BCP Schools Selected for MissionSpring Fundraising Training

Two BCP Schools, City Springs School and Wolfe Street Academy, have been selected to participate in the inaugural class of MissionSpring, a yearlong, professional fundraising training academy being offered to Baltimore City’s charter, transformation, and innovation schools.

The program is sponsored by Supporting Public Schools of Choice, a project of the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers, and led by Sangha Solutions and Jump Start Growth, Inc.

MissionSpring provides participating schools with the tools, knowledge, and confidence they need to build and sustain an individual giving program.

The inaugural class of MissionSpring (2012) includes the following schools: Baltimore Community High School, Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women, Bluford Drew Jemison STEM Academy, City Neighbors Foundation, City Springs School, Midtown Academy, Patterson Park Public Charter School, Southwest Baltimore Charter School, and Wolfe Street Academy.

We would like to thank Supporting Public Schools of Choice, Sangha Solutions, and Jump Start Growth, Inc. for making this opportunity available to our schools.

Hampstead Hill Academy November Newsletter

HHA Ribbon Cutting Ceremony - 11/5/2011
(left to right) City Councilman Jim Kraft, HHA Principal Matt Hornbeck,
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, BCP President Muriel Berkeley
and City Schools CEO Andres Andres Alonso

Read Hampstead Hill Academy's November 2011 newsletter at: http://www.baltimorecityschools.org/domain/5760

This edition features:

• Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Pre-Kindergarten Addition
• Senator Barbara A. Mikulski Tours HHA
• American Education Week Events
• International Night
  

MECU Supports Leading Minds Forum

MECU has awarded BCP a grant of $500 to support our 2011 Leading Minds Forum, The Impact of Poverty on Education, to be held on September 22nd at Loyola University Maryland.

For years, MECU has been demonstrating its commitment to the community by supporting non-profit agencies in their quest to improve the quality of life for residents of our city.

We'd like to thank MECU for their support.

BCP President on Poverty and Education in Colesville Patch

BCP President Muriel Berkeley and Chief Academic Officer Jon McGill comment on poverty and education in the Colesville Patch.

“The research that suggests that FARMS kids pull down the others is only true if the school isn’t good to begin with,” said Dr. Muriel Berkeley, president of the Baltimore Curriculum Project, a non-profit that conducts research on poverty and education and operates charter schools in Baltimore City.

“This issue across the country of parents getting worried because there’s a change in demographics and they think because there’s a sprinkling of poor kids coming in that it’s going to have a really negative impact,” Berkeley’s colleague, Jon McGill, chief academic officer at the project says. “The research suggests that that’s only true if there’s a problem with the school before those kids ever got there.”

Read the full article at: http://patch.com/A-j3kG

US Tennis at Hampstead Hill Academy

Over 400 students from Hampstead Hill Academy enjoyed a taste of tennis at today's school outing in Patterson Park. Staff and volunteers from the United States Tennis Association (USTA) showed up in force to introduce students to this engaging sport.

Students participated in a variety of drills that got them smiling and excited about the game. USTA's "10 and Under Tennis" initiative, using the QuickStart Tennis play format, uses balls that are easier to hit, smaller rackets, and smaller courts than adult tennis. All of this equals more fun and less frustration.

Next school year a partnership between USTA, Friends of Patterson Park, and the Baltimore Curriculum Project will bring tennis to all four BCP schools through physical education, after school clubs, and an intramural tennis league planned for spring 2012.

We would like to thank Marc Kantrowitz (President, USTA Mid-Atlantic/Maryland), Lynn Gertzog (Tennis Service Representative, USTA Mid-Atlantic/Maryland), Geri Swann (Community Outreach Coordinator, Hampstead Hill Academy), Tim Almaguer (Executive Director, Friends of Patterson Park), Katie Long (Recreational/Program Coordinator, Friends of Patterson Park), and all of the USTA staff and volunteers for making this event possible.

Hampstead Hill Fundraiser on March 26th

Hampstead Hill Academy will hold a fundraiser, B3- Bingo, Beer, & a Band, on Saturday March 26, 2011 from 7:00pm - 11:00pm at 500 S. Linwood Ave, Baltimore, MD 21224.

Admission is $15 and bingo cards, beer and soft drinks will be available for purchase. B3 is an over-21 event. Tickets are available from Cathy Wolkow (wolkowca@gmail.com, 443-803-6081) or Erin Taylor Bell (etaylorbell@gmail.com)

BCP Featured at Restorative Practices Conference

BCP President Dr. Muriel Berkeley and City Springs School Principal Rhonda will be featured speakers at the 2011 IIRP Summer Symposium, Tuesday–Thursday, August 2–4, 2011 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

TURNING THE TIDE: a participatory symposium on bringing restorative practices to schools, organizations, workplaces and communities will include three days of speakers, panels, videos, and restorative circles.

Dr. Berkeley will talk about the restorative practices implementations at BCP neighborhood charter schools. Principal Richetta will talk about the Whole School Restorative Practices implementation at City Springs School.

For more information visit: http://www.iirp.org/event_detail.php?event_id=NTY=

Canton Railroad Helps Hampstead Hill

Hampstead Hill Academy and the Baltimore Curriculum Project would like to thank the Canton Railroad Company for their recent, generous donation of school supplies. Canton Railroad President John Magness and Vice-President Diane Abate dropped off enough supplies to last the rest of the school year including filler paper, spiral notebooks, composition books, pencils, pens, glue sticks, and a host of other items.

The Canton Railroad Company is an Industrial Switching Carrier located in East Baltimore City and County, Maryland. They have a long standing partnership with Hampstead Hill Academy and provide significant support for the Spectacular Express Program, which celebrates good students deeds and citizenship.

School Board Acknowledges Impressive Achievement at City Springs

At Wednesday's City School Board Meeting, board members cited City Springs School's outstanding academic achievement (an increase in state math test proficiency from 34 percent to 64 percent in five years) and the pressure put on teachers by No Child Left Behind.

Read more at: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bs-md-ci-alternative-governance-20110309,0,4059925.story

BCP President Muriel Berkeley Speaks at Kellogg Forum

On Friday March 4th BCP President Muriel Berkeley participated in a panel on school and community engagement at the Kellogg Fellows Leadership Alliance's 2011 Forum. As a neighborhood charter school operator, BCP works collaboratively with schools and communities to improve public education. The panel was convened by Dr. Sam Stringfield and included representatives from diverse school reform advocacy groups.

For more information on the Forum visit: http://www.kfla.org/programs/?p=p&c=194

Hampstead Hill Academy Featured on DBFA Blog

Claudia Towles, Vice President of the Downtown Baltimore Family Alliance (DBFA), shares her experience sending her son Sebastian to Hampstead Hill Academy on the DBFA Blog:

http://www.dbfamblog.org/blog/2011/3/2/school-days-hampstead-hill-academy.html

We'd like to thank Claudia and DBFA for everything they do to support BCP schools.

Collington Square MLK Celebration on 2/24

Join the students and staff of Collington Square School of the Arts for a Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration on Thursday, February 24, 2011 from 5:30pm - 6:30pm. The event will feature the wonderful arts programs at Collington Square including music and dance. At 6:30pm Elev8 Baltimore will host a Family Fun Night. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Maryland will be presenting a workshop on Gang Awareness.

Collington Square School of the Arts is located at 1409 North Collington Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21213-3418.

For more information email bcpinfo@baltimorecp.org

Hampstead Hill Garden Featured in University of MD Video

A recent video by The University of Maryland Extension's Home and Garden Information Center features Hampstead Hill Academy's organic garden. Chrissa Carlson, the Garden and Nutrition Educator at Hampstead Hill, shows us the steps needed to start a school garden.

View the video at http://tinyurl.com/hhagarden01

BCP Hosts Delegation from South and Central America

On January 21st the Baltimore Curriculum Project hosted a delegation of nine teachers and administrators from South and Central America who are traveling throughout the U.S. on a three-week program entitled Primary and Secondary Education: Preparing Students for Success and Citizenship.

The program, arranged by the World Trade Center Institute, explores the role education plays in strengthening the civic principles that are the foundation of U.S. society. The visitors came to Maryland to participate in an in-depth investigation of the school system in Baltimore and its steady and consistent path towards effective learning through its recent reform.

The Baltimore Curriculum Project engaged the delegation in a discussion about charter schools and our work converting traditional public schools into neighborhood charter schools. Three U.S. Department interpreters acted as translators during the discussion.

BCP was proud to host educators from Argentina, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay and Peru. Last year BCP hosted a tour of Hampstead Hill Academy for a delegation from Vietnam.

We would like to thank the World Trade Center Institute, Janine Downey, and all of the delegates for the wonderful visit.

About the World Trade Center Institute
The World Trade Center Institute (WTCI) is the largest international business network of its kind in the Mid-Atlantic – a who’s who of the top global business executives in the region. At WTCI we strive to drive the growth of Maryland’s flourishing global business community. Today more than 2,500 Maryland firms benefit from WTCI’s global connections, events, and extensive international business services. WTCI was established in 1989. Financed jointly by area businesses and the State of Maryland, WTCI operates as a private, non-profit membership organization.
For more information visit: https://www.wtci.org/

City Springs Sweeps MLK Essay Contest

City Springs School took 1st and 3rd place in the Elementary Division and 1st, 2nd, AND 3rd place in the Middle School Division in the Baltimore Urban Debate League's (BUDL) Martin Luther King Day Essay Writing Contest.

Congratulations to City Springs' Elementary winners: Rykeria Crowell (1st Place) and Darren Meredith (3rd Place); and Middle School winners: Quenetta Williams (1st Place), Shardai Little (2nd Place), and N’Dia Langhorn (3rd Place).

BUDL hosted the MLK essay contest for their debaters in partnership with the Walters Art Museum. Authors of the winning submissions will have the opportunity to read their essays in public at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Family Festival at the Walters Art Museum on MLK Day, January 17, 2010. Students will receive an award from the Walters Art Musem along with the honor of speaking.

Read the winning essays at: http://www.baltimorecp.org/mlk2011.pdf

Ravens Treat City Springs Students to Play 60 Game

The Baltimore Ravens have invited four City Springs School students to attend the Ravens’ Play 60 game on Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010. Kaye Marie Lumayog, Joion Murphy, Desire Duzant, and Tra’kia Jackson were winners of the Amazing Race - Ravens Style, which was held at the Maryland Zoo.

"As the winners of our Amazing Race -- Ravens Style on Tuesday, Oct. 19, we know that... [these students] are extremely fit and worthy of such a reward," said Melanie LeGrande, Baltimore Ravens Director of Community Relations.

The students will be part of the in-game execution of the Ravens’ Play 60 program. Play 60 is the NFL’s movement for an active generation, encouraging youth to get active at least 60 minutes every day.

Each winning student will receive one ticket to the Ravens vs. Buccaneers game on Nov. 28 and be part of a pre-game, on-field experience. Each student will receive a Play 60 jersey and Play 60 shorts/sweats to be worn during the pre-game, when the students will join seven other local students and stand alongside Ravens players as they ready for the game.

We would like thank the Ravens for everything they do to support our schools.

Collington Square Teacher Koli Tengella Receives OSI Fellowship

Collington Square School theater arts teacher Koli Tengella has been awarded one of seven 2010 OSI-Baltimore Fellowships. Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/tengella-osi

Hampstead Hill Academy Featured on WJZ

Hampstead Hill Academy's outstanding Food for Life program is featured in an article about childhood obesity on WJZ:

http://wjz.com/local/obesity.childhood.Baltimore.2.1998304.html

Collington Square School Featured in Examiner

Collington Square School and Collington's new principal, Etta Johnson, are featured in this recent Baltimore Examiner article:

http://tinyurl.com/examiner110510

Wolfe Street Academy Featured in City Paper

Today's Baltimore City Paper features Wolfe Street Academy's outstanding Community School program in an article about Baltimore Community Schools:
http://citypaper.com/news/class-struggle-1.1057922