Thursday, September 27, 2012
A two-day celebration for alumni, community members and current students is being held to commemorate the school's history.
This year, Severna Park Elementary School will celebrate its 75th year in the building and the 160th year on the property—but the whole celebration was almost thrown out with the trash. “They were cleaning out closets in the school and they found two old boxes,” said Margaret Thompson Mardiros, an alumna of Severna Park Elementary. “The boxes were going to be discarded but someone took them to go through them and they found all kinds of old pictures, and essays written by fifth-graders from years before. They found all kinds of artifacts too and that’s what triggered all this.” The historical find provided the inspiration for a two-day celebration on Oct. 7-8 where the Severna Park Elementary community will have an opportunity to celebrate…
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Severna Park Elementary School won the Anne Arundel County’s Library award associated with summer reading.
Students at Severna Park Elementary School were recognized for their Summer Reading efforts on Monday. The school received the Anne Arundel County Public Library’s (AACPL) Chesapeake Cup at an assembly on Monday morning. According to a release, the Cup is awarded annually to one public and one private school that achieve at least 25 percent participation in AACPL’s Summer Reading Club. Severna Park Elementary was chosen at random from the list of public schools that achieved that milestone. Principal Lynn Birus was very excited and pleased with the school’s accomplishment. “I am so proud that so many of our boys and girls kept reading this summer!” said Birus in an email to Patch. “Reading is so important for everything we do in life and a…
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Sue Conaway, a second-grade teacher at Severna Park Elementary, attended the school in 1968 and 1969.
Severna Park Elementary School teacher Sue Conaway starts off back-to-school night each year by showing the parents her elementary school diploma, which came from the same school where she now teaches. “It always surprises them,” Conaway said. The second-grade teacher completed fifth- and sixth-grade at Severna Park Elementary in 1968 and 1969. Conaway has spent 32 years teaching in the Anne Arundel County School system—17 of them at Severna Park Elementary. This school year is a special one for Severna Park and Conaway as they celebrate its 75th anniversary in the building and 160th year on the property. This year's graduating fifth-grade class will be the school’s 160th. “One thing I remember was that we graduated out in the front area …
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
The Severna Park third-grade educator has taught in Haiti, West Africa and Luxembourg.
When Severna Park Elementary teacher Debbee Chiodi addresses foreign cultures and lands with her third-grade class, it'll be from first-hand experience. Chiodi spent the last few years teaching in Haiti, Luxembourg and Mali, West Africa. Despite what seems like an exotic itinerary, Chiodi described teaching and raising a family outside the United States as a “pretty normal life.” “It doesn’t seem that interesting to me because it is just my life,” said Chiodi, a mother of four. “My husband works for the State Dpartment and every two or three years we move to a different country. We like to travel. We get to see the world and get paid while doing it.” The traveling lifestyle may seem causal to Chiodi because from 10-years old to 17 she …
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Anne Arundel County Superintendent of Schools Kevin Maxwell visited Severna Park Elementary School on Tuesday afternoon.
Superintendent Kevin Maxwell finished his tour of 33 schools in six days on Tuesday with a visit to Severna Park Elementary School. Principal Lynn Birus showed Maxwell around the school Tuesday afternoon, along with Regional Assistant Superintendent Cathy Herbert and President of the Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County Richard Benfer. After a stop in the office, Maxwell visited many classrooms and chatted with a few students and teachers about their lessons and how the school year is going. "In order to really know what is going on in the schools, you need to be there," Maxwell said. "It's good to see the teachers teaching and the students learning. You also get a sense of the class sizes. I like seeing all the wonderful things …
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Parents plan to voice their positions at a public hearing Wednesday night.
Severna Park parents hoping to protect funding for a new high school are expected to make their point at the Anne Arundel County Council hearing at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Arundel Center in Annapolis. About 10 Severna Park Elementary School families are attending the meeting, said Kathy Bain, an elementary school parent. Bain, along with several parent groups, is trying to rally families from the Severna Park High School feeder schools to support local school funding in the fiscal year 2013 budget. Severna Park neighborhoods, such as Stewart's Landing, are also mobilizing families to attend the hearing. There are three speakers signed up for Wednesday's hearing and next Monday night's county council meeting, Bain said. "We want to thank …
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
A fifth-grade community service project of handmade quilts were presented to the Judy Center on Wednesday at Severna Park Elementary School.
A lesson in sewing stitched a lasting relationship between fifth graders at Severna Park Elementary School (SPES) and the Judy Center of Hilltop Elementary School in Glen Burnie. The students created six hand sewn quilts depicting their art work for the center that serves low income families. Ramona Dairsow and Nancy Cahlink-Seidler, representatives of the center, came to the school on Wednesday and graciously accepted the quilts at a presentation. "It's amazing that these kids would care so much," Dairsow said. She complemented the students on their work. "The quilts are amazing and you cared enough about them to paint the beautiful pictures," Dairsow said to the students gathered in the media center. Judy Centers were established across …
39.072206
-76.546718
Severna Park Elementary School
6 Riggs Ave, Severna Park, MD
/articles/spes-donates-handmade-quilts-to-hilltop
1662783
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Thursday, October 6, 2011
The school will be celebrating with events and is looking for former students, teachers and staff to share their experience at SPES.
Severna Park Elementary School (SPES) is celebrating 75 years this year and organizers of the special events being planned to recognize the milestone want to hear from former students, teachers, staff and families. At last weekend's Saturday in the Park and Heritage Day at the Severna Park Community Center, SPES scrapbooks were open on a table as parent volunteers Eileen Harrington, Michele Lechowicz and Elaine Bachmann, a curator at the Maryland State Archives, greeted those who stopped by to share a memory or leave a picture of the good old school house days. There will be more to come on 75th events as they are finalized. Pictures, news clippings, memorabilia from former students, teachers and staff are welcome. Contact Jane Seiss at …
Monday, October 3, 2011
Popular events drew a smaller crowd on Saturday due to Mother Nature.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Leslie Hunt
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Monday, October 3, 2011
The chilly overcast day on Saturday kept many residents staying indoors instead of venturing out to the annual Saturday in the Park Street Fair and coinciding Heritage Day Festival -both moved indoors to the Severna Park Community Center (SPCC) due to the forecast. Local businesses made the best of it by setting up their display in the downstairs SPCC gymnasium to greet visitors. Under normal conditions, the street fair, sponsored by the Greater Severna Park Chamber of Commerce, is held outdoors on Holly Avenue. "We were disappointed that the weather this year brought us indoors. We'll be back on Holly next year," said Linda S. Zahn, CEO of the chamber. Upstairs, were more vendors and submarines to purchase from the Severna Park Middle …
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Severna Park Community Center
623 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd, Severna Park, MD
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Thomas I. Kauffman
5:24 pm on Saturday, February 4, 2012
My tw brothers and I attended SPES starting in1934 with my twin and I in Lucy Landers' 1st grade in the three-room wood-constructed school. Miss Moss was the principal, as she had been for many years; unable to recall who was the third teacher. Tom Kauffman; tkauf7@comcast.net more ›