Middle School

Five thousand students are in the middle of an educational tug-of-war in one of the largest and most affluent school districts in Pennsylvania. More is more, administrators and school board members say. An additional 10 minutes a day spent on each core subject, such as math, science and social studies, will help middle-school students learn better, they insist. More is less, parents and teachers counter. Students will lose one period a day of art, music, gym, and other "special" classes.

Brian Wright is a former offensive lineman, so he knows all about the down-and-dirty work that makes for a successful football team. The former Rowan University assistant coach plans to bring that same blue-collar approach to building a strong program at Cherry Hill West. "This is a great opportunity," said Wright, who has been named football coach at Cherry Hill West. "I know some people think it's a tall task to turn things around. But it can be done. " Wright succeeds Jim Scerbo, who resigned after last season.

Medford Township Schools Superintendent Joseph Del Rossi, under fire for his arrest on drunken-driving charges in Evesham Feb. 26, left Tuesday on administrative leave. Del Rossi was cited by Evesham Police with driving under the influence after he flipped a district-owned Jeep Liberty he was driving. He said he had swerved to avoid a deer. In a statement the school district e-mailed to news media Tuesday, Del Rossi apologized and said: "Because of the disruption the current circumstance has caused, I feel that it would be in the best interest of our entire school community for me to take some time away from my responsibilities.

Medford Township Schools Superintendent Joseph Del Rossi, under fire for his arrest on drunken-driving charges in Evesham Feb. 26, left Tuesday on administrative leave. Del Rossi was cited by Evesham Police with driving under the influence after he flipped a district-owned Jeep Liberty he was driving. He said he had swerved to avoid a deer. In a statement the school district e-mailed to news media Tuesday, Del Rossi apologized and said: "Because of the disruption the current circumstance has caused, I feel that it would be in the best interest of our entire school community for me to take some time away from my responsibilities.

The arrest this week of Medford Township's school superintendent on drunken-driving charges has opened new wounds in a community still recovering from a sex scandal involving its former mayor and dealing with deep budget cuts, including police layoffs. Now Medford residents are struggling to reconcile the arrest of Schools Superintendent Joseph Del Rossi with the antidrug and antialcohol message he delivered to students at an awareness event last month. Del Rossi, who has led the 3,000-student district for about 10 years, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol after he flipped a district-owned Jeep on Sunday, police said.

CHARDON, Ohio - A teenager opened fire in the cafeteria at his suburban Cleveland high school Monday, killing one student and wounding four others before he was chased from the building by a teacher and captured a short distance away, authorities said. A student who saw the attack up close said it appeared that the gunman targeted a group of students sitting together and that the student who was killed was gunned down while trying to duck under the table. FBI officials would not comment on a motive.

EGG HARBOR TWP. - Trevant McCloud was disappointed when his middle school dropped its basketball program because of budget cuts. "I was like, 'Now what am I going to do?' " McCloud said, recalling his thoughts as a fifth grader in Lindenwold. McCloud decided to try wrestling. On Friday night, he moved to the brink of becoming the most accomplished athlete in the sport in Lindenwold High School history. A No. 8 seed, McCloud used a dramatic late takedown to upset top-seeded Chris Lail of Kingsway, 4-3, in a 182-pound bout in the Region 8 quarterfinals before a near-capacity crowd at Egg Harbor Township.

Members of the Stetson Shutterbugs stepped outside their middle school in Kensington and began sizing up the late afternoon sunlight slanting down on bustling Allegheny Avenue. "Take a look at the way the light is now," teacher Anthony Rocco told the students in his photography club. "You get some really strong shadows. " Clutching donated cameras, the young teens set off down B Street to take pictures of the neighborhood to share with their "photo buddies" in a tiny town in Colombia.

A ninth-grader at Pennfield Middle School in the North Penn School District in Montgomery County has been diagnosed with whooping cough, an official said this afternoon. The student came to school Monday morning, mentioned he had had whooping cough last week, and was immediately sent home, said Christine Liberaski, the North Penn School District's manager of school and community engagement. In a letter to parents posted today on the school district's website, district officials warned, "Your child may have been exposed.