Small Schools

The father of North Carolina point guard Kendall Marshall said Monday his son is recovering from surgery on his broken right wrist and it's unclear if he'll return for the NCAA regional games in St. Louis. Dennis Marshall said the procedure done in Chapel Hill, N.C., to insert a screw into his son's wrist lasted about 35 minutes. He said when Kendall plays again would be based on "what would be best for Kendall in the long term" and that he didn't know whether the sophomore would be ready to play in the round of 16 against Ohio on Friday.

New York City went for small high schools in a big way, and the country's largest school system is still high on that education reform strategy. Oakland, Calif., opened 49 small schools in the last decade, but is closing six. And in Philadelphia, the superintendent's message is clear - small schools are fine, but don't expect any new ones until inequities at big neighborhood high schools are fixed. For a time in the mid-2000s, small schools were booming. They were supposed to transform the large, failing American high school, to engage students and boost their achievement to ready them for college.

This was a season of parity in South Jersey boys' basketball, in which the small schools - Burlington City in Group 1 and Middle Township in Group 2 - were the lone South Jersey state champions. It was not a good season to be a No. 1 seed in the NJSIAA tournament. Burlington City was the only top-seeded team of the six groups to win a South Jersey championship. The Cape-Atlantic League flexed its postseason muscles with Middle Township winning a state title, St. Augustine capturing a South Jersey championship, and Wildwood Catholic earning a berth in a sectional final before losing to St. Rose in the Parochial B final.

Kensington High School's enrollment will not reach as high as a student group had feared, the district's interim chief academic officer told students yesterday. The promise came during a meeting, held after students staged two separate rallies to urge the Philadelphia School District to keep three small high schools at Kensington and create two more at Olney. Members of Youth United for Change protested the district's intention to increase the size of three smaller high schools operating at what used to be Kensington High.

To the casual observer, it may seem uncommon to see a Group 1 school ranked among the area's elite scholastic baseball teams. But, then again, Florence High looks like an uncommon team. Uncommonly talented, that is. For the second straight season, Florence is being mentioned as one of South Jersey's premier teams. A year ago, the Flashes went 24-3, won the Group 1 state title and finished No. 3 in The Inquirer's South Jersey ratings, behind Cherokee and Bishop Eustace. Florence opened its season Thursday with an impressive 11-2 nonleague win over Cherokee, the defending Group 4 state champion.

Summing up the eighth week of the football season, and taking a look ahead. As the South Jersey playoffs approach, and the conference races wind down, there's a tendency to concentrate on the big schools, which dominate the power ratings and the top 10. But you don't have to be a contender for No. 1 or for the Group 4 championship to be having a good season. In fact, at least one school in the area is taking heart from a winless season. So let's take a closer look at four very small schools that have put together very different records, but still are having a good season in some way, shape or form.

Brian Mitchell knows his history, even while he is making it. Mitchell passed Walter Payton yesterday, moving to No. 2 on the NFL's all-time all-purpose yardage list. Only Jerry Rice, who is still playing, is ahead of Mitchell, who finished the game against the Washington Redskins with 21,912 combined yards. Payton, the late Chicago Bears running back, finished with 21,803 career yards. Rice has a total of 22,089, including yesterday's 30 receiving yards. He is 177 yards ahead of Mitchell.

Wondrous things happen on the quiet fields of the Wideners and Kutztowns of this world. Meet Cass Corcoran, Kim Baum, Tom Kellett and Lisah Hamilton. They are small-college athletes, and by competitive standards, they played well this fall. But their presence in college sports is an accomplishment that can only be described as big time. Cass Corcoran is the captain of the Philadelphia Textile women's cross- country team. She is 32, but when she's running, she feels 19, the age of most of her teammates.

Yeah, political junkies still have to wait months before the Republican National Convention hits town. But hey - pols of a younger vintage converge from across the country for their own unique gathering this weekend. Student-government reps from 11 small liberal-arts colleges are spending the weekend at Haverford College to schmooze, share advice, grumble about the rigors of office, and take in some of the same Philadelphia sites likely to impress Republican politicos next summer.

Pennsville softball coach Herb Bacon said the answer was on the T-shirts. "We have T-shirts that say: 'Tradition never graduates,' " Bacon said when asked why Pennsville and other small-school softball teams always seem to be among the top 10 ranked by The Inquirer. The tradition about which the veteran coach spoke, of course, is a winning one. Bacon recently celebrated his 550th career victory spanning 28 years at Pennsville. Under his guidance, the Eagles, ranked seventh in South Jersey, have won numerous Tri-County Conference crowns, a half-dozen South Jersey Group 1 championships, and state titles in 2008, 2002 and 1993.

The father of North Carolina point guard Kendall Marshall said Monday his son is recovering from surgery on his broken right wrist and it's unclear if he'll return for the NCAA regional games in St. Louis. Dennis Marshall said the procedure done in Chapel Hill, N.C., to insert a screw into his son's wrist lasted about 35 minutes. He said when Kendall plays again would be based on "what would be best for Kendall in the long term" and that he didn't know whether the sophomore would be ready to play in the round of 16 against Ohio on Friday.

If you're good enough, they will come. Julian Kaminoff is proof of that. Though he plays for New Hope-Solebury, a little-known Class AA program with only 32 players, the do-everything senior for the Lions has a pair of scholarship offers. Kaminoff is not a 6-foot-5, 300-pound lineman with more potential than athletic skill. He is a 5-11, 180-pound tailback, free safety, and kick returner. "He's got a special talent," New Hope-Solebury coach Jim DiTulio said. "I might not see a player like him again at this school for a long, long time.

Formally opening the year for 151,000 Philadelphia public school students, dignitaries gathered Tuesday at the brand-new West Philadelphia High School to urge the students to take advantage of the opportunities in front of them. Inside the $66 million school's cavernous auditorium, a DJ and a circus performer warmed up the crowd of students in blue blazers. Then the dignitaries took over. "We're about getting an education!" shouted State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D., Phila.).

Looking as if he had just experienced some kind of revelation, a wide-eyed Miles Schoedler wasn't pulling any punches. "I [stunk]," the Ocean City senior said bluntly. "That's it. " The Penn Relays hold completely different meanings for different athletes. But for Schoedler, they were a wake-up call. He entered Friday's high school boys' mile run championship as the No. 1 seed. In fact, he was South Jersey's only No. 1 seed this weekend at Franklin Field. But Schoedler's time of 4 minutes, 21.28 seconds placed him 10th in the 15-runner field.

Looking as if he had just witnessed some kind of revelation, a wide-eyed Miles Schoedler wasn't pulling any punches. "I [stunk]," the Ocean City senior said bluntly. "That's it. " The Penn Relays hold completely different meanings for different athletes. But for Schoedler, they were a wakeup call. He entered Friday's high school boys' mile run championship as the No. 1 seed. In fact, he was South Jersey's only No. 1 seed this weekend at Franklin Field. But Schoedler's time of 4 minutes, 21.28 seconds placed him 10th in the 15-team field.

Other facts about corporate taxes Tuesday's editorial, "Too Big To Pay Taxes," misses the mark. What matters is not the maximum tax rate, but how much corporations pay in total. An article in Barron's by Gene Epstein reports on a study that shows that U.S. companies pay the second highest rate in the world, below only that in Japan. Taiwan's rate of 16 percent and Sweden's 13.5 percent are the two lowest effective rates. It is a corporation's responsibility to maximize profits for its shareholders, just as it is a newspaper's responsibility to tell the whole story concerning an issue as important as world competition and the impact of taxation policy.

THOUGH DWELLING behind the shadows of big-time Division I basketball and the hoopla that surrounds it, there are schools in the Philadelphia region that have staked their own claim to fame. And while they may not receive all the accoutrements of say a Villanova or a Temple for winning big, the Daily News eliminated divisions, conferences and size and found the area's five best programs that also can lay claim to keeping the Delaware Valley a mainstay as a college basketball mecca.

In one sense, it was Small School Saturday. In another, it was further evidence of the remarkable balance in South Jersey boys' basketball this season. There might not be a great team out there. But it looks like there are 20 good ones. Or maybe 25. The sport's parity was underscored again Saturday as Group 2 Cinnaminson shocked Non-Public A power Paul VI - the previously undefeated No. 1 team in The Inquirer Top 10 - while Group 1 Pitman whipped Group 4 Lenape, the former No. 3 team.

In a bygone era, I began my sportswriting career in Kendallville, Ind., and not long into the job covered a girls' basketball game that ended 88-18. There was good reason for the lopsided score. Big school was playing small school, and small school was rebuilding. None of that dawned on young, naive me. I had lived my whole life in Brooklyn, N.Y., had attended a large high school, and had just graduated from NYU. I didn't know about small schools. Trying to make the story interesting, I got too flowery and harsh.