Baltimore Schools Open Doors On A Hopeful Note BALTIMORE, MD (wypr) - Inside the front door of Frederick Douglass High School in West Baltimore yesterday, handyman Tony Bush put a shiny new coat of black paint on the base of a colorful mural. Students and parents stood nearby getting adjusted to the first hours of a new school year.

On his knees working a paint brush, Bush deemed the school ready to roll.

A lot of hard work went into it so hopefully everybody will be happy.

In the spring, HBO aired a documentary on life at Douglass High. It was less than flattering, showing a school with discipline problems and students who lacked academic focus.

Things seemed a bit hectic there yesterday, too, as students entered the cafeteria for lunch. Nevertheless, Janice Thompson, mother of a new 11th grader at Douglass, was optimistic for her daughter. She hoped. . .

That she gets along, gets the education that she needs. Has a successful productive year.

City schools C-E-O Andres Alonso shared that anticipation. He made a tour of several schools yesterday beginning at 7:30 a.m. at Johnston Square Elementary School. There, a new student breakfast program debuted. It features grab and go boxes with fruit juice, whole grain cereal and milk. Some boxes contain prizes like iPod downloads and free Orioles and Ravens tickets as incentives to eat breakfast.

Alonso explained the fresh start the first day brings.

The first day is all about hope. It means these are our standards and we cannot depart from them in terms of everything from how we welcome the kids, to cleanliness in our buildings, to the food that we serve, to are we staffed? Are we prepared? Are the books there? The first day is all about this is who we are, this is what we're going to work on together and this is who we're going to become during the year.

Over the summer, administrators at North Avenue continued to reorganize the struggling system. Buoyed by rising standardized test scores in June, they also focused on making classrooms safer. So they revised the code of conduct. Released yesterday, it includes guidelines for classroom behavior from tardiness to drug possession and assault on school grounds. Last year, a high school art teacher was beaten in her classroom by a student. The incident made national headlines after it was recorded and posted on YouTube.

The new code requires a signature from students and guardians. The document was prepared with input from city teachers. Alonso tipped his hat to them yesterday.

Teachers are the soul of the work that we do. Many of our teachers have done it for a long time and are learning how to do it differently and I applaud them for that.

At Calvin M. Rodwell Elementary on the West Side, program coordinator Stephanie Brown said momentum was high.

I am so gung-ho about the whole school year. I think it's going to be our best school year ever because we're all geared up throughout the city to make it the best. Great kids, great schools, and I think that's a great slogan to get us started.

Dr. Alonso plans to continue his tour of schools today. Beginning with breakfast at Morrell Park Elementary/Middle School and ending in a meeting with students at Southeast Middle. Like many school principals, he is extending all lines of communication into the community this year in hopes of building better academic achievement.

I'm Melody Simmons, reporting from West Baltimore, for 88.1, WYPR.
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