night's school board meeting. The vote was in response to updated student capacity numbers at both schools as well as concern by the board that the affected neighborhoods will be subject to another boundary change when the Fairwood Elementary School opens in 2011.

The board previously voted to change the boundaries based on recommendations from School Superintendent Dr. William R. Hite Jr. Hite suggested that the board allow some of the affected parents to transfer their children back to Whitehall Elementary School rather than reversing the boundary changes. Instead, the board's decision will keep the students at Whitehall, but some parents can request to have their children transferred to Kenilworth on an individual basis.

It's unlikely that the second boundary change vote would have taken place without the efforts of parents Sandy Short and Nancy Adamson. The duo have been working for months writing e-mails, making calls, researching capacity guidelines, measuring classrooms, speaking at meetings and even appearing on a local Bowie community cable television program. They wanted to get out the word that the boundary changes didn't make sense. Short attributes the new board decision to the help of Prince George's County School Board Chairwoman Verjeana Jacobs, the support of the City of Bowie, and the tireless fact finding efforts of Adamson who discovered the erroneous capacity numbers. Short was also grateful that City of Bowie Community Outreach Specialist Leni Stern spoke at last night's meeting on behalf of the parents.

Parents of Kenilworth Elementary School students became concerned in recent weeks when they discovered that some of the programs at the school would be affected and at least one trailer would have to be purchased to accommodate the extra students. Parents also learned that indoor physical education classes were going to take place in the same classrooms where students learn reading, writing and arithmetic. "The kids would be trying to do jumping jacks without hitting their desks," Short speculated.

The board's reversal comes after preparations already began for the transfer. Parents and teachers had already been notified, student records were being transfered, and administrators had already started preparing for the the new students at Kenilworth Elementary. New letters will soon be sent to parents, and teacher assignments will be reconsidered.

Two Charged for Bowie High School Beating

The Washington Post Crime Scene Blog is reporting that two boys have been charged as juveniles for the videotaped beating of a 17 year old student at Bowie High last Friday. One source indicated that the victim was able to identify the suspects by searching through yearbook pictures, but another report indicates that the attackers were identified via school surveillance footage.

The attack video was posted on Facebook and YouTube, but YouTube removed the video from its Web site. Footage can now be seen on the WJLA ABC 7 Web site.

The suspects face expulsion.





Click on these links for additional information:

• The Washington Post Crime Scene Blog post
• WJLA ABC 7 story, including footage of the beating
• Bowie Star story

Jeff Krulik's Bowie Related Videos

Bowie High School Class of '79 President Jeff Krulik has been making films and videos for more than 20 years. His material includes a raw man-on-the-street interview with Sam Smith in I like to Meet People and the more polished and quirky On the Bus featuring footage and interviews with Ernest Borgnine as the Emmy Award winner tours the U.S. in a tripped out bus. Krulik recently said that he's drawn back to Bowie more and more, and he has a lot of Bowie film ideas swirling through his head.

Some of Krulik's Bowie related videos can be seen below.

In A Visit with Mrs. Cunningham, Krulik interviews former Buckingham Elementary School Principal Maxine Cunningham as he shares footage that Krulik's mother filmed of one of the Halloween parades hosted at the school.

Krulik toured the Bowie Wastewater Treatment Plant with fellow Class of '79 member and City of Bowie employee Bryan Thompson in a two part video. Krulik's favorite quote from the video is when Bryan Thompson said, "whatever you do, don't step in any of that juice."

In I Took AP Biology with Mr. Smouse, Krulik follows Bowie High School Class of '79 classmate Damian Jones as he visits his old biology classroom.

In Freek Week, Krulik interviews Bowie High School Class of '79 student Bryan Thompson explaining the origin of Freek Week, Thompson's Spirit Week parody from 1979.

In Bulldog Restoration at Bowie High School, Krulik films Bruce Hunter telling the stories of how he created the bulldog painting at the end of the 2nd floor wing at Bowie High School and how he helped restore the bulldog during the Class of 1979 30th reunion.

In Teacher Lounge is 175 Degrees, Krulik takes a tour of Bowie High School with his fellow classmates as part of the Class of '79 30th reunion activities.

Bowie High School had an underground newspaper called Off the Wall in the late 70s. In Off the Wall Reunion, Krulik interviews volunteers for Off the Wall during a reunion in 2008.

Late 70s Bowie on Video

In this age of YouTube, it's easy to take videos for granted, but fewer personal videos were being filmed back in the 1970s.

Bowie High School Class of '79 member Todd Mars brought a video camera to school several times between 1977 and '79. He filmed the school, his classmates and a few scenes from around Bowie.

In preparation for the Class of '79 25th reunion in 2004, Todd Mars and Class of '79 President Jeff Krulik added narration to the films. The films were later reformatted to DVD, and DVDs were given to their classmates during the 30th reunion.

Jeff Krulik recently posted these videos on YouTube using the YouTube user name BowieHigh79. Although the videos are probably most interesting to people that attended Bowie High School during that time, I did find some clips that I thought were of general interest to anyone from Bowie.

This first video contains scenes from what Todd believes is Flechertown Road (from 0:32 to 1:35 on the film), and scenes from around Bowie as Todd is given a ride from Bowie High School to his home on Woodrow Lane in the Whitehall section (from 4:00 to 5:00). It looks like Todd took the following route home:

• East on Annapolis Road by the Library (you can see the old Mobil at the corner of Annapolis Rd and Stonybrook Drive).
• Left on Millstream Drive
• Right on Chapel Forge Drive
• Left on Old Chapel Road
• Right on Whitehall Drive
• *camera off*
• Woodrow Lane

This second video may be of interest to anyone that wants to see what the outside of Bowie High School looked like in the late 70s (see 0:01 to 1:50 on the video).

To see the other Todd Mars videos, visit Jeff Krulik's BowieHigh79 channel on YouTube by clicking here.

Bowie Briefs #9

Former Bowie High School Principal Dies
Former Bowie High School Principal John M. Hagan passed away Monday. According to a posting on Facebook, a memorial service will be held on Saturday March 20, 2010 from 1:00pm to 3:00 at the Beall Funeral Home, 6512 Crain Highway, Bowie, MD 20715. Click this link to see the Beall Funeral Home listing for Principal Hagan. Additional details can be found in a Bowie Star/Gazette article


Reality Show Over for Bowie Woman
Shawne Morgan of Bowie joined with her friend Monique Pryor to compete in this season of the CBS reality TV show The Amazing Race, but the pair was eliminated from the competition after three weeks when they were unable to master a mock polo competition in Argentina. More details can be found in a Bowie Star/Gazette article.


$2 Million in Damages from Old Bowie Fire
The cause of an early morning fire at a construction site in Old Bowie on Sunday is still under investigation. A Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department press release described the incident as follows.

The first fire occurred just before 4:00 AM, Sunday, March 7, 2010, in Bowie. Firefighters were alerted to a fire on a construction site in the 12900 block of 11th Street. Fire/EMS units encountered a fire involving a small structure, 3 cement trucks and large amounts of debris. About 30 firefighters worked for about 45 minutes to knock down the bulk of the fire. AMTRAK officials worked with firefighters as the site was adjacent to the tracks. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation and fire loss is estimated at $2,000,000.

Some area residents heard explosions early Sunday morning near Old Bowie. The following comments were posted on the Bowie Crofton Community of Blessings group page on Yahoo.

Member 1: Last night I awoke about 2 or 3 am to what sounded like an explosion. I'm in Old Bowie on 9th St. Then there were a series of explosions and one time I even saw a flash of light over the trees by the railroad followed by another explosion. Half hour later fire departments from all over were coming. Does anyone know what happened near the railroad by the antique district? I can't find anything on the news.

Member 2: Intersting, I heard an explosion and thought the clock said 4:32 (maybe it was earlier). I am off Hillmeade and 450 in Glenn Dale so it must have been big! I hope everyone is ok.

Additional details can be found in a Bowie Star/Gazette article.


Firefighters/Medics Install Carbon Monoxide Detector in Bowie Home
Firefighters and medics returned to a home on Maycheck Lane in Bowie to install a carbon monoxide detector two weeks after treating Naila Ferkic in the same home for carbon monoxide poisoning. Ferkic originally thought she had the flu, but rescuers detected carbon monoxide samples in her home that were more than ten times acceptable levels. Additional details can be found in a blog post on the Prince George's County Fire/EMS blog site.


Bowie Police Officer Shoots Dog
A Bowie police officer shot a dog after being attacked twice Monday night. The following text appeared in a Bowie Police Department unusual occurrence report (PDF).

On 3/8/10 at 1945 hrs, the Bowie Police responded to the 14800 block of London Lane for a lost property report. As the Officer was approaching the dwelling the Officer noticed a large dog attempting to get out of the door as the owner was exiting the dwelling. The Officer advised the owner to secure his extremely large dog (weighing approximally (sic) 100 lbs) at which time the dog ran past the owner, lunged at the Officer latching onto her left leg. The Officer freed herself from the dog and attempted to retreat at which time the dog attacked her a second time, biting her in the right leg. The Officer again attempted to retreat at which time the dog charged her again, fearing for her personal safety, the Officer drew her duty weapon and fired one shot, striking the dog. The Officer was transported to Bowie Health Center where she received treatment for a dog bite and released.

The homeowner transported the injured dog to 6700 Laurel Bowie Road for emergency treatment. The dog is in stable condition at this time.

Bowie Man Indicted for Mortgage Fraud Scheme
Rolando Alonzo Cousins was indicted for his part in a scheme that took advantage of homeowners who were behind in their mortgage payments. Some victims were left homeless. More details can be found in a UPI.com article.


World War II Pilot Back in the Cockpit
Ninety-one year old World War II pilot Wayne Fogelman of Riva was given the opportunity to fly again after Bowie car salesman Lew Gilinsky and Freeway Airport owner Stanely Rodenhouser arranged to have Fogelman pilot a 30 minute trip with flight instructor Matt Linquist. Click this link to read the story in the Bowie Blade.

Bowie Briefs #8

Bowie High Student's Death Caused by Heart Abnormality
Bowie High School football player Jonathan Nolon died February 18th in the school's gym after running laps. Autopsy results indicate Nolon had a coronary artery anomaly. Some question whether or not EKG tests should be mandatory for student athletes. Additional details can be found in an article in the Bowie Star/Gazette.


City of Bowie Posts Job Openings
Can you talk to the animals? Do you have any experience keeping pic-a-nic baskets away from hungry bears? Do you know how to mow grass? The City of Bowie may want you. Click here to see the following City of Bowie job openings.

• Part Time Animal Control Officer or Trainee
• Seasonal Park Ranger
• Temporary Laborer

Bowie Baysox Holding National Anthem Auditions
Jose, can you see? Do you know the words to the Star-Spangled Banner? The Bowie Baysox are looking for people to sing the National Anthem at 2010 home games. Auditions will be held on Saturday, March 13th. Click this link for more details.


Bowie Center for the Performing Arts Hosts Fundraiser
A concert was held at the Bowie Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday to raise money for victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti. The concert featured numerous bands including The Crayfish (with Bowie City Councilman Jimmy Marcos on drums). The event raised over $3000. Additional details can be found in an article in the Bowie Star/Gazette.


Spanish Teacher Named Teacher of the Month
Samuel Ogle Middle School teacher Pedro Gonzalez was named Bowie Teacher of the Month for January. Additional details can be found in an article in the Bowie Star/Gazette.


Bowie Man Loses Nearly $100,000 to Identity Theft
The story of identify theft victim Dave Crouse of Bowie was recently featured in an article in The Buffalo News. Crouse lost everything in his savings and retirement accounts. Five percent of adults in the U.S. were victims of identify theft in 2009, according to one study. See the article by following this link: Buffalo News article


Housing Prices Decline in the 20715 Zip Code
According to this MDSuburbanHomes.com blog post, the average list price for homes in the 20715 zip code is $294,073, and the average days on market is 198.


Bowie Family Helps Raise Guide Dogs
Suzanne Mead of Bowie was featured in a recent article in The Sentinel for her volunteer work raising guide dogs for Guiding Eyes for the Blind, an internationally accredited, nonprofit guide dog school.

Seen Around Town #5

We previously posted this picture of a prank seen on Stonybrook Drive. According to an article in the Bowie Blade, someone driving by dialed 911 because they thought that there was a real emergency, and the fire department responded. If I thought that someone was really stuck in the snow like this, I think I might try to pull them out myself before dialing 911.

I stopped in at MOMs Organic Market again last Saturday, and the parking lot was packed once again. I overheard a customer say to one of the cashiers something like, "I'm so happy that you're here in Bowie!" There seems to be a lot of excitement about the new Bowie store.



I also noticed that the McDonald's building is now gone from Hilltop Plaza. The restaurant closed the location last November.



Volunteers shoveled the sidewalk along Old Chapel Road in Bowie on Saturday. Parents and some children from Whitehall Elementary School and Samuel Ogle Middle School participated.

Bowie Briefs #7

Student Dies at Bowie High School
A Bowie High School football player, Jonathan Nolon, died Thursday afternoon in the school's gym after running laps. The cause of death is not yet known. Additional details can be found by following these links: Gazette/Bowie Star article, Washington Post article, Fox News article, WJLA article and WJLA video. A Facebook page called Prayers for Jonathan Nolon was created for friends to share their thoughts and memories.


Bowie Woman is Contestant on Reality Television Show
Shawne Morgan of Bowie joined with her friend Monique Pryor to compete in this season of the CBS reality TV show The Amazing Race. Additional details can be found by following these links: Washington Post article and Gazette article. The pair's bios are available on The Amazing Race Web site.


Bowie Artist Featured in Gazette Article
Bowie artist Gina Reininger was featured this week in a Gazette/Bowie Star article. Reininger prefers working with chalk pastels. The Belair Mansion, the Belair Stables and the Bowie Train Station Museum are just a few of the subjects for her many drawings, and the Old Line Bank in Glenn Dale recently purchased eight of Reininger's pastels featuring various locations in Bowie. Reininger was featured as the artist of the month at the Bowie Senior Center last November. Examples of Reininger's work, including a drawing of the Belair Mansion, can be seen by following these links: Art N Deed and the Prince George's Artists Association.


City of Bowie Estimates Latest Snow Removal Tab
The City of Bowie may pay $600,000 for the snow removal associated with the last two storms, according to Bowie City Manager David Deutsch. Additional details can be found in a Gazette/Bowie Star article. David Deutsch reported to the City Council on January 4th that $192,600 was spent on the big storm from December 19th and 20th, and he reported that $90,000 was spent on the storm from January 30th/31st. A previous attempt to procure federal funds to cover costs for the December storm failed. I imagine the City will attempt to recoup costs for the latest series of storms, although each storm may be considered a separate incident.


Bowie Training Center Auction Delayed for Fourth Time
Magna Entertainment, the current owner of the Bowie Training Center, successfully delayed the auction of Pimlico, Laurel Park and the Bowie Training Center. The auction is now scheduled for March 25th. Although the three properties are being auctioned off as a package, at least one of the bidders has no interest in keeping the Bowie Training Center. Additional details can be found in a Daily Record article.

Schools Open in Prince George's County

Schools opened in Prince George's County on Wednesday. It was the kids' first day back to school since Friday, February 5th.

Two school buses got stuck in the snow on Wednesday, including a bus bound for Benjamin Tasker Middle School in Bowie that was delayed for 45 minutes. Read the details in this Washington Post article.

It appears that City of Bowie crews have been busy clearing snow and widening streets near the Whitehall Elementary School. This equipment was seen in action near the school in the Whitehall neighborhood.

No School Tuesday

Prince George's County Schools announced late this afternoon that schools will be closed again on Tuesday despite the fact that some parents received robo-calls on Sunday announcing that students were expected back on Tuesday.

The parking lots at Whitehall and Rockledge elementary schools in Bowie were finally cleared today, but the grounds still aren't in good enough shape for students to return. The sidewalks leading to Whitehall Elementary School and the path from Old Chapel Road remain covered in snow, and the sidewalk around the bus loop has only been partially cleared.

The road leading to Whitehall Elementary School (seen in the picture above) was cleared on Sunday, and the bus loop and parking lot were cleared today. Some people reported that the plows could not handle the frozen snow Sunday that had been sitting for more than a week, and a backhoe was brought in on Monday to handle the job.

Woodhaven Lane is clogged with Whitehall Elementary School car-line traffic on a good day. There's no doubt that drop-off and pick-up times will be a mess when Prince George's County Schools finally open.

Bowie Briefs - v4

Audrey Scott
The Maryland Republican Party overwhelmingly selected former Bowie Mayor Audrey Scott as their new party chairwoman at a convention held Saturday in Bowie at the Comfort Inn Conference Center. Rumor has it that party faithfuls were impressed by the many elephant trinkets that Scott has on display in the Republican safe haven that she calls home. The elephants were featured in an Audrey Scott promotional video on YouTube. Scott's colorful opponent, Daniel "the Whig Man" Vovak, posted his own promotional video featuring inspirational music from the movie Rocky. An unidentified source claims that after the loss, Vovak was seen on the steps of the conference center yelling, "Adrian!"

Despite big party financial problems and claims by some that the Republicans are having trouble finding talented candidates for 2010, the Maryland GOP displayed optimism at Saturday's event.

Read more details about the convention in this Baltimore Sun article. The Sun describes Chairwoman Scott as "spunky."

Maryland Democratic Party Chairwoman Susan Turnbull issued a "bring it on" style congratulations to Scott shortly after the convention. Turnbull's statement can be read here on Maryland Politics Watch.



Bowie Police Department Plans Icy Water Dip for Charity
Members of the Bowie Police Department plan on participating in the 14th annual Polar Bear Plunge to raise money for Maryland Special Olympics. The department's team will be dipping into the icy Chesapeake Bay waters at Sandy Point State Park on January 30, 2010. Click here to make a donation or to track the team's fund raising progress. They are still looking for donations and additional team members. According to the team's page, Bowie Councilwoman Diane Polangin will also be taking the plunge.

Lt. Richard Wohkittle, Chief Katherine Perez and Deputy Chief John Nesky pose in the water for a promotional picture for the fundraiser.

Arrest of Chief Perez Imminent
Bowie Police Chief Katherine Perez will be locked up as part of the Muscular Dystrophy Association's annual Lock Up Event on Tuesday, November 17. Click here to make a donation or track the Chief's progress. She still has $2,000 to raise by Tuesday!



Bowie Health Center Temporarily Open Around the Clock
The Bowie Health Center is temporarily open 24 hours a day to accommodate a spike in the number of patients seeking treatment. The average number of patients has jumped 74%, and most patients are reporting flu like symptoms. Read more details in this Gazette article.



Schools to Continue use of SchoolMax
The Prince George's County Public Schools have decided to stick with the troubled SchoolMax computer system despite well publicized scheduling problems at the beginning of the school year. Many of the problems with the software have been resolved, and switching to a new software package would be very costly. Read more details in this Washington Post article.

Scheduling Snafu at Bowie High

There was a scheduling snafu at Bowie High School and other Prince George's County high schools this week. 8000 students had missing, incorrect or partial schedules at the start of the school year last Monday. Rather than going to class, students with problem schedules were sent to cafeterias, gymnasiums and auditoriums.

In initial reports, a school administrator said that the problem was mostly due to late registrations and late schedule changes, but parents quickly disputed that assertion. By the end of the week, blame was being placed on SchoolMax, the multi-multi-million dollar scheduling software used by the Prince George's County Public Schools. Reports also surfaced that the problems were known well in advance, and that a good part of the summer was spent testing and patching the problem software.

The number of students without schedules was down to 2000 by Thursday, and the school system is hoping to have schedules to all high school students by Monday.

Without having additional details, one can only speculate about what went wrong. Were users properly trained? Does the software scale well to handle a school system with 41,000 high school students? If a new software version was installed, were contingency plans in place to return to the previous version of the software in the event of a major failure? If a contingency plan was in place, was it flawed? The school system declared an "all hands on deck" this week to address the problem, but why wasn't that done two or three weeks ago? These are the types of questions that anyone managing large scale computer systems consider on a regular basis. I'm interested in hearing more details about what happened in the months leading up to the first day of school.

I quick Internet seach of SchoolMax problems reveals the following:

• A Washington Post article from March, 2009 covering the scheduling, grading and other SchoolMax problems experienced by the Prince George's County Schools.
• A Facebook group started in 2008 with 4100+ members called "SCHOOLMAX SUCKS!!!! AND I HATE IT!!!!"

Summer Vacation Ending in Bowie

I noticed Thursday morning that county school buses were performing their practice runs. Only one week of summer vacation left before school starts!