Frank Hebron had to spend two years in sixth grade because the local black high school was too overcrowded to accept him, his widow said.

Decades later, Hebron will be honored as the second African-American to have an Anne Arundel County school named after him when the doors of Frank Hebron-Harman Elementary School in Hanover open to about 450 students on Thursday.

“He would love it. He would be laughing and giggling, and smiling from ear to ear,” said Hebron’s widow, Irene.

For Hebron’s family, the opening of the new Hanover elementary school is not only an honor, but also history coming full circle.

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“He started [as principal of Harman] in ‘55 when it was new,” said Irene Hebron, adding that he also attended the school that would later become Harman Elementary.

The $18 million new school was needed because the old school was outdated, school officials said. Schools spokesman Bob Mosier said the project came in on budget and on schedule.

According to a fact sheet on the new school, security cameras are both inside and outside the school and each of the classrooms have ceiling-mounted projectors, a wireless microphone system for the hearing impaired, stereo sound systems, DVD and VHS players and six-foot display screens. Teachers will have access to individual laptops, and about 40 laptops have been purchased for group student instruction.

“This is the most technologically advanced school in Anne Arundel County right now,” said Susan Bachman, the school’s principal. “We’re making learning more engaging … and that was what Frank Hebron was all about, quality education.”

Irene Hebron said her husband, who passed away at 75 in 2001, would be pleased to have his name attached to a school that would help students improve their education.

“He loved the students and they loved him,” she said.

After a ribbon cutting ceremony at 9 a.m. today, Frank Hebron-Harmon Elementary School will open for the public to tour at 1 p.m.

mplum@baltimoreexaminer.com