Nancy Grasmick Visits Govans Elementary for Ben Carson Reading Day

BCP and Govans Elementary​ would like to thank former Maryland State Superintendent Dr. Nancy Grasmick​ for serving as the guest reader at Govans Elementary School for the Ben Carson Reading Day on November 16, 2015.

Ben Carson Reading Day is an annual literacy event designed to raise awareness of the importance of everyday leisure reading.

Special thanks to the Carson Scholars Fund​ and Bank of America​ for creating the Carson Reading Room at Govans Elementary, which opened in 2011.

View the video at: http://www.abc2news.com/news/education/baltimore-schools-celebrate-reading-with-ben-carson-reading-day

For more information about the Carson Scholars Fund visit: http://carsonscholars.org/

Open Society Foundations Global Board Visits City Springs Elementary/Middle School

A group from the Open Society Foundations Global Board visited City Springs Elementary/Middle School on October 8, 2015.

The school was included on the tour because, in addition to being a BCP conversion charter school, City Springs is a Community School and the Open Society Foundations support Community Schools.

Child First Authority serves as City Springs' lead Community School Agency and Child First Community School Coordinator Abby Baldwin oversees the implementation of the Community School strategy at the City Springs. The strategy is supported by a generous grant from the Family League of Baltimore.

Joining Karen Webber from the Open Society Institute-Baltimore office for the tour was Director Diana Morris, who organized the site visit for Open Society Foundation’s regional Global Directors, who were in Baltimore for a senior management subcommittee meeting.

The group included Kenneth Zimmerman, Director of U.S. Programs, under which OSI-Baltimore falls. The other directors in attendance were from initiatives in Eurasia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa. Each director manages a vast breadth of social justice related initiatives specific to the region, education included.

BCP and City Springs would like to thank the Open Society Foundation for visiting our school. For more information about the Open Society Foundations visit: https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/

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

City Springs Teachers Win 2015 Engelmann Excellence in Education Awards

City Springs Elementary/Middle School Pre-K teachers Nicole Lefrancois, Mallory Davis and Mindy Cipriano received Engelmann Excellence in Education awards at the 2015 National Direct Instruction Conference.

These three teachers have served their careers at City Springs. Fifty-nine percent (59%) of their most recent group of students were in the high risk category at the beginning of the year. By the end of the year, only 23% remained in that category. In math, 83% of the students were at risk for failure at the beginning of last year. By the end of the year the number had decreased to 32%.

Laura Doherty, President and CEO of the Baltimore Curriculum Project writes, "These three teachers exemplify the skill and intensity in instruction which is critical to helping students at risk of academic failure compete with their middle class peers. They also exemplify the warm, nurturing, positive environment all students deserve."

BCP would like to congratulate Ms. Lefrancois, Ms. Davis and Ms. Cipriano on this recognition of their outstanding accomplishments.

For more information about the National Direct Instruction Conference and the National Institute for Direct Instruction visit: http://nifdi.org/