Village Parents to Present Series of Five Discussions on Urban Education

Charles Village’s new parents’ organization, The Village Parents, is proud to present School Daze: Five Conversations on Urban Education in the Nation, in the City, and in the Neighborhood. The panel discussion series, co-sponsored by Greater Homewood Community Corporation, Loyola University’s School of Education, and Barclay and Margaret Brent Elementary Schools, will feature local education experts discussing the academic and social issues facing today's urban schools.

Please join us for the first event of the series, The State of Urban Education in America, on February 22, 7:00 p.m., at Barclay Elementary School.    Peter C. Murrell, Jr., Dean of Loyola University Maryland’s School of Education, together with professors Robert Simmons and Stephanie Flores-Koulish, will address the challenges and opportunities facing students and teachers in today’s city schools. They’ll discuss the implications of federal academic policies for both urban students and their suburban counterparts, and why city schools often suffer more from a perception problem than an actual content deficiency.  Refreshments will be served.

The series will continue with a second panel discussion on March 22 at Margaret Brent Elementary School. Former elementary school principals Gertrude Williams (Barclay Elementary School) and Mariale Hardiman (Roland Park Elementary School), along with Charles Village community leaders Jo Ann Robinson, Karen Cook and Dorris McElroy, will share how they worked to reverse the middle-class trend of rejecting neighborhood public schools in favor of private or charter schools. For details on these and the rest of the panel discussions, please visit the Village Parents website.

About the Village Parents

The Village Parents is a group of families working to enhance Charles Village’s family-friendly offerings. They're devoted to building a strong community among families by creating more children’s activities, investing in the local parks and playgrounds, and advocating for competitive, high-quality public schools. Please find them online atwww.charlesvillageparents.org and join their mailing list.