Building Capacity in Baltimore Schools

Every winter, education advocates across Maryland hit the streets to educate parents and residents on funding cuts on the table for their neighborhood schools.

The Baltimore Education Coalition (BEC) is made up of organizations from across Baltimore City that improve public schools. GHCC was a founding member of the BEC when it formed in 2009, together with organizations like BUILD, Child First Authority, and the ACLU of Maryland.

Jimmy Stuart is an AmeriCorps*VISTA member working in Success Academy, an alternative high school located at the Baltimore City Schools headquarters on North Avenue. As a VISTA, Jimmy is building sustainability in Success Academy’s programs—he sees firsthand how important adequate funding is to maintaining good schools. VISTA guidelines dictate that Jimmy can’t join BEC, but he can help lay the foundation for an active and engaged group of city residents and parents. Today we caught up with Jimmy to ask him about his work.

You’re an AmeriCorps*VISTA member—what does this mean in terms of restrictions on your personal involvement in advocacy efforts?

As a VISTA, I’m prevented from doing anything that ties the VISTA name or image to a political cause. In my project this year, I’m improving the quality and sustainability of programs provided to students at Success Academy, an alternative high school run by Baltimore City Schools. I’m involved with the BEC because funding for schools is directly tied to the goals of my project. In that capacity, I can inform people in the community about how to get involved with this work. I can talk about the BEC, help run meetings, and organize actions. But the actions themselves have to come from BEC members, not me. Simply put, I can tell people how to get to the bus to Annapolis, but I can’t get on the bus myself.

Your role is all about giving others a voice and making sure Baltimore’s citizens are engaged in the legislative process. How does this make you feel at the end of the day? Do you prefer empowering others over being on the front lines, or is it a struggle not to get your hands dirty?

Even if I was doing direct advocacy, the work would be pointless if we weren’t focused on informing others so they know what it means to be advocates for themselves. The need is too great for anyone to do this alone—Baltimore needs a loud, strong voice for our schools. Funding for education affects me, but many other people in this city are closer to the issue than I am. Providing people who are closest to the problem with the information to affect change is going to yield far better results than anything I could do on my own.

Sure, I’ll be disappointed I can’t get on the buses to Annapolis with our community members. But the experience of inspiring people and getting them to that point is something that I’ll carry with me much longer than that momentary disappointment.           

What is your favorite aspect of GHCC’s advocacy work? What have you learned during your tenure here?

What I appreciate most about GHCC’s advocacy work is our awareness of the many different issues affect each other and affect our work. Advocacy often gets broken down into smaller and smaller compartments—you meet people who are passionate about one issue, and one issue only. At GHCC, there’s an understanding that many issues affect our work, and if we want to do our work well, we can’t just plug away on one of them. It all matters.

The quality of our public schools affects us all. Sometimes we think that funding for schools only matters if those schools educate our own children or cut our paychecks. Excellent public schools are critical to building strong and vibrant urban communities. Every family should be excited about sending their children to their neighborhood school. If we want people to invest in this city—to buy and care for a home, to open a quality business, to get involved in their community—we need strong public schools.

Give us a little background on the current education funding crisis and how BEC is trying to help.

It’s an unfortunate fact, but each year school communities are challenged to do more and more with less and less. The state proposes cuts every year, but the cuts this year could be worse than the city has seen in a long time. Not only could the city lose a significant amount of direct funding for schools, but there is a push at the state level to transfer the cost of teacher pensions from the state to local school districts—an incredible expense for city schools to take on.

The state of Maryland is facing a $1.6 billion budget shortfall—a hole in state spending that has been plugged up by stimulus money for the last two years. There is going to be enormous pressure within the state legislature to cut spending—including spending for schools—when the budget is introduced in January.

           

For this coming budget session, the BEC has three goals: to maintain current funding for Baltimore City Public Schools; to get elected officials to develop a comprehensive funding plan for the school facilities improvement plan proposed by the ACLU; and to encourage Baltimore’s delegates to work better together on protecting our schools.  

Tell us a little bit about the advocacy training on Thursday. What do you hope people will come away with?

The event on Thursday is a workshop and action. We have targeted key leaders in our school communities to attend the event. We hope to provide them with a clear sense of the potential funding crisis, and to collaborate on how to get people from our communities involved in preventing cuts and improving school facilities. The event will also be an opportunity to celebrate our schools and to get people fired up about our work.

The pressure to cut funding is going to be very strong this year, and those cuts could be devastating for our public schools. I hope people walk away with a sense of hopeful urgency—that it can be done, but it will require all the strength we can muster to do it.

If you are interested in attending the workshop and action at Digital Harbor High School this Thursday, or learning more about the work of the Baltimore Education Coalition, please contact Jimmy at 410.929.3657 or jstuart@greaterhomewood.org. 

VISTA Spotlight: Andrew Stiller

Know someone interested in making positive changes in the world? GHCC is seeking qualified candidates for our nationally-renowned AmeriCorps*VISTA program.  Sign on for a year of service with us and receive health benefits, a modest living allowance, and an end-of-service education award.  We have 10 positions available to start in August 2010 in the areas of improving public schools, strengthening neighborhoods, and adult literacy.

We'll be featuring several VISTA stories in the coming weeks to raise awareness of national service.

Want to know more? Visit our website!

Submitted by Andrew Stiller

I never thought my time as a VISTA member would land me in front of a room of civil servants while being webcast live across the United States. But then again, I didn’t really know what to expect.

Though my parents tried to instill a sense of civic pride and responsibility in me, it didn’t really stick until I got to college. Community service was part of my middle and high school curriculum, but we never embraced it because it was forced upon us. Teenage angst and rebellion almost required that I scoff at being forced to clean streets.

Luckily, that all changed. As an undergraduate at Dickinson College I joined the event planning organization, a service-oriented club called the Keystones, and a traditional Greek fraternity. Surprisingly, I had a better service experience motivating the Greek men to roll out of their beds for philanthropy on Sunday morning than I did with the Keystones. I realized I could affect more change by motivating and teaching others. This was my philosophy throughout college.

After graduation, I was applying for policy-oriented jobs and anything else I could find. I was really lucky to be turned on to the AmeriCorps* VISTA program, and when a position opened up at GHCC, I jumped at the opportunity. VISTA reflected the ideals and methods I adopted in college.

My role as Community Connections Coordinator at GHCC immersed me in a Baltimore City public school community, working with parents and administrators at the school and a variety of partner institutions in the neighborhood. It became apparent early on that true success would be measured by how much buy-in I could get from the parents and the community. A large part of my responsibility would be motivating parents, churches, businesses, neighborhood institutions, and local colleges and universities to invest in Waverly Elementary/Middle School.

I had an opportunity to articulate my experiences when representatives from the Department of Education and the White House’s Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships came to Waverly to discuss partnership building. I don’t remember saying a lot, but it must have stuck with them. A few months later, I was asked to give a presentation on my role as a VISTA member to the Department of Education in Washington, D.C. A briefing had been scheduled to discuss the possible collaborative efforts between the Department of Education and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). As a VISTA member working primarily with schools, I was located at the epicenter of this relationship.

I felt really honored to present on my VISTA experience. I found that the hardest part was limiting the length of my speech. GHCC’s VISTA members wear many different hats on a daily basis: organizer, capacity builder, mediator, teacher—the list is almost limitless. It was really difficult to put it all these amazing experiences into words. I worked on my speech up until the night before, trying to find the right word to express how it felt to see a parent step up to participate at the school.

When I spoke, though, I was confident. The audience was attentive and after two PowerPoint presentations from officials at CNCS, I think my firsthand experience was a useful counterpoint. I spoke about the day to day things, my major accomplishments, and ways any VISTA member can positively change a school. Regardless of my pre-speech jitters and what I had written down, I found that speaking about my VISTA year was actually quite easy. I think the reason is simple: I became a VISTA to help motivate others, yet it was their efforts in return that motivated me even more. I am now just as invested as anyone else in Waverly Elementary/Middle School and its surrounding community. I hope that means my job has come full circle. 

A Look Inside Remington Homework Club

GHCC believes in strong faith-based partnerships, meaningful opportunities for youth, and neighborhood residents committed to making a difference.  This is why we're happy to share with you a little bit about the Remington Homework Club, a tutoring program that meets at Church of the Guardian Angel in Remington.

Submitted  by Rebekah Lin

The Remington Homework Club (HWC) was founded several years ago by the Church of the Guardian Angel on 27th and Huntingdon in Remington. The idea was to provide children and youth in the neighborhood with a place to go for homework help. We are funded by a grant from the Episcopal diocese, and over the years we've built up a base of volunteers and others who participate in a variety of ways. Currently, HWC meets from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. every Monday at the church. On any given week, we have about 20 students and 15 tutors.

I have been involved with HWC since September 2007. I started as a tutor – I found a posting online calling for tutors, and the time and location worked well with my work schedule at the time. I had just graduated from JHU was working at a publishing company, but had a feeling I was more interested in working with kids/youth than I was in proofreading and correcting grammar. I have since switched jobs to a nonprofit that works with after-school programs. I don’t know if I have tangible reasons for staying so committed to HWC, but I know it gives me a chance to put into practice much of what I talk about at work, and a chance to see firsthand how volunteers from the community can truly have a positive impact on Baltimore’s youth (as corny as that may sound).

In January 2008, I became the Director, and have been ever since. My main responsibilities are to recruit tutors and to take care of the logistics of our Monday night meetings. Most of the tutors are young professionals who have heard about us in a variety of ways (mainly online or by word of mouth), but we also have a relationship with two student groups at Hopkins, which provides an additional five tutors. The logistics for our meetings include soliciting volunteers to donate dinner, setting up the space, purchasing needed supplies, setting the calendar, etc.

Most of the students at HWC come from within a few blocks of the church. The handful that don’t live within four or five blocks either used to, or have family that does. Our current grade range is second through tenth, so most of the students attend Margaret Brent Elementary/Middle. The older students attend high schools across the city, including Western, Digital Harbor, and Mergenthaler.

Two HWC high school students with award certificates.  HWC holds an awards ceremony every December and May.

Since I started with HWC, our attendance has doubled. Beyond this growth, my biggest goal has been to stress the importance of coming every week – to both students and tutors. As we’ve been able to have more and more consistent tutor/student pairs, nearly everything – from attendance to behavior to my stress levels – has improved. The pairs that have been together since the beginning of this school year, if not last school year, are absolutely the most successful. The importance of these relationships is the root of HWC’s biggest successes and biggest challenges. It is incredible to see students get excited every week to see their tutors. It is rewarding to see the relationships develop. And it is trying to see students disappointed when their tutor doesn’t come, or tutors struggling to form a relationship with a different student every week, because the students don’t come back.

Tutors and students help cook a snack at HWC.

Every week, at least one student tells me that HWC needs to meet every day, or at least more than once a week. This reminds me that the work we do matters and is appreciated, and also reminds me of the limits of our resources. Every week, I see more and more students becoming comfortable with their tutors as well as with me, more and more students getting older and more mature, and more and more tutors becoming invested in what HWC does.

HWC is always looking for additional volunteers as well as people willing to donate a dinner (we have a full dinner every week, from 6:00-6:30) or other needed supplies. To learn more, contact Rebekah at rlin10@gmail.com. 

Community Involvement and Urban Education: A Labor of Love

Submitted by Laura Scott, Charles Village resident and parent.

GHCC has been promoting Charles Village public schools with support from a neighborhood-school partnership grant from the Goldseker Foundation.  This work-- including parent focus groups -- inspired a few families to start the Village Parents, an organization dedicated to increasing family-friendly options in Charles Village.  Here, Laura Scott talks about her journey from an expectant mother buying a home in the city to a neighborhood leader championing great urban public schools.

When my husband and I moved to Charles Village in late 2008, part of the draw of the neighborhood was the close-knit community. We had visions of building friendships with neighbors and getting involved with community associations.  However, starting an entirely new organization, particularly one geared toward people in one of the most intimidating life stages we could imagine – young parenthood (I was pregnant at the time) – was nowhere near the top of our list of priorities.

We loved city living and loved what we knew of Charles Village, but as we were looking for the perfect home, we couldn’t escape the question of where we’d send our daughter to school in five years. Like many people, we were influenced by the conventional wisdom that city schools could never offer the quality of education we would want for our child.

I wasn’t satisfied that public city schools were an impossibility for us, and we bought our house while our questions about the state of the schools were still unanswered. Even if it was true that the schools were providing sub-standard education to their students, we didn’t feel we had the right to flee to private schools or the suburbs for our own piece of mind without learning first if there was something we could do to help. If the schools had to be improved in some ways, how better to make that happen than by getting personally involved with our children? Yet at the same time, we didn’t want to put our own child on the line for the sake of our idealistic agenda. We realized that if we were going to have a shot at bringing about any change, we would need others to do it with us.

Through conversations with neighbors, I learned that another Abell resident, Jo Ann Robinson, had been part of a movement in Charles Village in the 1970s to do exactly what I was envisioning. In passing, I shared with Greater Homewood Community Corporation (GHCC) staff at the Abell Street Fair last September how much I admired Jo Ann’s efforts, and soon thereafter was invited to join a parents’ focus group at GHCC to discuss the public schools and why parents would or wouldn’t send their kids there.  The points that came out of that meeting were used by GHCC in its application for the Goldseker Foundation’s Neighborhood-School Partnership Grant on behalf of Barclay and Margaret Brent schools. 

It was enlightening to learn about others’ perspectives, but even more, it was encouraging to find that one other parent, Laura Wexler, was asking the same questions I was. Coincidentally, we crossed paths the very next day at a newly begun playgroup and started to exchange ideas.  Our combined vision was to begin a parents’ organization that would develop within the context of social community while also setting specific goals to make the neighborhood more “family friendly,” with school involvement a top priority. A few weeks later we gathered a group of parents who wanted to help establish our mission and goals, and the Village Parents was born.

Laura and I have learned quickly that starting a new organization is not easy. Goals must start small and be very tangible. The kinds of community needs we can address aren’t always apparent, and we have to wait for something meaningful to arise (recently, for example, we were presented with the opportunity to buy custom benches for the Abell Open Space). Our ideas often tend not to lend themselves easily to delegation, and so we often just tackle them ourselves. Sometimes hours of legwork turns out a negligible result. It has become more or less a part-time job for me, and as a stay-at-home mom, I usually devote my daughter’s nap time to Village Parents projects.

Although it’s been hard to pin down a singular focus and figure out how to recruit volunteers for specific projects, we have gained some momentum in creating events to bring parents and other community members together to give them an opportunity to engage in the schools. Most recently, we have been hosting a series of panel discussions featuring members of the educational community who share about issues in urban education, types of teaching styles, and success stories in city schools. Although our School Daze series has so far proven to be more appealing to the community than our target audience – parents of school-age or younger children – we see it as an opportunity to establish ourselves as an asset to the community that will deliver a product and not just talk theory.

We envision Charles Village becoming a magnet neighborhood one day for families who are attracted by the diversity of residents; strong community among people of different ethnicities, cultures, and demographics; and strong public schools. But we’re certain this vision won’t be accomplished until the families who are here now make it a priority to share this vision and help us work toward it. A desire for community will inherently build a community. Right now it’s our job to fuel the desire.

The Village Parents are hosting the second in a series of five public panel discussions on the state of urban education tonight at Margaret Brent Elementary/Middle School.  If you can, come out between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. for a memorable conversation with community leaders who have dared to make a difference.

Education Advocates Rally in Annapolis for School Funding

Submitted by Katie Lautar.

Many thanks to Katie for capturing many, many video clips of individuals at last night's rally.  This is just the beginning, but it tells some individual stories about why Greater Homewood parents, residents, and education advocates believe Baltimore City Schools are worth supporting.

Over 600 people showed up at a Baltimore Education Coalition rally in Annapolis to demand that Baltimore City Schools stay fully funded though budget hearings which threaten to cut education funding.  Parents, teachers, students, and administrators gathered to voice their support of Baltimore City Schools and its students.  Education supporters of all ages and a variety of backgrounds could be heard shouting “We Believe!”  Delegates who formerly supported cutting the City Schools budget committed themselves to defending funding.  Let’s hold them accountable for supporting an educational system we all can believe in.  For regular updates on upcoming efforts to support Baltimore City Schools, check in with Baltimore Education Coalition's official Facebook group.

Baltimore Algebra Project Organizes Rally for Youth Opportunities

Spring is on the way!  How do we know? We're hearing about education advocates planning rallies, bus rides to Annapolis, and petitions to keep education funding cuts at bay as state lawmakers craft their budgets.  One such organization is the Baltimore Algebra Project, a student-run and -organized program founded to provide math tutoring to elementary and middle school students.  The group also advocates for public education funding and an end to the "school to prison pipeline."

Governor O'Malley has proposed to spend $280 million to construct three new detention facilities for youth tried as adults and women.  On Thursday, March 4, the Baltimore Algebra Project, Peer-to-Peer organizations, and several other advocacy and activist groups are organizing a rally to demand that $100 million be diverted youth employment opportunities.  This "March on Youth Jails" will occur from 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. at Camden Yards.  For more information, visit the official Facebook group (Prison is the 13^th Grade) or event page (March on Youth Jails).  

The Harlem Children’s Zone — Can it Happen in Baltimore?

Join the Greater Homewood Interfaith Alliance on January 21 at Bolton Street Synangogue for an evening of sprited discussion about the most comprehensive and revolutionary effort to end childhood poverty.

The discussion will be led by New York Times Magazine Editor and Author of Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America.

Whatever it Takes tells the true story of Geoffrey Canada, the creator of the Harlem Children’s Zone, an audacious attempt to increase opportunities for poor children by changing everything in their lives — their schools, their neighborhoods, and even the child-rearing practices of their parents.

Recently featured on CBS’ 60 Minutes and in Urbanite Magazine, Geoffrey Canada’s approach to fighting inner-city poverty has attracted attention and praise from policymakers and educators across the political spectrum—including President Obama, who has pledged federal funding to support the replication of Canada’s ideas through the creation of Promise Neighborhoods throughout the nation.

THIS EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Doors open at 6:30 with opportunities to talk with representatives from Baltimore-area organizations working on poverty and education reform.

Please visit our website or Facebook event for more details.

American Education Week at Guilford Elementary/Middle

Submitted by Shana McIver

Happy American Education Week! Yes, starting yesterday, Guilford is celebrating American Education: A Basic Right and Our Responsibility. All week long, it's open house and parents are welcomed to visit classrooms. On Thursday at 5:30 PM, the PTO will host a Thanksgiving Feast for Guilford families. We welcome support and merely your attendance as we engage new and existing parents through meaningful involvement, fellowship and fun!

On Friday, we'll honor our community partners by inviting them to sign up to read in a classroom. Several classes still need readers, so if your schedule allows and you want to spend some time with Guilford's awesome students, contact Shana McIver at 443-277-8273 for more details.

Check out some of the other activities which will be taking place:

• Monday- Guilford Grandparent's Day
• Tuesday- Achievement Awards Assemblies / middle school College Chat with Loyola students
• Wednesday- Parent Workshop: Making The Home School Connection, 10:00 a.m.
• Thursday- PTO Thanksgiving Feast (Board Election and food drive), 5:30 p.m.
• Friday- Community Partner Day

Want to see what great things are happening at Guilford? Drop in and visit us during American Education Week!

Principal Sheilah Meyers: Making Great Strides at Guilford Elementary/Middle

Submitted by Shana McIver

At GHCC, our public eduction program staff build a school’s assets by mobilizing business and community partners to invest in a school environment that welcomes and serves the whole community. Since 1998, we have collaborated with partner schools throughout Greater Homewood to leverage resources for those school communities. Through this extensive network of partnerships, we promote a sense of shared purpose among school and neighborhood stakeholders. Last year, we worked with over 100 partner agencies and leveraged $1.5 million in resources and volunteer hours for approximately 4200 students in eight public partnership schools.

Good public schools are essential for healthy, thriving neighborhoods. None of this good work could be accomplished without support and acceptance from school administrators. We would like to take this opportunity to spotlight and commend one of our very innovative and committed principals, Mrs. Sheilah R. Myers. She's the principal at Guilford Elementary Middle School (one of GHCC's two Community Schools) and has made significant strides at the school since arriving in 2006. GHCC congratulates Sheilah Myers for stepping up to the challenge, reforming Guilford and accepting our invitation to partner in meeting the needs of children and families.

Mrs. Myers is amongst the many urban educators who answered the call for exemplary urban school leadership through the New Leaders in City Schools Maryland program. In 2008, she encouraged her entire school community to adopt the program's motto -- "Together, we will make a difference!" -- and with this belief and strategic planning, Guilford made AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress). Staff, students and other stakeholders were confident that with the right positive synergy, "the sky was the limit" for academic success. In 2009, Guilford's school family approached learning and removal of barriers to achievement with the same rigor as the previous year. As a result, the school made AYP for the second consecutive year and was one of seven City Schools to exit school improvement status.

Mrs. Meyers remains passionate about ensuring excellence for all children and insists that her staff to do the same. Mrs. Myers expects Guilford to be a learning community where educators inspire a quest for learning and community members/partners are proud to acknowledge it as one of the best schools in the city.

"There is still a tremendous amount of work to be done ... until all our children are achieving at high levels, until we reach advanced levels of academic performance, until we become a Blue Ribbon school, our work is not done." - Principal Sheilah Myers.

You're Invited! Stadium School Youth Dreamers Housewarming Party!

Written by the students in Youth Dreamer Project Class 2009

We’re the Youth Dreamers
We are a 501(c) 3,
We want to decrease the amount of violence
among youth in our community.

We are creating
a youth-run youth center,
open after school
all are welcome to enter.

We have a Board of Directors
and lots of friends,
that help us with our dream
and support us till the end.

There’s a whole lot
to our history,
we started in 2001
with $70,000 from Senator Mikulski.

We bought a house
and went through zoning,
we worked with an architect
who turned our dream into a drawing.

Now we’re in construction
and running programs after school,
it’s 2009
and soon our youth center will rule!

You’d be amazed
at what we’ve done
this year in Project Class
and it was fun!

We’ve been to My Sister’s Place
Shepherd’s Clinic, too,
had two huge service days
just to name a few.

Our after school programs
Modeling, Community Art,
Homework Club and Health Club
and that’s just to start!

From State Farm we got a grant
to fund our first real year,
we wrote it all together
It’s time to cheer!

This means a whole lot
for us and our community,
our youth center
will soon hold the key…

People will come
to work, play, and be,
to learn leadership skills
and more about the community.

We are so excited
to extend the YD’s history,
by moving into this house
it’s a brighter future for you and me!

We hope for our first year
to be busy and have fun,
with teenage employees
getting all the work done.

Adults volunteering and teaching
different classes going on,
playing on our new playground
and memberships lasting long.

We are having a Housewarming Party
and all are welcome to come,
On May 30th this year
to learn about us and have fun!


The Stadium School Youth Dreamers are a group of students in sixth grade through college who decided in 2001 that they wanted to open a youth-run youth center. They celebrate their success on May 30, 2009, with a housewarming party.

Learning in Greater Homewood

Did you know Greater Homewood is home to 17 great public schools? From pre-kindergarten through high school graduation, there is a school close to home waiting to serve you.

Click on the map to view a larger version.

Waverly School Parents Get a Space of Their Own

From the Waverly Elementary/Middle School PTO

With the help of our Community Connections VISTA this past January, the Waverly Elementary Middle School PTO received a grant from Lowe’s for $3,600 to make a new parent room. With this money we are creating a special space for parents at the school that will be a lounge, work space, and resource center. The parent room is located in the middle school portable building. So far we have had two "decorate days" where we put together our new furniture, decorated the walls and installed three brand new computers! Soon we will have a resource library complete with materials on parenting, childhood development, how to help children in school, and much more. Soon parents will be able to come to the parent room to hang out, get information about the school, use the internet, use the printer and copy machines, or attend workshops and meetings. We hope the room will be a great resource to Waverly parents!

Solving the Drop-Out Crisis -- University of Baltimore Center for Families, Children, and the Courts to Host Urban Child Symposium

By Leigh Dalton, Truancy Court Program Manager and School Liaison Center for Families, Children and the Courts at the University of Baltimore School of Law.


To all teachers, administrators and community members interested in child advocacy and education:

As the Truancy Court Program Manager and School Liaison, I am sending you the link located below regarding an Urban Child Symposium presented by the Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC) to take place on April 2, 2009.

The topic is Solving the Drop-out Crisis: Getting the Other Half to Attend and Achieve. CFCC would like to extend the invitation for this event to you and to anyone you think would be interested. This includes any and all parents and students who would like to hear the amazing Jonathan Kozol [Author of Savage Inequalities, Amazing Grace, Death at an Early Age, and others] speak at 5:30pm. The event is free, and breakfast and lunch will be provided.

In addition to those you may know personally who would be interested in attending this Symposium, if you could forward this invitation to other other staff, teachers, students, parents and administration, and community partners, it would be greatly appreciated. There is more information on the Symposium below, if you click on the link provided. Registration is online.

For details and to register, please click here: http://law.ubalt.edu/urbanchild

If you have questions or concerns about the Symposium, please contact Leigh Dalton, Truancy Court Program Manager and School Liaison Center for Families, Children and the Courts, at 410-837-5792 or ldalton@ubalt.edu

An Evening with Andrés Alonso (again)

by Jaclyn Paul, AmeriCorps VISTA Leader, Greater Homewood Community Corporation

I first arrived at GHCC as an AmeriCorps VISTA on June 25, 2007. It didn't take me long to become enamored with this organization and with Baltimore, and look! I'm still here. After extending my first VISTA contract and then re-enlisting as GHCC's VISTA Leader, my presence on the staff list is assured until August 2009, more than two years after I began my year of service.

At this point folks have stopped asking "why," as they're apt to do when you choose national service over a living wage. Though I haven't been here long, Baltimore is worth it to me. My fellow citizens are worth it to me.

Shortly after I landed in Charm City, another out-of-towner appeared on the scene with a similar attitude -- except he made a lot more headlines. His name was Andr és Alonso, and he had just been named CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools. The whole landscape was about to change for public education in Baltimore.

Interestingly enough, I found myself around the dinner table with Dr. Alonso and my fellow VISTAs last Friday. The atmosphere was relaxed and -- even though we didn't talk about it -- the surprising progress Baltimore City schools have made lately was apparent in Dr. Alonso's demeanor. Later, I recalled my first encounter with him, a time when he still had to sell us on change and we were quite cautiously optimistic.

GHCC AmeriCorps members (left to right) Katie Horn, John Bernet, and Ethan Hunt share a meal and conversation with Baltimore City Schools CEO Andr és Alonso and GHCC Executive Director Karen Stokes. Click to view larger image.

One of Dr. Alonso's first "Community Conversations" evenings in July 2007 had such an impact on me that I went home and wrote about it in the blog I kept about my first VISTA year.

Some of my first impressions?

Though he struck me as a bit soft-spoken at first, Alonso is in Baltimore as a guy who is going to...turn the entire school system around. He exudes the quiet confidence of someone who has done this before...he is not afraid to tell people "hold me accountable, but don't forget you have a part in this."

And also:

Baltimore City is, like a lot of industrial Mid-Atlantic cities...marvelous but broken in a lot of ways. There are many problems, hundreds of wrong ways to fix them, and probably only one right way. I hope everyone can learn to trust this Alonso guy. He seems absolutely dedicated, and he really knows his stuff.

Nearly two years later, the momentum is still there and the school system has made gains no one thought possible in such a short time. As we gathered around the table on Friday evening Dr. Alonso was honest and jovial, his audience of local organizers friendly and full of good cheer. My experiences since our first meeting -- including a year in a Baltimore public school -- have given him my absolute confidence.

Baltimore Education Coalition Rally A Success!

Click here to read the Baltimore Sun's coverage of the March 3 rally by the Baltimore Education Coalition to sustain a citywide network of public education advocates. About 200 advocates, parents, and students were in attendance! GHCC is a member of the Coalition.

March 3: A Celebration and Call to Action for City Schools

As you all have heard, the Governor has used federal stimulus money to reverse his proposed state funding cuts for Baltimore City Schools. The proposed cuts would have resulted in drastic cuts to schools.

Many Baltimoreans called and wrote the Governor and other elected leaders -- and that pressure served notice to our elected officials that there is a growing force of people who support City Schools.

Join us at a Celebration/Call to Action Tuesday, March 3 at 6:30 p.m. to thank elected leaders for reversing the cuts, but more importantly, to continue to build a large, powerful, movement to support Baltimore City Schools. This has already begun with the creation of the Baltimore Education Coalition, started with the efforts of many organizations and people who care about public schools.

Celebration/Call to Action to Support Baltimore City Schools
Tuesday, March 3, 6:30 p.m.
Fort Worthington Elementary St., 2701 E. Oliver St, 21213
(parking available behind school – access on Kenhill Ave)

We have a historic opportunity to build on recent school performance improvements citywide and on Dr. Alonso's positive changes in accountability and transparency. We can decide to orient the entire city - parents, neighborhoods, churches -- around supporting public education.

Wondering how to help? Join us March 3! For more information, contact Greater Homewood Public Schools Advocacy contact Karen DeCamp at 410-261-3505 or kdecamp@greaterhomewood.org.

Baltimore Sun Op-Ed on Proposed Education Cuts

Students at Guilford Elementary/Middle School

Click here to read an op-ed by Mark Fetting, chairman CEO of Legg Mason, and Tom Wilcox, president and CEO of the Baltimore Community Foundation, in the February 9 issue of the Baltimore Sun. The article responds to Governor O'Malley's proposed $23 million budget cut to Baltimore City Public Schools for the 2009-2010 school year -- at a time, the writers point out, when BCPSS school enrollments are on the rise.

Take a look, and let us know what you think by posting a comment.

Story Pals Needed at Barclay Elementary/Middle School

by Katie Horn, Community Connections AmeriCorps VISTA, Barclay Elementary/Middle

There's a whole lot of reading going on!

Books-2-Go is coming to the Barclay School! This exciting new program will provide students with beautiful books to read at home with their families, thanks to the Greater Homewood Community Corporation, Experience Corps volunteers, and Project Early I.D. After reading at home, the children and parents can earn rewards and prizes at Barclay.

Story Pals are needed to read aloud and/or be read to, by a student. This would involve 20-45 minutes, ideally once a week or a few times a month. If you would like to learn more about being a Story Pal or a Book Scout (to gather and organize free books), please contact Barclay's Community Connections VISTA Katie Horn at 443-325-3918 or khorn@greaterhomewood.org.

January 22: Public Meeting about Waverly School

Thursday, January 22

6:30-8:30 p.m.

Waverly Elementary School Cafeteria (3400 Ellerslie)

A public meeting to discuss Waverly's middle school addition and elementary school renovations

The state has approved funding for a middle school wing and elementary school renovations at Waverly Elementary/Middle!

Now's your chance to weigh in on what the new school should look like. Join us to share ideas about the planned addition and renovations with the architects who have been hired to design the building, school system officials, and City Councilmember Mary Pat Clarke. Bring your ideas about what kind of school we want for our community and what principles should guide the design and construction of the building.

Questions? Contact Karen DeCamp at Greater Homewood Community Corporation at (410) 261-3503 or kdecamp@greaterhomewood.org.

Western High School Named a Maryland Blue Ribbon School

Congratulations to Western High School, which was one of two high schools in the state named a Maryland Blue Ribbon School!

The news was announced on December 18. Six schools received the designation, and Western was the only Baltimore City school on the list. The honor is given to schools with demonstrated academic excellence and/or a record of progress.

The six Blue Ribbon schools will participate on Maryland's behalf in the national Blue Ribbon competition later this year.

Western High School is just one of many quality public schools within the Greater Homewood area. Click here to read a statement by Western's principal Eleanor Matthews about the Blue Ribbon honor. U.S. News and World Report also listed Western among America's best high schools in the magazine's 2008 rankings, as were two other Greater Homewood schools: Baltimore City College and Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. Click here to read more about the rankings.