School Says Intruder in Long Reach Viral Fight Video
The video shows a man being knocked out by a student.
Photos
Updated at 10:15 p.m. to include Board of Education candidate statement.
The video is 27 seconds long. In a quick shot at the beginning, a young man wearing khakis and a collared shirt punches another man in the face and knocks him to the ground.
Students scramble and scream as the man, wearing a ski mask, falls and lies motionless. The description of the video, posted on worldstarhiphop.com, is: “Girl send’s [sic] father to fight a boy for throwing a French fry… But gets knocked out by a 17-year-old!”
The video was filmed at Long Reach High School, according to school officials.
The video was posted on March 21 and has been viewed over 512,000 times as of noon on Thursday. “Long Reach” was trending on Twitter in the Baltimore region last night.
Patti Caplan, a spokesperson for Howard County Schools, said an adult, a non-student, came on campus at about 2:15 p.m. Wednesday wearing a ski mask. She said the man confronted one of the Long Reach students, threw a punch at him and missed. The student, a junior who is on the football team, then swung back and landed a knockout blow.
“The individual that was hit was unconscious,” said Caplan, “[He] did gain consciousness but refused help and walked off campus.”
Caplan said the man wasn’t arrested and the student wasn’t disciplined because it was determined he acted in self-defense. She said the incident is under investigation by the school resource officer and officials haven’t determined if the man was, in fact, a student’s father.
Howard County Police spokesperson Sherry Llewellyn said two people are being investigated in relation to the incident.
"At this point, the school resource officer has charged the female juvenile involved with the assault." said Llewellyn, "She's 15 and from Columbia. We anticipate charges from the male adult who was involved. He will likely be charged with assault as well as disorderly conduct."
Llewellyn did not elaborate on how the female was involved with the assault. She said the man was from Baltimore, but did not release his name or relation to the female. Police placed additional officers on duty for dismissal time at the school and at the village center on Thursday afternoon, according to Llewellyn.
Principal David P. Burton sent out an email notifying parents and the community about the incident on Thursday afternoon.
“We are aware that the incident was taped and that the video has gone viral on the Internet," he wrote. "As always, precautions are being taken to ensure the safety of all students and staff.”
Stefani Rodriguez, a parent of a Long Reach student, said fights and bullying are common at Long Reach.
“My daughter said this kind of thing happens all the time at the school,” said Rodriguez. “It’s unfortunate that it has escalated to this. Someone is going to get hurt at this school.”
Rodriguez said her daughter has been bullied frequently by students at Long Reach and that the school has pushed problems like fights and bullying “under the rug.”
“It’s just relentless,” said Rodriguez. “When I have a child that begs me not to go to school because it’s upsetting her and she doesn’t feel safe then there’s a real problem.”
Caplan said that bullying and fights are problems at all Howard County schools, but that there are programs and policies in place to address them.
“I have no evidence that [fights and bullying] are any more prevalent at Long Reach High,” said Caplan.
Board of Education candidate Corey Andrews, who is also a senior at Howard High School, addressed the incident in a press release on Thursday evening.
"We are concerned with the way it was handled and the events following the incident," wrote Andrews." This incident has caused other complaints of violence, bullying, harassment and disrespect at Long Reach High School to arise. We propose that the Board of Education take action to immediately commission a task force to investigate this incident and other negative behavior at Long Reach High School."
Caplan said there was an incident involving French fries being thrown in the cafeteria either earlier that day or earlier in the week that may have been related to the fight. She said there was some antagonism between a football player and a girl before the incident occurred.
Wendy Woods
1:56 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Ms. Caplan says these issues are not more prevalent at Long Reach - does that insinuate that the level of violence and bullying are this high at all Howard County HIgh Schools? As a product of this school system, and the parent of former students, this worries me
Ann Delacy
8:09 am on Friday, March 23, 2012
I would like to see the data that supports Ms. Caplan's statements.
Stefani
2:38 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
What an irresponsible and senseless comment on your part, Ohai. I am sure you are trying to be funny, but this is a very serious situation and a major problem at this school. I hope not everyone has the same attitude as you do, and can see that schools in this county have bullying issues and something needs to be done about them.
Andrew Metcalf
3:02 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
I've deleted OHai's comment for vulgarity, let's keep it civil and reasonable.
Concerned Parent
2:51 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
My child attends Long Reach High School, and knows the daughter of the man that was hit. He went to the school to defend his daughter against boys that were throwing things at his child. He was not an intruder, the school is just trying to cover up the obvious problems they have and ongoing issues they have with keeping their students safe.
MD Harley Riders
3:00 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
a- "parent" violated school policy if they didn't check in
b- takes a swing at student
c- wearing a ski mask
Come on Concerned Parent - is that the way to defend your daughter? He should be arrested.
ACTUALLY concerned adult
3:13 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
DEFEND HER? I know the young boy who punched that adult out. A french fry was thrown at that girl at lunchtime by another student. That other student even admitted openly to throwing the fry. She remained adamant that she knew the other boy to be the culprit. You're a concerned parent? Tell me, if someone throws a fry at a student, would you come to a high school in a ski mask to attempt to assault them??? You're not a concerned parent, you're psychotic.
sharon dean
3:18 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Concerned Parent, Do you suppose those boys that were throwing things knew who was behind that ski mask. Why would a father not show his face to those boys? Why would he not go to the principle and then confront those boys. He was an intruder and should be arrested and the school officials should have to answer to someone about how that man got into the school wearing a ski mask!
sharon dean
3:04 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
How did someone in a ski mask manage to get this far into a public school without some sort of school official or monitor noticing? What if this person really meant to cause a lot of harm? I can't believe that he was allowed to just dust himself off and leave. Unbelievable!
Robert Rhodes
3:28 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
If you will take note, the location of this attack was outside of the school, only a few yards form the public street. We do not see on the video, nor can we know, when this adult put on the ski mask. As the parent of a student, were he to be seen by adults w/o the mask, they would assume him to be there for his child, NOT to beat on another child. He should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, including trespassing, intent to harm a minor, etc. Finally, the video seems to show that the school staff were in place (with walkie-talkies to summon additional help) and ended the event soon after it began. Or should I say the young man who was threatened ended it with a swift knock out punch! Sharon Dean, get some more facts before accusing the school and its staff of lacking appropriate supervision.
Imani Countess
7:52 am on Friday, March 23, 2012
I agree with Sharon Dean -- how did someone manage to get on to school property in a SKI MASK? There is always a Howard County police officer on the grounds -- where was he?
asdfghj
10:05 am on Friday, March 23, 2012
I actually have a friend who was there when the fight occured. The man walked up to the school with the ski mask already on. Students noticed, but they thought he would just keep walking. Officer Dietzel, our normal police officer, was somewhere inside the school and came out a few minutes after the fight to go retrieve the man.
Concerned Parent
3:42 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
To respond to ALL of you- I actually AM a concerned parent, and not psychotic. I have a kid at that school, and he has objects thrown at him all the time, he is called names, etc. The school says they want to protect the kids, and tell them they are safe but dont pursue complaints. They don't protect the students that are in their care. My best guess as to why this adult got onto school grounds is that there was no supervision outside the school, and no guard or resource officer present. Please let me make clear that in no way do I condone the actions of that parent, and I am not defending him, however, I do not blame him for wanting to confront the child that threw things at his daughter. If the school wasn't going to do anything about it, he had no choice to take action. He should be arrested, I agree, but the kids that threw the french fries, as well as the kids that were involved in the fight, should face consequences. The kids need to know that type of behavior is not acceptable and there are consequences for their actions.
sharon dean
6:47 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
I agree with everything you are saying, except the man should have contacted a school official and then confronted the boys responsible and without a ski mask. What happened to all the "bullying" policies that are supposed to be in place today? These teachers know who these bullies are? Are they just too busy to get involved? They are supposed to be involved. Are they scared themselves? Someone commented that the student who did the "knocking out" was a star football player. He wouldn't be protectedfor being a bully himself, would he?
Imani Countess
7:59 am on Friday, March 23, 2012
To Mr. Rhodes -- I am a Long Reach parent. The incident occurred not a few yards from the street, but on school property -- just outside the main doors.
There is absolutely no justification for the actions of that parent and he should be prosecuted.
To concerned parent -- the school has policies and procedures. Having worked with LR staff for many years, I know that they are responsive. Any concerned parent can meet with guidance or the administration in order to resolve problems. However, they are also overwhelmed by the number of students and the lack of parent involvement.
sharon dean
3:59 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Robert Rhodes, I admit it, sir. I did not watch the video. I read the article which referred the "man" as an INtruder, not an OUTtruder. The photo also looks no different than a school hallway and the story never stated when the mask was donned. The written story didn't say a word about school officials. Robert Rhodes, sorry I depended on the written story instead of watching You Tube along with those other thousands of people. Just READING, that's all.
Laura Lee
4:08 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
I was there. That is outside of our school. He walked onto campus wearing the mask. The buses were still parked in the lot. If you watch the video, you will realize that teachers were present but never stopped him. We as students should be better protected than this.
Gabrielle rodriguez
4:00 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
As a student at long reach high, this type of incidents come up all the time. Bullying has been a big problem for me and many of my friends. The school says, they are doing all they can, but in realty they are doing all try want. This is NOT the first time something like this has happened. I have witnessed this almost on a daily basis. Something has to be done. In fact teachers today told our class to deny the incident to have our school sound better. They just don't care about the fact that people are getting hurt. School for me is a pain, fights like this and bullying is an everyday occurrence, something has yet to be done. My mother has pushed to help me, but we get the same answers all the time "we are handling it" , so why is this still happening.
Laura Lee
4:10 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Yeah, I don't even like going to school anymore because of stuff like this. All our teachers basicly denied it or said don't worry. Like how can we not worry?
sharon dean
6:53 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Ths is disgusting. Children should not be afraid to go to school. Bullying is the ugliest and meanest thing to have to endure. It can last a lifetime if you are bullied. Remember bullies raise little bullies. I am so sorry that these kids are being treated this way. It is downright criminal, it is not just teasing.
Andrew Jean-Pierre
7:48 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Im student at long and none of this actually happens, i've been here for 4 years and i seen like 8 fights through out my high years. You only say that because half the freshman class does stupid things. get your story right
B.T
8:23 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
You have witnessed this on a daily basis? Your a freshman whos been to this school for probably around 100 days. I look forward to confronting you tomorrow so i can hear about the 100 fights that have occurred at LongReach this year. I cant stand students who slander the Long Reach name just to hop on the 'bandwagon'.
Want safer schools
9:40 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
Andrew Jean Pierre and BT- take a look a the videos I posted at the end. There are plenty more where those came from. Fights DO occur at Long Reach, you can see the proof. Stop bashing someone who states facts about how she is bullied. My guess is that you two are two of the bullies yourself.
Andrew Metcalf
4:03 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
I am DAD's comment was removed for threatening violence.
Gabrielle rodriguez
4:16 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Also, to add the school today had NO police officers after school. The only thing that was done was a email to teachers asking to inform students about the situation and to have them tell people that long reach is a good school, in fact last week a child wanted to commit suicide because of bullying, so I told a teacher about this. Her answer was " I don't care about other students" yes to a surprise she did say that. I was shocked. The only reason that the child had been talked to was because I left the class to go to the school therapist. May I add, the student was not helped. She is still bullied and is still trying to commit suicide. I am scared for her life and many of the students there. This is insane, school should be a place to go and learn. NOT a place to go to and be scared for your life. A child shouldn't have to worry about being safe or not!
Person
6:32 pm on Sunday, March 25, 2012
Please, if your friend is in danger of suicide, please talk to your parents and other teachers/administrators. Just because the first people you talked to weren't helpful doesn't mean none of them are.
You're a good friend for mentioning this; talking to some other adults can help your friend get help. Although it might seem like a good idea to help the child yourself, it's safest for everyone involved to get help. If you need any advice, you can call 1-800-784-2433 (toll-free suicide crisis line), 911, or any of the numbers listed here: http://www.suicide.org/hotlines/maryland-suicide-hotlines.html
Again, you're a great friend for mentioning this. Best of luck! :)
Linda
5:01 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
From A Grandmother:
This entire school issue is totally outrageous. Jim Rouse would turn over in his grave if he knew what had happened to his precious Columbia. It's supposed to be a diverse community, one for all and all for one. Each village was supposed to have it's own elementary, middle and high school and the kids would be together all the way through school. With a population of over 1300 kids, how in the world are the kids supposed to know who they are? There do not seem to be any morals, dress codes, or civility in this particular school. I can only speak about Long Reach as it is the only one I am familiar with. I think I'll give this school one more chance; if the "grown ups" don't start listening to the "children" and paying attention to them more, it could be a desperate situation in the near future. Wake up Long Reach. Stop the bullying, stop the cowardly way you are, dress for success and present a good impression to your peers. Soon, you will be out in the real world and trust me, it is much different than what you have in high school. Be a friend to the kids in your classes and stop the crap. Let me remind you of the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. That means something.
sharon dean
5:17 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
What a wonderful letter. I am a Grandmom, too. I have two children and two grandsons who have graduated in Howard County and two grandsons in school now. I hope that it isn't just us Grandmom's who remember "The Golden Rule". I was raised at home and in school by this motto.
John
8:27 am on Friday, March 23, 2012
Amen Linda. Having been raised in Columbia (started out in Heritage Walk in 1976), I've seen the changes that have occured at the hands of all the liberals making decisions for the city. I wouldn't move back to Long Reach with my 12 year old daughter. Fortunately, there are still villages that I wouldn't mind walking around after dark. In my opinion, that video sums up what's become of Long Reach, as well as other sections of Columbia.
Barry Oehl
5:18 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
FROM A COLUMBIA SCHOOL STUDENT GRANDFATHER.
The problem is that the administration and faculty of this school and many others just like it are more concerned with tenure and getting the "bennies" via their precious union than they are about the kids.
The children are treated like cattle, are not properly educated and so long as the teachers get what they want, they just don't really care.
I'm sure that there are still SOME good teachers left, but in general, a POX on the teachers and their greedy union bosses!
sharon dean
6:59 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
You've got that right! I once had a vice principal fall asleep while telling him that kids were hanging outside smoking weed. He denied that there were kids even hanging outside. He actually nodded off.
H.R. Pufnstuf
7:02 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
I agree that unions are a problem. Just curious, do you support school vouchers?
Anonymous
5:53 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
As a student, I can tell you that incidents like these do NOT happen all the time. It was a man from the inner city coming in and trying to assault a student outside of the school. Even if the teachers saw him, what were they supposed to say? This guy was clearly on a mission to do harm unto others. It's sad that people blame the administration for the state of the school, which really isn't even very bad in the first place compared to most other schools in the nation. It's time for people to stop placing the blame on others and for people to learn to take responsibility for their actions. Never have I felt unsafe and most people at the school are decent. That's coming from a 4.0 "nerd." Stop generalizing and denigrating everyone for the actions of few, especially a non-student. Every school has its issues. Remember this? http://www.wbaltv.com/news/11114278/detail.html
vincent
6:26 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
as a student, this does happen all the time! this is coming from a student who has been called a "fag" in class, people also take bottoms off of the chairs in long reach and throw them at me, the teacher does see them but continues to let them. it has also hit me in the head a few times (and it does hurt). but also Some teachers that are rated higher DO come in and "check up" on the students, and they also see what is going on in the classroom. So how come the only punishment they get is a "talk" do they really think that is going to have them stop what they are doing. NO, it just gets them angered more so they trow stuff ( candy, chair bottoms, and plastic rainbows) at me and my friends. my friend also told me about a time at long reach when a male walked into the school with a knife trying to kill a student, another thing that happened was a older male walked right in, in fact he was mentally insane and just walked around the school. remember the hanging at long reach last year..?
a22425
6:18 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
Vincent, please get whatever help you can. Don't waste your time with any adult that will not help you. Keep asking for help until you get it. There are callous adults out there, but there are also those who would be sick to hear what is happening to you and who will go out of their way to help. You do NOT deserve what they are doing to you, and you shouldn't have to deal with it alone.
Skyler Waye
6:43 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
I'm a student. I hate it when parents exaggerate their kids complaints about the school they go to. Out of the population that goes to Long Reach, all of at most 5% of it start incidents like this. I'm a junior. I've seen plenty of fights. I've never been involved with any in my whole high school career at Long Reach. The administration gets involved in every incident that occurs on campus that could endanger any staff or student member. things like this that have police and news involved is not completely out of the faculties hands, but their doing everything they can to resolve this event that caught them, along with every body else, off guard. Parents, stop making it sound like Long Reach is the only school in the region that has things like this happen. Nobody can control a 30 man in a ski mask that comes out of nowhere to make a fool of himself. Don't act like you could do a better job given these type of circumstances. It's merely out of yours and the faculty's' control. You have no right to just take your dramatic kid's word that Long Reach is the worst, most "ghetto" school around. They just want something to complain about. Any body can complain about their school. If youre so upset about it, transfer them to Howard. See how little the complaining will die down. It won't.
stephen feldman
2:32 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
Skyler, your comment is wiser than some of the posts by people older than you who should know better. LRHS is full of good kids. Definitely do more to discourage immature, loud and violent behavior in all HC HS. There is rampant immaturity in all of them. But you are representative of the majority of kids in our HS, including LRHS. I have lived in Columbia for 30 yrs. The kids are no better nor worse than they were in the supposedly perfect Columbia of the early yrs!
Skyler Waye
6:46 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
The hanging is a stupid example. The man was never a student at Long Reach. He simply picked a place.
Ronald
7:32 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
You people sound stupid... the fighting at Long Reach is just as normal as the fighting in any other school. and this situation is mainly the fault of the ill parting of the ignorant daughter he came to defend. Don't blame the school for the actions of one child and her terrible father.
Tosin
7:48 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Long Reach is definitely not even a bad school. I go there and I dont see anyone get "the bottom of chairs thrown at them" or get bullied. Long Reach is like the least scariest place ever and the people who graduate there dont end up as Porn stars or drug addicts. My brother went there for all 4 years and he loved the place and he was liked by almost everyone, students and faculty. Now he is attending Georgetown University, which is a very good college to attend if you didnt know. So dont say LR is a bad school when, in fact, it is one of the better high schools in the whole country. Thank You and you are dismissed (K, Gabrielle, etc.)
austin
7:52 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
My mans daquan did what he had to do handled business flat !
Sally Girl
7:55 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
All these concerned parents sound so ridiculous. What the hell are you going to do when your child goes to college? No adult is going to be following your (no longer little) kid around to make sure he or she is never bullied or hurt. No, your child will be independent and will come across situations like this because it's another step closer to the real world. Bullying and violence are sadly unavoidable things that happen at EVERY school. People are so quick to judge Long Reach when it's not even as bad as people make it seem because obviously when stories get around people exaggerate. No, we are not denying this was not bad on our behalf but all people do is look at the negatives. Meanwhile, there are many very smart and talented kids who attend the school, and work very hard to achieve. There are some great teachers, programs, clubs, and more. Every school has its downfalls, everyone needs to calm down about the incident because it's not the SCHOOL's fault, who is everyone to blame the school for this? The administration clearly tried to break up the fight and YES the police did come as soon as they notified them (which was probably already at school because the police is there everyday). Other than that, it is unfortunately some of the outrageous students that make things like this happen.
-----A STUDENT(one of the best resources)
J Fake
12:01 pm on Monday, March 26, 2012
When the young adult heads off to college a magical transformation takes place for most of then very quickly - they turn 18. When an 18 year old walks up and bullies you or hits you in a public place the police take them to jail. When a sub 18 year old student bullies or hits another sub 18 year old student there is verry little in the way of law involved, rather everything is left up to the school administration to act as law enforement and give judgement and often this is done with little consistency.
Obviously in this example things are a bit different, an adult trersspassing and trying to assault a student will be handled by law enforecement.
Jason R
8:01 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
I graduated from River Hill High School this past Spring. I never saw a single fight. Long Reach is known to be more violent than other schools, such as River Hill, Glenelg, Atholton, Marriott's Ridge, to name a few. There is no way you can tell me that there are less fights at Long Reach than other Howard County high schools
Justice
8:06 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
We're sorry we don't live up to your standards? What did you want Daquan to do? Let him get beat up? No. Sorry our parents aren't rich like yours so we can't go to River Hill, Glenelg, Atholton, or Marriotts Ridge.
Ronald
8:07 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
even if there was problems at river hill we wouldnt know about it because all your parents would just pay off anyone talking about it.
Andrew Jean-Pierre
8:07 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Yes i can, cause i CURRENTLY GO THERE. you dont, so you obviously hear false story. Beside river hill is known for drugs :)
B.T
8:17 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
To top off what andrew said, Glenelg is known for being heavily involved in marijuana use, and marriotts ridge has had a student KILLED with a baseball bat on school property. Every school has had bad moments
Cheryl
12:25 am on Saturday, March 24, 2012
I am sure River Hill has problems that LR does not have. All is not perfect at River Hill
stephen feldman
2:39 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
Perhaps, perhaps, there aren't fights at RH, though how would we know? I doubt our local media or the administrators there would publicize it. There are suspensions. Perhaps the Patch and the Sun might enquire of HCPSS central office why kids do get suspended at RH. Perhaps there are fewer fights at LR some yrs than at other schools and vice versa. LRHS would not have the grad rate, HSA success, and college attendance it did if it were pure chaos. But you graduated from RHHS. Surely you acquired the research skills there to come to the same inferences that I did?
BTW, please define or quantify "more violent"?
And it's not "less fights", it's fewer fights. Is there grammar taught at RHHS? I believe there is. That does not guarantee every enrolled pupil learns what is taught there, or at the "few" schools you refer to as superior in behavior to LRHS.
Sally Girl
8:08 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Well hey, let's not get started on the all-white schools that are full of snobby rich kids whose form of fighting is ridiculous drama. At least we don't buy our students...
Also we never said there were less fights at Long Reach than any other school, we're saying we're definitely not the worst whatsoever.
Melissa
8:09 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
This is rediculous. We live in one of the top counties in the nation and you are all acting like we're a bunch of misbehaved ignorant kids. You're the ignorant ones. Daquan was defending himself against a GROWN adult, which he had every right to do.
Mr. Jesus
8:16 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
who tryna fight us though ?
Anonymous
8:17 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
I have been attending Long Reach High School for three years. In my time there, I have made friends, had great teachers, and have had some of the best experiences that I will remember for the rest of my life. To see some of these comments breaks my heart. Long Reach is given a reputation it does not deserve. No where in these news stories have I heard anyone talk about the kids from the senior class who got into ivy league schools, or the great test scores that come out of the building. I bet that many of you who have made a comment have never been on the Long Reach campus. I have witnessed one fight in my three years. It is amazing to me how Long Reach will be the first school to get bad publicity, but no one will talk about the heavy drug use that goes on in other Howard County schools. I don't think that Long Reach deserves its reputation.
stephen feldman
2:42 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
I've lived in Columbia for 30 years. I'm so proud of you and the other students who represent the Long Reach and other neighborhoods of LRHS so very well. Best of luck in your future choices!
Adam
8:18 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
I Go to river hill and it's not known for drugs so maybe you check your facts as well my friend
B.T
8:25 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
I go to long reach and its not known for Fights so maybe tell your peers to check they're facts!
A.J.
2:44 am on Saturday, March 24, 2012
I'm sorry, is there another River Hill High School somewhere in the world? Because for you to say that River Hill isn't known for drugs is sort of like saying Obama isn't known for being the first black president (to use an easily relatable topic). Now let's think shall we, use that rich River Hill brain. You've got boat loads of people at river hill. And within that boat load you've enough people on drugs there to fill several yachts (I figure since you go to River Hill you can relate to yachts better than just average boats). Bottomline, if you don't go to long reach shut up about how bad long reach is. Second, river hill stop complaining about how everyone misinterprets your drug problems, nobody cares. Fact: half of the kids at river hill are high on any given day (you probably were when you wrote the comment that I'm replying to). Fiction: Long reach is a bad school. When you have three kids in just one senior class going to ivy league schools then I'd say you're a pretty top notch school.
chris
8:19 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Jason R, those were very prestigious schools you mentioned, however you failed to mention hammond, okland mills who are currently rated the worst schools in Hoco. Did you also mention all of the drugs you students consume? :)
Donovan
8:20 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
He deserved what he got, Daquan wasn't in the wrong....a GROWN man swung at him. He did that natural thing and swung back. He just happened to knock him out that's all
Anonymous
8:27 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
The comments by some of these parents are rediculous. YES bullying does occur in high school, do you not remember your high school days? This wasn't even a fight between two students... And more importantly, you cannot judge the entire population of the school on one incident. This is a link to a video that many students at Long Reach helped create which promotes ANTI-BULLYING. One bad thing happens at our school and everyone is up in arms about it, but all of you "concerned parents" forget so quickly about all the good things that we have done in school. Please watch the video and rethink your comments about how "terrible" Long Reach High School is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxUWZexXmPU
DGGMEZ
8:31 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
At least someone understands
Fernan
8:32 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Things like this barely happen at long reach and if you dont go to long reach then you honestly cant say anything about it and daquan was right for defending himself in that situation
Kevin
8:32 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
All I can say is it is very naive for the spokeswomen to say that this stuff does not happen more at Long Reach than any other school. I go to River Hill and i know that they do their best to avoid violence and create a safe environment. The county needs to stop emmitting this as normal and take a strong stance against it. Taking down the other schools who have worked hard to make positive environments is just plain wrong.
Ronald
8:36 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
it easy to say that when you have a boat load of money
Ronald
8:43 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
and who are you to say that river hill tried to stop violence more than any other school? you have NO IDEAD how much other schools are doing to stop violence in their school.
B.T
8:44 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
I cant wait until River Hill has a drug bust and half the school gets charged with possesion
Anonymous
8:37 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Reading this article and comments makes me so mad! I have been a student at long reach for 4 years now, and it is NOT a bad school. Yes bullying does happen but people do not " take bottoms off of the chairs in long reach and throw them at me, the teacher does see them but continues to let them." Seriously, get your facts straight. I have been in regular classes, honors, and AP classes and i have only seen minor cases of bullying but nothing to be concern about. But doesn't every school experience bullying problems? Again we are not a bad school! Yeah not all of the students get along with each other but we also don't fight every day. The last fight that I can remember was from last year. I also think that the administration is handling problems better now despite our complains about the strict rules.Just because we have lower test grades does not mean that we are shit. We are the most diverse school in Howard County which I believe does play a little bit into the whole "low test scores" thing. YES this was a stupid fight. Our school is right next to a few main streets so the campus is easily accessible. If you watch the video, the white little woman is a teacher and is trying to break down the fight and at the same time trying to call for backup.Just remember that everyone is responsible for their own actions and if you keep up with Howard County school problems...this fight is not the worst fight in Howard County history.
Darren
8:39 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
You people sound stupid the fighting at Long Reach is just as normal as the fighting in any other school ..
kid
8:45 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
The grammar in half of the comments posted shows how ridiculous this whole thing is.
Ronald
8:49 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
OH MY GOD!!! improper grammar among high school students!!!!! how absurd! ive never heard of anything like it!!
Darren
9:31 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
shutup
stephen feldman
2:44 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
Yes we have a speech, writing, and communications crisis in all our HS and MS. If this incident results in any good, perhaps it's that most people educated in Howard County need to upgrade their communications skills throughout their lives. Sloppy thinking-sloppy communications!
Nate L
8:55 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Fighting at Long Reach is as frequent as heroin at River Hill... you're move Jason R.
Kevin
9:28 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
lls there's no heroine problem at river hill
stephen feldman
2:47 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
Regrettably there periodically have been heroin overdoses at RH and other HS on the western side of Rt 29. Students and recent grads of those schools market, use and suffer from heroin and related opiates in too frequent cycles. Most incidents do not result in arrests, and are dealt with by medical and psychiatric professionals. This is a chronic issue that has existed for years, and clearly causes families involved some embarrasment.
Anonymous
8:57 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
First of all, I'm not a drug addict and I do not go out every night. I am an AP student. But the fact is that when I do go out to have a good time I get all my illegal shit from people that go to Centennial, Mt. Hebron, and River Hill HS. So why are people here saying that we,Long Reach, have problems because of one fight when obviously other schools have bigger problems than we do.
Really?
9:20 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Everyone is stupid. Long Reach is Stupid. Howard County is Stupid. Let's move on.
stephen feldman
2:50 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
In general, the places you name are not "stupid". But I understand your frustration. Many remarks arise in this particular discussion that don't reflect the general intelligence, education level and expected knowledge of human behavior that Howard County residents should display. Yes: "Let's move on."
Nate 8thwonder
9:21 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
I rap the truth, best rapper in hoco let's face it. Hit me up on twitter youtube facebook google plus myspace shitt I'm errrwhere like daquan. I deserve to be world star hip hop. I woulda punched the foo in the mouth. See me in baseball
Nate L
11:13 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
not me
wow
9:46 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
i went to long reach for my freshmen and sophomore year. unfortunately i had to move during my junior year, but i loved that school. i still hang out with my friends from long reach and also i'm still in contacts with my old teachers. the school overall gave me the best memories ever. now i go to centennial and we have more bullying than long reach.. centennial constantly has fights in school and even today there was a fight between two kids. plus we have more kids that smoke weed and do things that are not above the influence. it's been proven that centennial has the most students that are related to drug activities in howard county. long reach is not a bad school at all, howard county is ranked 3rd richest county in the whole united states. now everyone should just chill out because the kid was trying to defend himself from a guy that's much older than him. and if you children are bullied, you should actually get the teachers to help you out (report or w/e) and get your point across so they can know what is happening to your child
Just an average student
9:50 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Gabrielle- Are you not in highschool, yet still suck your thumb? That action completely shows me that you have not grown into highschool and CLEARLY can not handle the everyday, joking around of students that are being prepared to be sent on their own in a matter of 4 years to college. So just because someone says 'youre wierd' or any other type of insult, regardless of what type of language they are using, you are going to have to grow up and learn to deal with these problems. And try to do it without throwing the reputation of 1300+ students and faculty under the bus.
Andrew Metcalf
9:54 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
No need to attack someone for speaking their mind, if you don't agree with their comment, criticize the argument, not the person.
Kayla
11:12 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
I graduated from Long Reach and in my 3 years there, i only saw one fight. No one got bullied. People are over-exaggerating. These children these days think that people talking about them is bullying. Kids are going to say a lot of things about other kids. Get over it, people talk, it's what happens in high school. It's been like that for generations. All that kid was doing was defending himself. Get over it. And all this drug talk, really? Drugs are EVERYWHERE in howard county. Not one howard county student can say that there aren't any drugs in their school. Be realistic. Not one school in howard county is "ghetto" either, you live in howard county, not one place is the hood. Parents and other people need to get their facts straight before they make remarks. If you are a freshman, you haven't even been in high school that long, you did not see that many fights or people being bullied, quit lying to your parents. People really need to relax, it's high school, things happen.
stephen feldman
2:55 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
Sound remarks Kayla. I've lived in Columbia for 30 yrs. You are proof we did something right!
Certainly students, teachers and administrators need to isolate and educate the few disruptive students who exist in each HC HS and MS. We always can do better.
However I dont think anyone here has noted that most urban and suburban school systems would embrace the environment, grades and success of the students at LRHS and indeed envy it. You know, the "grass is always greener". And no, that's NOT a drug reference for you cynics out there.
Thanks again Kayla for your wisdom. Good luck with your plans!
Odera Godhaswrittenit Adigwe
1:16 am on Friday, March 23, 2012
This is ridiculous, all that needs to be said. Please don't slander Long Reach anymore that is all.
ohhellyeah
3:40 am on Friday, March 23, 2012
if you are right handed. your left foot goes in front. FYI. so you have power behind your dominant hand. This fool just asked for it. soak in the fame daquan. I bet that girl gonna have to switch schools?
Truthteller
8:14 am on Friday, March 23, 2012
What an embarassment for Long Reach and the school system. Don't expect to see Howard County listed as "One of the top 10 place to live" with this sort of information topping the news!
stephen feldman
2:59 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
Well, since this sort of thing is far more common in Montgomery Cty, Baltimore County and Westchester County(NY suburbs) than in HoCo or even at Oakland Mills/LRHS etc, perhaps no place where most students go to public schools should be one of the "top" places to live. Of course, that's if you take magazine ratings and their standards seriously.I'll stick to where capital investment occurs in hard times-investors seem to think Howard is doing just fine, and extensive investment in housing and in commercial property has occured within the past ten years within two miles or less of the putatively downscale(by your measure) LRHS.
Non Long Reach Student
11:33 am on Friday, March 23, 2012
Long Reach is bringing down the level of Howard County, I feel as if a few select schools are putting the county on thier back doe, while others are hardly scratching the surface. I do not blame Daquan for defending himself but these instances, seem prevalent at Long Reach. We need Howard County to be one of the best places to live, and this is not helping
stephen feldman
3:02 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
Quick quiz: what's the average Math and English HSA score in MD? What are the scores at LRHS? Too tough? Try this: what's the average income in MD for a family? What's the average income in the area served by LRHS? Maybe the librarians at Central Library can help you with this simple research if your "select" school didn't prepare you for real world skepticism and analysis?
Robert Rhodes
2:22 pm on Friday, March 23, 2012
Since so many of you seem to hate the HCPSS, the poor teachers, the incompetent leaders/principals, then I say just close down all of the schools in Howard County! All parents can send their children to private/parochial schools where the education is so much better and all students are welcome. Oops, that last one isn't true at all. Many private schools do not accept students w/disabilities. Almost all do not accept students from families without the cash to pay $10,000+ tuition/year.
Rather than tear down the public schools each time an incident like this occurs, try taking a deep breath, get involved, and realize that incidents like this (contrary to the haters who would have you believe LRHS and others are like Maximum Security Prisons) are extremely rare. Furthermore, I would ask Mr. Andrews, BOE Candidate, to explain his comments, "We are concerned with the way it was handled and the events following the incident. This incident has caused other complaints of violence, bullying, harassment and disrespect at Long Reach High School to arise. We propose that the BOE take action to immediately commission a task force to investigate this incident and other negative behavior at LRHS." Do you know how the incident was handled...do you have all the facts?" Just what do you expect a "task force" of HC citizens to investigate at LRHS? Again, what facts do you have that would justify such an undertaking? Or, more likely, is this political theater just like Ms. DeLacy?
Corey Andrews
2:36 pm on Friday, March 23, 2012
That's the problem, Robert. We don't have all of the facts. The school system hasn't been clear on exactly what has happened here. We ARE concerned with the way it was handled because, beyond the basic statement, we do not know HOW it was handled. I've been contacted by several parents and a student that said students were told to deny what occurred. I'd like a group that is free of administrative control that would consist of PTA leaders from other regions of the county to investigate and, in closed session, report back to the Board of Education, not the administration, on exactly what happened here.
Kevin
3:00 pm on Friday, March 23, 2012
I commend Mr. Andrews for his efforts, it's about time high level leaders will realize a problem needs to fixed instead of sweeping it under the rug
Ann Delacy
3:05 pm on Friday, March 23, 2012
Robert, do you have the facts? It has been my long experience with The Howard County Public School System as a teacher, HCEA President, District Planning Committee member, volunteer, and now as Co-Chair of the HCPSS Operating Budget Review Committee; that there is zero transparency within the school system. Ms. Caplan's Department is the Public Information Office but it should be retitled the Public Relations Office.
If you see my frankness and honesty and "political theater," then that's your problem, not mine. After many years of service to Howard County Public Schools, I believe we open and frank conversations. Your personal attacks on Corey and me are shameful. Are you working for another candidate, sir?
Jack
5:39 pm on Friday, March 23, 2012
Robert states today on Howardpubliced he/she is a retired teacher. He has been attacking anyone who promotes anything other then the current environment in the hcpss for several years. Primarily he targets anyone who seeks open and transparent inclusion between the hcpss and the parents/public. The truth seems to upset this person and a few associates, Woody Woods, Thomas Diller etc. on these public discussions. I personally invited these folks to join Howardpubliced to discuss issues and solutions. This person is very knowledgeable of the system but refuses to do anything beyond defend it. He/she has the personality of a carreer administrator and every characteristic the public finds repulsive. Where we the public are limited to the information surrounding this it is clear from these open discussions there are serious problems and discrepencies in all our schools. This may have occurred at Long Reach but it speaks to every school in the county and the hcpss does not want this discussion. You can all discuss issues here at patch, Explorehoward and yahoo groups Howardpubliced but not in the hcpss. I would suggest to all of you a healthy conversation on the issues because our schools need this transparency.
Jack Thompson
stephen feldman
3:13 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
Well, Mr Rhodes, I'm sure the various candidates are quite capable of responding to your scattershot charges, but ponder but one point your outburst raised: It's true many private schools charge more than ten grand a year, though there are some that dont and if MD did what many other states did, no doubt we could have interesting, diverse and multi-modal charter schools to spur all our current one size fits all(including our west of 29 schools) to do a bit better than the fairly mediocre SAT scores their students earn and the fairly low attendance at competitive four yr colleges that allegedly terrific high school students from the "better" HS secure.
We spend more than ten grand a yr in Howard, and so do jurisdicitions like PG and Mtgmy. B City spends enough to send its kids to pretty nice charters, privates and homeschool programs too!
So be careful where you step. If the Nochhild, Race to the Top and other fads dont' produce grads with world class skills in just a few yrs who can compete with Europ, Asian and even middle class Latin American academic HS grads, then we may indeed have to consider turning our public schools after grade 6 or 7 into career based apprentice programs. Students with abstract reasoning high skills simply can be given the 10-15 grand per year taxpayers supply. New quality private schools will spring up to supplement what Catholic and top schools like Glenelg, Mcdonough and others now do.
Anonymous
8:50 pm on Friday, March 23, 2012
Most of you are pathetic. From an unbiased view, most of you seem like out of touch snobs. Don't you remember when we were in High School? Things were a lot worse, and they still are in places outside of Howard County. I'm confident Long Reach would seem like a paradise to many outside our little bubble. From River Hill and Glenelg to Long Reach and Oakland Mills, these schools are top notch and you all should be ashamed for portraying Long Reach like it is Compton. And to the bigwigs trying to start investigations and what not, just stop. Please stop with the unwarranted feelings of self importance. It really is not a huge deal. We could be talking about the atrocities in Syria or the millions of homeless adults and children in our own country, but THIS is top news instead. Violence like what's shown here and the ensuing ignorance by many who have never stepped foot in the school only hinder the growth of a decent society. Yes, those of you with pretentious attitudes do just as much to create tension and embarrassment as this video does. The world does not revolve around Howard County and I urge you all to get over it quickly. Cheers.
Thomas Diller
9:21 pm on Friday, March 23, 2012
Good Lord! Why would ANYONE want to join or even go near Howardpubliced Jack? It's the place where common sense goes to die! It's like the cesspool of Howard County got together and formed a little club for themselves. If you like to read Jack's delusional ramblings, followed up by more of Jack's delusional ramblings, then that is the place for you! It's nothing different than what you see here. He'll make a comment and then respond to that comment five times in the next 15 minutes. He got banned from the listserv of Glenelg by the other parents of Glenelg and he's close to getting banned here too. He tries to invite everyone to Howardpubliced because that's the one place that he can speak his nonsense and not get banned.
Or you get to read Alan Dyer almost boast that not only does he get to cost the tax payers of Howard County hundreds of thousands in legal fees, he also gets the tax payers to reimburse him for his filing fees every time he files a lawsuit because he's filing the lawsuit in his capacity as a board member and not as an individual. Dyer is just a waste of a board seat and needs to go! He's clueless when it comes to the budget, most policies, and he comes up with the most ridiculous motions, that the other 6 board members (and student member) are smart to vote against. We find out 5 minutes into his 4th year of budget planning, that he doesn't understand the concept of full time equivalency (or FTE) when it comes to budgeting for staff!
stephen feldman
3:18 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
Let me condense your tirade against Mr Dyer into a few words: "Many folks have problems with Mr Dyer's style. There is an election in April and November. At that time, anyone bothered by Mr Dyer's exercise of what he thinks is appropriate behavior and speech for a BOE member can vote to fire him. Or not fire him."
Isn't that better?
Jack
1:49 am on Saturday, March 24, 2012
Thomas Diller, glad you could take the time to make my point. Not only are you a member of Howardpubliced but you have used the same line to attack Mr. Dyer for a couple years at explorehoward and Howardpubliced.
I did not realize you and I went back so far. I happen to be a member of the Glenelg listserve. My first post there was inspired by teacher assault, discrinination, an AP who was allowed to remain for years after severe memory loss with other AP's performing her work and a few other isssues. The post was entitled "If it can happen to my child it can happen to yours" addressed serious problems in Glenelg and invited other parents who had children with similar problems to join in the discussion. There was a lot of interest and it turns out similarities. At this time we had a coach expose himself to a female student . There was a lot of retraliation from the administration. Eventually the coach was sentenced to 5 years. The post was pulled and placed in a dosier which as of last year was over 8 inches thick which Mr. Bruzga keeps on me with many other members of the community. I was banned from the listserve. Latter Mr. Bruzga apologized for how long the retaliation and abuse went on. I am a member of the Glenelg listserve to this day as it was used by their PTA however almost no one ever posts there. Mr. Diller you would have to work with the hcpss to know I was once banned from the Glenelg listserve.
Thomas Diller
12:04 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
What's the line I have used for years against Dyer? The one where he didn't understand the concept of FTE? Actually that's something completely new. This is the man's 4th year voting on the operating budget and each year, we find he's even less competent to sit on the board than we previously thought. How can ANYONE give input on a budget when they lack the basic understanding of FTE? This would be sad if it was his first year, but his fourth??? Come on! Even his biggest supporters have to be shaking their heads! This is on top of last year when we found out that he had no clue what the Health and Dental fund was used for. Outside of salaries, the Health and Dental fund is the largest line item in the budget!! 15% of the total budget goes towards the Health and Dental fund, and Dyer's just been rubber stamping it up until then. We only discover this after Dyer suggests that the school system float the bill for his son's (and all other substitute's) health insurance.
I could go on and on about the competencies of Allen Dyer. Just go to HCPSS.org, pick any board meeting video at random, and then randomly select any part of the board meeting where Allen is talking. You'll see what I mean. It's like he's viewing budgets and policies for the first time at the meetings instead of reading them ahead like the rest of the board members do. Then he'll come up with outrageous motions that are usually voted down 7-1. He's a complete buffoon and needs to go!!
Jack
2:06 am on Saturday, March 24, 2012
Howardpubliced...... At least 4 of the members of the BOE are members. More then half of the candidates for BOE were members in the 2010 ellections. At least 5 of the current candidates for BOE are members. The president and former president of the CAC are members. The president of the HCEA ia a member. Many leaders throughout the Howard county education system are members as well as teachers, parents and students. Everyone is welcome to discuss issues in education. There is nothing offered by the hcpss to engage the public in open dialog. In Howard county we are fortunate to have 3 very fine places to publicly discuss the issues. There is Patch, Explorehoward and yahoogroups Howardpubliced. Through these 3 outlets the public can both discuss and speak directly to some of the county's best candidates for BOE. The more participation the better off the public is.
Thomas Diller
12:20 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
Jack, I'm not disputing that people are curious about Howardpubliced and sign up, but out of the hundreds of member who orginally sign up, how many are actually active participants? It's usually only 3 or 4 people who consistently post there and 95% of the posts are you posting something and then responding to your own post 5-10 times over the next 30 minutes.
Who are the active board members who are active there today? None of "the board majority" (a term Dyer likes to use to describe Giles, Vaillencourt, Aquino, Meshkin, French, Janet S., and the student member) are active! NONE participate there! So i'm not really sure who you're talking about. And if anyone there shows even the slightest bit of support for the school system, they are taunted and called names until they finally leave. Yes, the current HCEA president is there, but he gets called names and is taunted with every post he makes, so I'm not sure why he even bothers.
Look, Howardpubliced is a joke! Dyer is a joke! Everyone who regularly posts there is a joke!
Jack
4:07 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
Fact, the hcpss has no public discussion forum. Really, how hard would it be to post each issueand all the related research on a website where the public was allowed to comment, debate, offer alternatives as well as support? Immagine tapping the intelectual wealth of the community as a resource for the hcpss and BOE to use in building a truly world class education system for our children. Imagine the posibilities inclusion offer. Howardpubliced attempts to engage this void. Members pushed for improvements in Cradlerock and Resevoir. Members are fighting for the children in the east where we need 6 to 10 schools in the next decade to address overcrowding. Members spoke publicly of disparities in our schools and demand improvement. Dyer, Howardpubliced and its many members openly discuss educational issues as well as work and fight for the children of Howard county. We have an impact. We seek to broaden the participation of the public and improve the lives of our children.
A.J.
2:32 am on Saturday, March 24, 2012
As a student of Long Reach High School I feel duty bound to respond to some of the comments posted on this article.
1. To any and all parents of students at long reach who say that there child was bullied. The presence of bullying doesn't, by default, render Long Reach a "bad school". The presence of murder and rape in society doesn't render all of society inherently bad, does it?
2. To any an all people who have never attended Long Reach High School I urge you to cease with the misguided comments since they only illustrate societal ignorance. Every school has issues with fighting and bullying, and any school that says otherwise is kidding themselves and the community. So long as children remain exploitable there will be those children who exploit them (bullies). With that in mind then how can one vilify Long Reach even though every school has these same issues. Consider for example the pride and joy of HCPSS, River Hill High School, this is a school with a serious drug problem (more reliable polling, I.e. a child asking another child shows that 3 out of 10 River hill students use drugs). Moreover, the entire story has been overblown. As a product of 12 years of top notch HCPSS education I can say that of all the schools I've attended, Long Reach High School is by far the most looked down upon. The stigmatics about this school is incorrect, and more sad than that is that this same stereotype has permeated the minds if adults too.
3. Have some sense that out you.
stephen feldman
3:24 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
AJ, to repeat my observations earlier to other LRHS grad or student comments, you all are quite articulate, and certainly have more credibility than the few hysterical uninformed critics of the school. Improvements are need for student behavior at LRHS,and the same can be said for every HS in HCPSS. We must require you and other young people, for better or worse, to achieve skills the generations before you did not achieve. In other words, no school in HC should stand still, and what is learnt in 12 th grade in HC HS should be understood yrs earlier in the HC Schools of the near future. It's up to the citizens of HC to find teachers and administrators who can literally re-create all the HC schools, because none of them, while satisfactory for the past, will be satisfactory for the future if they remain as is. Any of the schools. Not just LRHS.
Anonymous
7:51 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
Mr. Feldman, I'd love to know how many classes you've taught. To sit here and bash the teachers and administrators is ignorant and incongruous at best. "None of them" will be satisfactory for the future? How inane. Those teachers work and work and work, only to have people like you bring them down. It seems these days that the only people who truly appreciate them are the students. Howard County has some of the best schools in the nation. Do you honestly believe that this is in no part because of the teachers and administrators? If so, you are sorely mistaken. If people like you who clearly have no clue would be so kind as to stop intervening, the education system would be running a lot more smoothly than it already is! Unbelievable that the people making decisions are the people who haven't stepped foot in a classroom in years. I'd love to see how well you would fare in a classroom.
Jack
8:28 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/bs-md-grasmick-20120313,0,5199284.story
Grasmick to overhaul teacher training at Towson University
"Schools of education across the country are coming under fire for not adequately preparing graduates and are being pressed to give students a better grounding in what they will face when they begin teaching. Recent education reforms have focused on improving teacher quality, including how teachers are prepared, evaluated and supported in their earlier years."
Personally, I believe they hired part of the problem. Well at least they admit there is one.
Jack
3:33 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
"LRHS would not have the grad rate, HSA success, and college attendance it did if it were pure chaos"
I have no personal knowledge of LRHS, my children attend Glenelg. So what business do I have here? The issues in Longreach, Glenelg and every other school are the same. The state assessments are some of the easiest in the country and the hcpss teaches to the test. 90% of all howard county children will go to college where half of them will need substantial remedial education. The majority of all hcpss graduates will drop out of college and have no vocational or technical training to fall back on. Most of our children will never be able to afford to live in Howard county.
Yes our schools are segregated and wealth makes a difference regardless of our race. The most important aspect of a childs life is family. Family is the real game changer.
All of our schools have problems and the administration of the hcpss does everything it can to hide them. Our current BOE allows this to happen.
Next week the BOE will hire a new superintendent to lead our schools. No one asked any of us what is right or wrong in our schools. HCPSS left all of us out of the process. If our schools really cared about our children we would adopt a student bill of rights and allow our young adults to have both pride in ownership and control of their future.
Anonymous
7:52 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
Sources for these statistics?
Jack
8:53 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
Anonymous,
Seriously, you really want transparent sources but chose to be nameless?
90% graduate is proudly touted at both the Howard county and hcpss website.
The reality 50% need remedial education and the phenomenal dropout rate can be found at every college website in the country. Absolutely nothing can be found on the hcpss website to indicate anything beyond the illusion our schools are great but then they do not boast our graduates continue these numbers in college either. Look close to home at HCC which recieves the lions share of hcpss graduates and the HCC graduation rate is only 12%.
If you want to know exactly how well hcpss graduates do in college and present unbiased straight facts to the citizens of Howard county then you and I can go publicly to the hcpss and demand they provide accountability for their claims for success.
You should also look at atate assessments, ours are some of the easiest in the country which means a passing grade here is unacceptable in many states.
stephen feldman
7:47 am on Sunday, March 25, 2012
Yes, we dont know, unfortuantely, how our HCPSS grads do in the long-run, from college or comm college, to career. One would think, after forty yrs of the modern columbia-influenced HCPSS system and its expanded network of HS, that such data would exist and indeed be annually upgraded to measure curricular goals with customer(ie, students, parents, taxpayers) satisfaction and goals. The issue isn't, as I made quite clear, the success, relative to other school systems, of HCPSS in the past. The issue is the near and long-term future. To remain with the status quo in an international education market, where US school systems lag behind US competitors in STEM, prior historical and business knowledge,and higher level cognitive reasoning, is dangerous for the students' futures, for the nation as a whole and of course for the future of Howard County. Defensiveness based on past accomplishment will not substitute for the need to remake standards, retool educational tech in HoCo which is seriously out of date, and challenge our students far more than they now or have been challenged.
The long-term strategic issue isn't how LRHS measures up against RHHS or MRHS. It's how any of them measure up against the top schools elsewhere, from Mexico City to Moscow, from Beijing to Mumbai.
Want safer schools
9:14 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
You think Long Reach doesn't have fights? Check out this video uploaded to You Tube. It shows a bunch of kids loitering outside the school, cursing at each other, one boy leaves upset to avoid a fight. TheSplashMovement is responsible for this video, and he has alot more on his You Tube page. Long Reach is a ghetto- he says it, and he is proud of it. Take note of the language these children use. DISGUSTING!!! Where are the teachers? Where are the Resource Officers?? Where is the principal that wants to keep the school safe for the kids?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=sSM4LnAxxQk&NR=1
Want safer schools
9:16 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
Here is another one. This takes place IN A CLASSROOM at Long Reach, in front of the teacher. She does nothing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=NYmRUx9-0YU
Want safer schools
9:21 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
A student actually SPITS on the school in this one. Yeah- the principal should be proud.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_qkYjfLufg
A distressed student
11:45 pm on Saturday, March 24, 2012
I am a 4.0 student athlete who has taken 9 Advanced Placement courses throughout high school. It's upsetting to see so many people talking poorly about the school on this thread. While I have seen a couple incidents (not nearly as many as some may have you believe) over the years, I wouldn't trade it for anything. Most of the teachers there have been outstanding and I would not have been accepted to 5 reputable universities without them. Long Reach is a microcosm of the world. There are also great people whose achievements are overshadowed by negative things like this. Have you heard of our involvement in the food for tomorrow drive for the Howard food bank? How about our Invisible Children club that was started months before IC was brought into the spotlight? Heard about our musical, Legally Blonde, in which 101 students participated and is one of the school's best shows in recent memory? Those are just a few. To have worked so hard and to be judged and labeled for the school I go to is preposterous. It's not right for the people who claim to care so much about the students to make us feel terrible. The kids in my classes have seen these comments. We're livid. And I feel as if I have a little chip on my shoulder now. I'll want to come back and make Long Reach proud to have me as an alumnus like it's made me proud to be a graduate. I'll remember that Long Reach was there for me when the rest of Howard County wasn't. Hopefully the immaturity on this board begins to wane soon.
Jack
12:25 am on Sunday, March 25, 2012
You do realize it is this moment in time which defines LRHS, both this incident , your accomplishments and everything else. Not a single event but everything combined. LRHS is part of the community, people with no children pay tax which is used to educate our youth to improve society for everyone. The system is being judged here, not our children. Our children can do far greater things then we ever dreamed if we provide the opportunity and allow them.
A distressed student
1:37 am on Sunday, March 25, 2012
I know you mean well, Jack, but it's a little hard to constantly hear that you'll never be as talented or smart as someone who goes to, say River Hill, the pride and joy of HC. My point is that there are decent people anywhere. Maybe you realize it, but a lot of people don't. Just the other night I was heckled twice for wearing an LRHS shirt. It's not like I went home and cried about it, but it's just annoying. Some people seem to have a serious superiority complex. It's never going to change though, people will always see Long Reach as a "ghetto." It's a real shame too since we have so many bright young minds.
Jack
1:12 am on Wednesday, April 4, 2012
A distressed student,
This last message has haunted me. I have given a lot of thought to what you are saying my whole life.
Jack
12:45 am on Sunday, March 25, 2012
Anonymous I already posted this but it may help. BTW my posts are about all Howard county schools not LRHS
I pulled this from Howardpubliced to give readers a place to start understanding what goes on in our math class
Call Bill Barnes, coordinator of secondary mathematics at HCPSS. I first heard the statistic from him in a presentation on the Race to the Top initiative on Sept 21, 2010. He said that 25% of all HCPSS graduates (almost 1000 students) enter Howard Community College. Of those, over half are required to take remedial math. This is not just a problem in Howard County, but for all of Maryland. Read "More Remedial Math" by Jerome Dancis, a professor at the University of Maryland at College Park: http://www.facultyvoice.umd.edu/All%20past%20issues/2009-2010/FV_V23_N3.pdf. He points out that only 1/3 of MD high school graduates have enough math to enroll in STEM courses in college. The cause of the problem appears to be changes in the curriculum of Algebra 1 when the HSA tests were introduced. Read: http://silverchips.mbhs.edu/story/2639. The curriculum switched from the traditional Algebra 1 (factoring polynomials, exponents, radicals) to data analysis which is not the basis for the upper level math courses or the sciences.
It appears the UMBC's president (Freeman Hrabowski) also agrees: http://www-users.math.umd.edu/~jnd/On.MD.MAA%20.htm
Bri
10:17 am on Sunday, April 1, 2012
I am a Alumni of the school. My 20 year old sister is as well and now my 14 year old brother is attending as a freshman this year. My mother constantly volunteers at the school and has never once felt like Long Reach was a school that is passing over the issues of its students. I was a victim of someone who thought they could push me around when I went to school everyday . Thankfully My guidance counselor (the now deceased Mr. Morris , god rest his soul) was very effective in shutting that person down. As were my teachers and other school officials. It was the great support from Long reach staff that helped me get the great high school experience that I reflect on today. This incident was isolated to one ignorant asshole who thought, at 30 years old, he should come beat up kids because they threw a French fry at his FAST TAIL STEP DAUGHTER. That is all.
newlrhsparent
1:17 pm on Tuesday, April 3, 2012
I am a parent of a 9th grader. So far I have been very impressed with all of her LRHS teachers as well as the administrative staff. We reported two incidents - one of students acting out in class and one concerning bullying. The LHRS staff acted immediately and asked whether I would like to hear about the outcome.
You cannot expect the teachers and staff to immediately respond to the misbehavior. This is a parenting problem-probably little to no structure, support, or discipline at the homes of these kids who cause trouble.
By the way I heard from a Howard County teacher that the teachers at River Hill hate teaching there because of the obnoxious parents who want to know why little Suzie or Johnny did not get an A for their C level work. Also lot of these rich kids are into drugs and like to flaunt their wealth.
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6:41 pm on Tuesday, May 14, 2013
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