USDA Under Secretary Kevin Concannon Visits Hampstead Hill Academy

Under Secretary Concannon chats with an HHA student giving
visitors a tour of the school's organic garden

Hampstead Hill Academy hosted a visit with Kevin Concannon, Under Secretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, on September 25, 2015.

Undersecretary Concannon, Delegate Keith E. Haynes, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Baltimore City Public Schools CEO Gregory Thornton and other attendees toured the school's organic garden and sampled food prepared by students in HHA's Food for Life Program.

Food for Life is run by HHA Food Educator Ariel Demas and is regarded as a national model for food education in public schools. Food for Life uses the Food is Elementary curriculum, which was developed by the Food Studies Institute (http://www.foodstudies.org/)

House Ways & Means Committee Visits Wolfe Street Academy

Thank you to Chair Sheila E. Hixson and the rest of the House Ways & Means Committee members who visited Wolfe Street Academy (WSA) on September 29, 2015 to learn about the Community Schools Strategy and Out-of-School-Time program at WSA.

Thank you also to the University of Maryland Social Work Community Outreach Service (SWCOS), Family League of Baltimore, The After-School Corporation (TASC) and The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation for supporting WSA.

Educators from Bosnia and Herzegovina Visit City Springs

A delegation of educators and government officials from Bosnia and Herzegovina visited City Springs Middle/Elementary School to learn about the BCP education model on October 1, 2015.

The World Trade Center Institute coordinated the visit and the delegation was invited to the United States under the auspices of the Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program.

The Department of State wanted to introduce the delegation to the Baltimore Curriculum Project’s objectives and mission as well as its efforts to incorporate student-focused learning. The delegates learned about the various programs that BCP engages in during the school year in order to maintain student progress, address teacher challenges, and encourage an overall school improvement. They also learned about BCP’s education a model of providing an exceptional learning experience for all children.

BCP would like to thank World Trade Center Institute and the State Department for always bringing such wonderful educators from around the world to visit our schools.

U.S. Department of Education Awards BCP $217,000 Charter School Program Grant

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded the Baltimore Curriculum Project a grant of $217,000 through its Charter Schools Program (CSP), which funds the creation and expansion of public charter schools across the nation. (Total recommended funding is $282,720.)

This year's CSP replication and expansion program will invest more than $32 million in 12 high-quality charter management organizations (CMOs) that serve students from low-income families.

BCP will use this funding to support the implementation of its education model at Govans Elementary School. which became a BCP conversion charter school on July 1, 2015.

BCP is one of 12 grantees across the nation. Other grantees include: Achievement First, Across the Bridge Foundation, Einstein Group, Inc., Lawndale Educational and Regional Network, Mastery Charter High School, Noble Network of Charter Schools, RePublic Schools, Success Academy Charter Schools, UP Education Network, Uplift Education and West Denver Prep DBA STRIVE Preparatory Schools.

These organizations have a history of effectively serving high-need students, and will use these funds to replicate their successful programming for more than 40,000 additional students.

Most of this year's grantees are newer CMOs who are receiving their first charter grant. They are particularly focused on educating students who would otherwise be enrolled in low-performing schools and on encouraging diversity within their student populations.

Read more at: http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-contributes-improving-charter-schools-sector