Dear Friends of the Baltimore Curriculum Project:
The Baltimore Curriculum Project’s Founding President, Muriel Berkeley, will be retiring this year.
BCP was Muriel’s vision. Motivated by her affection for the City’s public school students and her conviction that a research-based curriculum delivered by well- trained, hard working, highly motivated school personnel is an essential component of a successful school, Muriel has led BCP to where it is today.
Finding a successor for our Founding President will be a difficult task.
A Search Committee has been formed and we have begun advertising for applicants. We are certain that our best chance of finding the perfect person is if people like you, who know BCP, get the word out to friends who might be interested and urge them to apply.
Click here to view the job description (PDF file). It is also posted on our website: www.baltimorecp.org. We are asking that requests for information and applications be sent electronically to bcpsearchcommittee@yahoo.com.
Hats off to Muriel and her amazing tenure with BCP and thanks in advance for your help as we move forward.
George Hess Anne S. Perkins
Chair, Board of Directors Chair, Search Committee
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
BCP Winter 2012 Professional Development Conference
On Thursday, January 26, 2012 BCP hosted its Winter 2012 Professional Development Conference for over 200 teachers from City Springs School, Collington Square School of the Arts, Hampstead Hill Academy, and Wolfe Street Academy.
BCP provides two professional development conferences and several day-long seminars each year. Principals determine their staff training needs and BCP customizes training to meet those needs. BCP also provides training that addresses areas identified by BCP coaches and leadership staff.
Click here to view the event program (PDF file).
A variety of workshops were offered at the Winter Conference including:
- CHAMPS: How to manage difficult kids
- Challenges in Urban Education
- Literacy Centers: Incorporating Literacy Centers into the Primary
Classroom - Maximizing Opportunity to Learn: Engagement Strategies
- Enrichment Activities for DI Lessons
- Effective Firm Up Procedures
- Writing Workshop
- Effective Lesson Planning for All Learning Levels
Keynote Address
Journalist Shepard Barbash delivered the keynote address. Barbash has been a writer for thirty years. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Smithsonian Magazine, City Journal, Education Next and other publications.
He is former bureau chief of the Houston Chronicle in Mexico City and is the author of five books, including Clear Teaching, published in January by the Education Consumers Foundation.
Luncheon Speakers and City Springs Choir
Collington Square School of the Arts Resource Teacher Lauren Bevacqua and City Springs School Para Professional Antoine Lewis delivered talks during lunch. This was followed by a performance of the City Springs School Choir.
Thank you
We would like to thank Hampstead Hill Academy for hosting the 2012 Winter Professional Development Conference and the entire HHA staff for making it a success.
Thank you to Chipotle and ADP for sponsoring the conference.
Thank you to Tara Anderson for organizing the conference and to all of the BCP staff members who helped out: Tilda Johnson, Larry Schugam, and Angela Scott.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
City Springs Restorative Practices Featured on CBS
City Springs School's implementation of Restorative Practices was featured in a January 25th CBS News broadcast.
Restorative Practices is a proactive approach for building a school community based on cooperation, mutual understanding, and respect. Restorative practices provides processes for holding students accountable for their actions and behavior while at the same time building a nurturing school environment.
BCP brought Restorative Practices to its four neighborhood charter schools in 2007 with the support of grants from OSI-Baltimore and the Goldsmith Family Foundation.
Read the article and view the video at:
http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2012/01/25/md-to-reconsider-zero-tolerance-policy-towards-conduct-violations-in-schools/
92Q Jams Supports Collington Square School
On Friday January 25, 2012 Sean and Ian from 92Q Jams visited Collington Square School of the Arts to generate excitement about the school's incentive program for good behavior.
Students in grades three through five earn points for good behavior on their Collington Cards. The points add up to prizes an field trips.
In order to motivate the students, Assistant Principal Bernarda Kwaw invited 92Q to celebrate and shout out to the students who are doing a wonderful job using their Collington Cards.
Thank you to 92Q for supporting Collington Square School of the Arts.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Wolfe Street Receives Lowe's Grant for Living Classroom
The Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation (LCEF) has awarded Wolfe Street Academy a 2011-2012 Lowe's Toolbox for Education grant of $2,000 to support the school's Outdoor Living Classroom Project.
The grant will enable the school to transform an underutilized courtyard into a serene Living Classroom learning environment for students, families and the local community. The courtyard, which currently contains a container garden, will also include benches, raised flower beds, a butterfly garden, a bird bath and feeders.
Teachers will use the University of Maryland Food Supplement Nutrition Education Program's Growing Healthy Habits (GHH) curriculum to provide nutrition education through gardening.
This curriculum was developed specifically for educators in Maryland reaching low-income youth who wish to use gardening as a tool for improving nutrition-related behaviors. GHH was written by Chrissa Carlson, Hampstead Hill Academy's Food for Life Educator.
We would like to thank Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation for supporting our Living Classroom project.
About Lowe’s Toolbox for Education
Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant program is funded by the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation, which has supported thousands of grassroots community and school projects in the communities where Lowe’s does business. Learn More.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
City Springs Sweeps MLK Essay Competition Again
City Springs School has swept the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Writing Competition for the second year in a row. The competition is hosted by the Baltimore Urban Debate League (BUDL) and The Walters Art Museum.
Congratulations to Chelsea Gilmer (4th grade), Charisma Coles (6th grade), and Shardai Little (7th grade) for winning the Elementary and Middle School Divisions. They presented their winning essays at the Walters Art Museum's MLK Jr. Family Festival on January 16th.
The students composed essays about unsung heroes of the civil rights movement; what Dr. Martin Luther King meant to them; and how they want to continue his legacy today.
Last year City Springs School took 1st and 3rd place in the Elementary Division and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in the Middle School Division.
Read the winning essays at:
http://www.baltimorecp.org/docs/MLK12essaywinners.pdf
View of video of Shardai Little reading her essay on the BUDL Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/bmoredebate
About BUDL
The Baltimore Urban Debate League (BUDL) enriches the academic experience of students from Baltimore City's public elementary, middle and high schools through participation in team policy debate. Through debate, students become engaged learners, critical thinkers and citizens and leaders who are effective advocates for themselves and their communities.
http://budl.org/
About The Walters Art Museum
The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland is internationally renowned for its collection of art, which was amassed substantially by two men, William and Henry Walters, and eventually bequeathed to the City of Baltimore. The collection presents an overview of world art from pre-dynastic Egypt to 20th-century Europe, and counts among its many treasures Greek sculpture and Roman sarcophagi; medieval ivories and Old Master paintings; Art Deco jewelry and 19th-century European and American masterpieces.
http://thewalters.org
BCP Featured on Restorative Practices Blog
An article about BCP and Restorative Practices was featured on the Restorative Practices Blog:
In the fall of 2005 Baltimore Curriculum Project (BCP) President Muriel Berkeley attended a workshop at the Maryland Charter School Network Conference that sparked a wholesale transformation of school culture at BCP’s four neighborhood charter schools: City Springs School, Collington Square School of the Arts, Hampstead Hill Academy, and Wolfe Street Academy.Read the full article at:The workshop, led by Tonya Featherston, explored Restorative Practices (RP), a school-culture building approach that promotes positive relationships over punishment.
“RP was just what we were looking for to improve our school climates,” said Dr. Berkeley.
http://blog.iirp.edu/2012/01/baltimore-curriculum-project-and-restorative-practices-transforming-schools-neighborhoods/
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