Tag Archives: harrisburg

Sipping Lattes, Making Deals: Pols, Occupiers, tourists pack Caffeine Connection.

In the shadow of the state’s looming, green-domed Capitol, the Caffeine Connection evokes the coffee houses of 18th century London, where Whigs and Tories, authors and merchants, the famous and not so famous, mingled over coffee and scones.

The modern day equivalent in this little coffee house at the corner of State and Third streets, across the street from the steps to the Capitol, are state legislators and Cabinet officers, lawyers and lobbyists, grass root activists and journalists.

And it’s oatmeal they mingle over, though scones are available, too.

“Senators were in here this morning,” said owner Pat Erb, a petite, pleasant woman who likes to dote on her customers. “I don’t know what they were up to.”

Even if she did, she wouldn’t tell.

Most of her customers are city and state movers and shakers who sip their lattes and enjoy Pat’s homemade baked oatmeal (for which she is famous for, from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.) as they share gossip, gather intelligence and cut deals.

Pat enjoys serving them all, and though she’s not privy to their conversations, it’s easy to guess by body language and intense conversation that some strategy is being made or some policy being developed.

“Pretty much all my clientele are from across the street,” she said. “And the lobbyists – I can’t forget the lobbyists. They’re pretty generous to me.”

“What makes Caffeine Connection so unique is Pat herself,” said Kurt Knaus, who, as managing director at Ceisler Media & Issue Advocacy, often meets clients there.

“It’s really great in a cookie-cutter kind of world to find someone who stands out so much and who clearly puts in the time and effort to ensure her customers get a memorable experience with every cup of coffee and homemade snack,” he said.

For Pat, the coffee house she opened seven years ago is a realized dream, having grown up in Chicago among family who owned restaurants, bars and pastry shops, where she learned how to bake the muffins, cookies and other sweet confections she serves.

“I always had a passion for coffee,” she said. “I love my customers.”

She presides in a shop decorated in her eclectic tastes. Photographs and art works from local artists hang on the walls. A painter for 16 years, she occasionally has some of her paintings on the wall in what is a warm, comfortable place to be on a cold day.

“I’m blessed,” she said of her clientele. “I’m very blessed.”

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Recognizing the American Red Cross in your neighborhood.

Fires, tornadoes, floods: the Harrisburg area and Central Pennsylvania aren’t exempt from these disasters and when they strike, volunteers with a local chapter of the American Red Cross are there to lend a hand and someone to lean on for comfort.

The American Red Cross wants you to realize it’s about more than collecting blood donations, offering swimming and CPR classes, and responding to large scale disasters. Chris Weidenhammer, Regional Director for Emergency Services, said people don’t realize the Red Cross responds to disasters on a daily basis, such as house fires and gas leaks.

“We’ve always tried to educate the fire chiefs, county leaders, and the public that we’re around for the smaller incidents as much as the larger incidents,” Weidenhammer said.

The Lancaster County chapter of the American Red Cross assisted in such an incident. Joan Decker and her husband lost their home in a fire in 2010. Two volunteers came to help the Deckers and provided them with some necessities and a place to stay.

“I will be forever grateful to the Red Cross for assistance given to my husband and myself during our house fire,” Decker says in a letter written to the Red Cross. “Instead of gifts for my birthday, I asked for donations to your efforts to help those overcoming fire disasters, like myself.”

Another service The Red Cross offers, which much of the general public isn’t aware of, is emergency communication for Armed Forces. In the event of a death in the family, or the birth of a child, the organization can bring the service member home.

“We’re more or less a conduit between families that are state-side and service members overseas,” Weidenhammer said.

While responding to 650-700 disasters a year, regional chapters of the America Red Cross are prepared for everything. The last major disaster still on many peoples’ minds is the flooding from Tropical Storm Lee in September 2011. With 129 volunteers, the Red Cross set up 10 shelters in the Capitol region alone, which consists of Dauphin, Cumberland, and Perry counties. 395 people spent 1,127 overnight stays in those shelters. Volunteers served 5,257 meals, and 8,945 snacks.

Tropical Storm Lee cost $3.4 million for the Capital region and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area in Northeastern Pennsylvania. That money was raised through donations. “We get all our funding from the American people. We receive no government funding whatsoever. It’s just the generosity of the American People and through grants and foundations,” Weidenhammer said.

Whether you give $5 or $10, that’s just one way you can help your local American Red Cross. Another way is through volunteering. From helping families cope following a house fire, to working at a disaster shelter, even office work and data entry, The Red Cross would love your help.

To learn more how you can donate time or money, go to www.sqvalleyredcross.org.

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Downtown Living for HU: Historic Kunkel to become student housing.

As Harrisburg University of Science and Technology continues to grow, it has been slowly acquiring housing for students to its downtown campus at 326 Market St., the latest is a 10-year lease on the Kunkel Building, just down the block.

The 98-year-old office building, nine-stories high with a terra cotta tile exterior, is undergoing renovations for 40 to 50 market-rate apartments by Dan Deitchman, president of Brickbox Development Ltd. Last year, he converted the old Governor’s Hotel at 4th and Market, renamed Residence on Market, into student housing for HU.

The university and Deitchman signed an agreement in March on leasing eight floors – the top six for housing 84 students and the second and third floors for the school’s business incubator.

Deitchman stressed that the students will not be housed in dormitory-style units, but full-fledged apartments complete with kitchens. “These are apartments,” he said.

The developer plans about $4 million in renovations that will include new heating, ventilation and air conditioning and plumbing systems. The 39,000-square-foot building, at 301 Market St., will be renamed Market View Place.

Deitchman, who also renovated Riverview Manor on Front Street and is in the process of restoring the Furlow Building in Midtown, intends to lease the 4,400-square-foot ground floor for commercial use such as a retail shop or restaurant.

University officials see this latest addition for student housing a plus for the city and the economy. The building will remain on the city’s tax rolls while bringing more than 80 students downtown to spend money at local venues.

With Residence on Market and Market View Place, the university this fall will have housing available for about 180 students, which Dr. Eric Darr, HU’s executive vice president and provost, said is needed.

“We’re well on track to seat over 200 freshman – just freshman – for the coming fall,” Darr said, noting 80 percent of the students are coming from more than 50 miles away.  “We’re going to be close to capacity.”

Total enrollment this fall including graduate students is expected to be between 400 and 500 students, Darr said. As enrollment grows, the school is preparing for the likelihood of a third student-housing building sometime in 2014.

“If recruiting for the fall of 2013 is significantly more than we think, then we’re going to have a choice to make,” Darr said.

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The Magnificent Seven: Get to know your Noble Grapes.

In the world of wine there are seven grapes that stand head and shoulders above all others. They have eclipsed their humble European origins and dominate winemaking in all hemispheres. These four reds and three whites are known as the Noble Grapes.

The reds are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Pinot Noir. The white grapes are Riesling, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. From this fruit arises the finest expression of vinifera. Even though they are grown worldwide, the soil of their origin produces the best, and most sought after grapes, to this very day.

Cabernet is the undisputed king of red wines. Spicy, herbal and tannic are just a few of the words used to describe it. It reigns supreme in the Medoc area of the Bordeaux region. Merlot, French for “little blackbird,” is the other Noble Red in Bordeaux. Not as big as Cabernet, it produces fine, age-worthy wines on its own. When these two are blended together the wine is far greater than the sum of its parts.

Syrah is the main red grape in the Rhone valley. The wine it makes is dark and peppery with wonderful fruit overtones. In the southern part of the valley it is usually blended with Grenache as in Côtes du Rhône. In the north it is bottled alone, named after the village where it is grown. A little research is needed to find what you are looking for, but its one of my favorites.

Sauvignon Blanc heralds from the Loire valley in France. Described as grassy, mineral or gooseberries, this white wine is never better any where else in the world. Often overlooked, it is simply delightful matching food with its vibrant acidity. If you get a chance to try some Sancerre, go for it.

Riesling is the only Noble Grape not from France. This wine’s popularity is global even though many people have never tasted real German Riesling. Before World War I, it was the most expensive wine in the world. European politics have done much to diminish its reputation, very unfairly. This wine has the ability to match food that is like no other. Made in styles from austere to voluptuous, there is a challenge for every palate just waiting in the bottle. You will have to research this wine to find a well deserved prize. German wine labels are the most confusing on earth, but well worth the effort. The un-shouldered bottles are green from the Moselle Valley and brown from the Rhine.

When drinking in French Burgundy it’s easy to see what you are drinking. If the wine is white, it’s Chardonnay. If red, it’s Pinot Noir. These are the two great wines from this northern French region. Chardonnay can be firm and mineral, as in Chablis, or luscious and full-bodied, as in Montrachet. Pinot Noir is a finicky little red grape that is hard to grow and vinify. When done right, it is the most sensual of all unmatched in scent, texture and flavor. This is a wine that for some has become their personal muse. I can agree because I have been there. It can be fabulous.                                                                                                             Keep sipping, Steve

Steve Juliana of Hummelstown is a wine adviser and a life-long lover of wines.

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More Cops for Midtown?: New Improvement District on the table.

Midtown Harrisburg would get an extra dose of police protection under a plan to create a new improvement district focused on neighborhood security.

The Midtown Improvement District (MID) would hire off-duty Harrisburg police officers to patrol a wide area ranging from Forster to Maclay streets and N.Front to F. 7th streets, said Eric Papenfuse, owner of the Midtown Scholar Bookstore, who is spearheading the effort.

“This would be specifically dedicated to public safetly,” said Paperfuse. “You fundamentally have to create a safe environment.”

The MID would be funded by a fee for each of the 4,100 properties within the district.

Under the proposal, homeowners would pay a fee equal to one-tenth of 1 percent of the assessed values of their properties, with a minimum of $60 per year. Commercial owners, whose properties tend to have higher values, would pay a fee equal to one-fifteenth of the assessments of their properties, with a minimum of $90.

In addition, the many nonprofit organizations in the district would be encouraged to make a contribution, Papenfuse said.

An annual $420,000 budget would fund as many as 10 off-duty officers, who would be paid about $35 an hour, including insurance and other costs. The MID also would have a physical location, which would act like a police substation.

Papenfuse said the city’s police union is enthusiastic about the proposal, as Harrisburg currently offers little overtime to its officers.

The effort began when a Midtown Scholar employee was robbed walking home after work, said Papenfuse. Since then, several formative meetings have been held with various neighborhood groups, which all have signed on, he said.

The MID must navigate a series of steps before becoming a reality.

First, a public meeting will be held April 9 at 7p.m. at Midtown Scholar so residents can hear more about the initiative, ask questions and offer suggestions.

A formal plan then must be drafted and approved by property owners in the proposed district. The proposal would fail if owners representing 40 percent of properties reject it. If it passes muster with property owners, the plan must be approved by City Council.

If all goes smoothly, the MID would take effect about Oct. 1, said Bill Fontana, executive director of the Pennsylvania Downtown Center, which is assisting the effort.

Fontana said there are 35 business improvement districts in the state right now, but that the MID would be the first residential improvement district.

Papenfuse said that the MID is intended to fill in a critical gap in city services, as cash-strapped Harrisburg simply cannot afford extra police.

“We all understand the position the city is in,” he said.

Moving forward, the MID could expand its mission, as it might be able to apply for various grants that would fund additional projects, such as for historic preservation and infrastructure improvements.

“Once we have an improvement district in place, it opens us up to all kinds of other funding possibilities,” said Papenfuse.

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Movie, Popcorn, History: West Shore Theater, one of area’s last classic moviehouses.

When was the last time you went to the movies and paid less than $8 for a ticket? The West Shore Theater in New Cumberland not only offers a great price but also an old time movie experience.

The theater sits on Bridge Street, adding historical appeal to this small town. Walking into the quaint building feels like you are back in the 1940s. From the paintings on the walls and ceilings to the authentic fixtures, the building reflects the period in which it was built.

“Movies offer a chance to experience a different life and the vintage theatre just enhances that sense of otherworldliness,” said Pamela Reilly, a regular West Shore theater moviegoer.

This antique theatre has been a family run business from the beginning. Fred Bollen and his mother, Violet, became partners in this venture in 1986. They purchased it from the Freister family, the original owners of the movie theater.

Bollen bought the theater because of his love for movies and becoming a business owner had always been a dream. After 25 years of ownership, Bollen reflects on the good and the bad of being a small business owner in a competitive market. As for Violet, she is now in a nursing home due to Alzheimer’s and is no longer able to be a part of their theater company.

“We’ve had good years and bad years. We’re at the mercy of the product, weather and other events in the area,” Bollen said.

Area events like the Farm Show, concerts and sporting events are among his competition. Popular television programs such as Dancing with the Stars and American Idol are also contenders to the theater, especially because television can be viewed at the comfort of one’s home. Regardless of this, the West Shore theatre continues to bring in an audience that enjoys this small town production.

“I love this theater,” said Katie Shradley, a New Cumberland local. “Its casual, traditional, great price and they have amazing popcorn.”

Reilly said, “I love the atmosphere and the historic ambiance of the theater itself. It is part of what gives downtown New Cumberland its identity and feel.”

The theater is a great place to go with your family, friends or your significant other. Bollen wants people to be able to still go to the movies without worrying about cost. He would like to maintain his low prices; however, with an old building comes maintenance issues. He hopes to replace the screen, put solar panels on the roof and go digital in the future, which may possibly mean a small increase in ticket pricing.

Owning the theater gives Bollen full control over how its run, which sets it apart from others in the area. He picks popular movies customers will prefer and sets prices for tickets and concession items. Movies shown here are ones that have recently left the mainstream movie theaters.

Aside from deciding what films to play, he is also responsible for most other tasks from selling tickets to bookkeeping. Bollen’s wife, Deb, along with his best friend Jeff B. and his wife, all work hard to keep the theater running smoothly.

“Every business has its downfalls,” Bollen said. “I still want to own it forever.”

For patrons, this movie theater is old-fashioned and beautiful. It brings in a crowd that is both old, young and in between. It adds culture, history and traditional value to the town. “So many other communities have lost their theaters and that is a big loss,” said Reilly. “So long live historic movie theaters and the people who keep them an active part of the community!”

West Shore Theater, 317 Bridge St., New Cumberland, is open daily including holidays except Christmas and Halloween Parade night. Showtimes are 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., seven days a week, with a 2 p.m. matinee on weekends. Tickets are $3 and $2.50 on Tuesdays. For movie information, call 717-774-7160 or check boxofficemojo.com.

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N.J.-Style, Pa.-Sited: Capitol Diner serves everyone from pols to prols.

With its sleek stainless-steel exterior and well-appointed interior filled with the warm smells of cooking and brewed coffee, the Capitol Diner sits atop Eisenhower Boulevard, shining like one of its pre-fabricated brothers in New Jersey or New York.

That’s what Dimitrious “Jimmy” Hronis, who owns the diner with his brother, Gus, intended when they bought the old 70s restaurant with its faux stone exterior a decade ago and began to transform it into a stylish, 24-hour restaurant with a counter.

“This is very typical for New Jersey,” Hronis said, relaxing one morning in a booth near the long granite counter. “It’s the old way diners used to be, but modernized.”

The Swatara Township diner, which the brothers bought 10 years ago, was recently approved for a liquor license and should soon offer beer and wine with meals – very New Jersey/New York like, but Hronis doesn’t anticipate ever having a bar as many diners do in those states.

To Hronis, who has an information technology degree from George Washington University, appearance is everything in running a restaurant. He and his brother grew up working in their father’s Northampton diner, where they learned the business – from cooking to waiting tables.

Hronis found his niche in managing the front of the house while Gus took the kitchen, which is how they operate their 180-seat diner with a trained staff that numbers as many as 10 workers on a shift, depending upon the time of day.

Since those first years cleaning, remodeling and refurbishing the interior and re-fabricating the exterior, Capitol Diner has become a popular spot, attracting even governors and U.S. Senators as well as celebrities performing in Harrisburg.

One of the biggest to dine there was Hilary Clinton, when she was a candidate for president in 2008. Her staff chose the diner for a campaign event that drew crowds of voters as well as media.

“We had reporters coming in from all over the world here,” Hronis recalled, noting television trucks were parked everywhere. “It was a very busy day.”

The keys to running a successful diner, said Hronis, are “Good food, good service and clean atmosphere,” something his Greek-immigrant father always stressed during the 33 years he ran his diner. “Those were the words from Pop.”

“We strive here on being clean, very clean,” Hronis said. A short while later, He pointed at a busboy who worked nearby with a broom, “He’s doing sweeping, see?”

Hronis believes success requires a willingness to make changes. That, he said, is why he rebuilt the diner – it was closed for four months after he bought it in 2002 – and why he continues to add to the menu.

“People want a change,” he said. “They don’t want the same thing all the time.”

Hronis, who makes a point to know his customers, said that’s just as important as a clean restaurant, and food that not only tastes good, but looks good.

“People believe with their eyes,” he said. “The eyes are the key to people’s stomachs.”

Capitol Diner, 800 Eisenhower Blvd., Harrisburg, 717-939-2279 or fax 717-939-4119.

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Window Space: Fenêtre Gallery opens to Harrisburg.

Fenêtre is French for “window,” and it’s the appropriate name of the new art gallery HACC is opening this month at Harrisburg Area Community College’s Midtown campus.

The gallery opens March 16 on the second floor of HACC’s historic brick building on the corner of 3rd and Reily streets. It will feature contemporary works of emerging and established artists.

The gallery’s name was selected for an interior window that is part of the 1917 building’s original architecture. The window creates an opening between exhibit space and reception area where light enters through a skylight. Metaphorically, the name is a reference to a window as an opening into the imagination.

The first exhibit opens March 16 with “Visions and Voices: The 2012 South Central Pennsylvania Scholastic Art and Writing Awards,” sponsored by Commonwealth Connections Academy, an online public school. A reception for opening day is from 5-7 p.m., coinciding with “3rd in the Burg.”

Fenêtre Gallery is in a historic landmark, the former home of Evangelical Press, a printing company that operated in the building for decades before being converted into a state office and laboratory. Today, after complete restoration, the building serves nearly 2,500 students enrolled in HACC’s trade and technology programs.

Hours for the gallery will be Friday evenings and several afternoons during the week. Events are free and open to the public. Entrance to the building is at 1500 3rd St.

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Switching Tracks: With rail plans delayed, Modern Transit changes course.

For the last 15 years, Modern Transit Partnership could sometimes see a light at the end of the tunnel as it worked to bring a commuter rail line to the Harrisburg region, but lack of funding and political will has kept that project in the dark.

Now, with no signal that such a project is on the agenda of either the governor or the General Assembly, which are wrestling with funding for the state’s existing mass transit systems, Modern Transit has changed its strategy to winning hearts and minds.

In so doing, Brad Jones, the group’s new chairman, said MTP has brought onto its board individuals representing the region’s various modes of mass transit – from commuter services to transit bus lines from neighboring cities.

The group also works to help promote projects Amtrak has undertaken to improve amenities and facilities along the Keystone Corridor such as the rehabilitation and renovation of Amtrak’s Elizabethtown station and its proposed Middletown station.

For MTP, it’s a new era of cooperation with regional transit agencies and state and local governments, part of an effort to expand “the transit mentality,” Jones said.

“We’re not giving up on the mission for rail,” he said. “If anything, we’ve been guilty of being too far ahead of the curve.”

Opponents such as former Cumberland County Commissioner Rick Rovegno have believed the commuter rail project as envisioned by MTP has always been more wishful thinking than concrete planning, and the concept far ahead of need.

As such, Rovegno said, the proposed Lancaster-Harrisburg-Carlisle commuter train line was not going to get the needed federal funding. “The issue always comes down to the level of public benefit for the level of public financing,” he said.

Rovegno, who sits on Capital Area Transit’s board, said he supports passenger rail service. But he believes it may take a generation or more before the region’s population – 656,000, according to 2007 U.S. census figures – is dense enough to make commuter rail viable for the region.

Until then, Rovegno said he supports efforts by the region’s various bus transit agencies of one day creating an integrated bus system. It’s at this junction that MTP, CAT and the region’s other bus and commuter services have met.

MTP, which sees bus and rail as tandem services, is helping to promote CAT bus ridership (up 2.67 percent, from 2.61 million to 2.68 million between 2010 and 2011), and supports a regional transit system study, expected to be completed this spring.

“We’ve got to build the transit brand first,” Jones said. “You build the need, to show the politicians the need for [commuter rail] funding.”

For now, that means MTP’s chief mission waits at the station. “It’s going to be a long, slow road to bring commuter rail to central Pennsylvania,” said Julie Shade, MTP’s executive director.

That disappoints such longtime supporters as the Cumberland County Coalition for a Sustainable Future, but they remain hopeful, nonetheless.

“It’s needed,” said Ron Skubecz, the coalition’s president. “We think it’s the most forward-thinking idea the county has to consider.”

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America, in a School: Democracy, independence valued at The Circle School.

It’s mid-afternoon on a Thursday, and The Circle School is abuzz.

A teenager has–allegedly–violated a rule, and everyone wants to know what the five-person judicial committee will do.

Will he admit the wrongdoing and accept punishment? Will he plead not guilty and go to trial?

Examples of democracy in action take place every day at The Circle School, an alternative school housed in a 75-year old brick building that once served as the infirmary for the Children’s Home of Harrisburg.

The Circle School is based upon such American concepts as individual freedom and responsibility. And the students-run judicial system–which almost daily judges infractions from chore-shirking to excessive swearing to, well, almost anything–shows how seriously the school takes it dedication to self-determination, fairness and community.

“We want the school to be a scaled-down version of the larger world,” said school co-founder Jim Rietmulder.

Rietmulder helped start The Circle School in 1984 as his own children were preparing to enter the educational system. He considered his options and didn’t like what he found.

“My wife and I looked around the area and said, ‘What are we going to do?'” he said. “For our children, we needed something different.”

So, in typical American fashion, Rietmulder didn’t just accept his bad options.  He started something new.

With several others, he studied what he believed was right—and wrong–with how children were educated in this country.

The shortfalls, they believed, were many, but none stood out so boldly as the stark difference between the way a typical school was run and the way American society operated.

Outside of school, freedom and personal choice were valued. Inside, students were subject to a strict hierarchy and what they considered to be the stifling environment of rule-bound teachers and administrators. How could such a system prepare children–citizens–for life in a democratic society, where freedom, thought and responsible choice must be valued for the country to prosper?

So, after two years of planning, the founders crafted a genuinely unique approach to education–one of the first self-directed schools in the United States.

The old ways were out. At the Circle School, democratic practices would be infused within the fabric of the school, so everyone’s opinion would be encouraged and valued. Students would study what interested them, would intermingle at will and could come and go as they pleased– under the guidance of certified teachers and caring staff.

“It’s really just American government injected into a school,” said Rietmulder.

That approach to learning has remained unchanged for 28 years.

Each day, some 70 students, ranging from pre-K through high school, freely associate, often huddling into small groups to share interests, books, knowledge. The curriculum rarely segregates subjects, so that math, reading and other concepts are learned as an integrated whole.

At The Circle School, responsible choice is paramount. Students energetically pursue their interests, unencumbered by periods and bells. And, if they need to let off steam, they’re free to run around the grounds, a grassy expanse located the top of winding road in Swatara Township.

In the school’s free-form atmosphere, perhaps most striking is its order, as well as its energy.

Sure, there are rules. But students seem to follow them not because of coercion, but because everyone is vested in a well-functioning system. It’s much like the adult world, where most people voluntarily accept ways of behaving so society can operate in a civilized manner.

“The critical-thinking skills, self-motivation and time management that are all inherent to The Circle School’s program are essential to work I’m doing now,” said Austin Vogt, a 2002 graduate now studying for a Ph.D. at Washington University in St. Louis. “I can’t think of a better way to prepare for graduate school.”

There are challenges, Reitmulder says, as, naturally, some children take better to the independence than others. Teenagers who’ve been long-exposed to traditional schools seem to have the most trouble adapting, but, in time, most transition well, he said.

In the end, about 90 percent of students go on to college, with their Circle School experience preparing them perhaps better than their peers for the independence of college life.

“Our students who visit us after they’ve been away at college say they don’t understand their fellow students avoiding class or partying all the time,” he said. “They’ve already done the freedom thing. It’s nothing new to them.”

The Circle School of Harrisburg is at 210 Oakleigh Ave. 717-564-6700; circleschool.org; a program for prospective students will be held March 15 at 6:30 p.m. (details p. 11).

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