Exciting news from the BCP Schools: City Springs Elementary/Middle School, Govans Elementary School, Hampstead Hill Academy and Wolfe Street Academy.

BCP Monthly News & Updates
In this issue:
leggLegg Mason Supports
Teacher Coaches Training

Thanks to a generous grant from Legg Mason, BCP has a new cadre of talented teacher coaches. Last spring  BCP piloted a training program that provided eleven teachers from across the BCP school network with eight, day-long sessions of intensive coaches training.

Training was provided by National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) consultant Linda Frost, an experienced classroom teacher with extensive experience coaching teachers and supporting school-wide implementations of Direct Instruction (DI).

The NIFDI coaches training systematically provides coaches with the skills they need to help teachers become more effective in delivering the DI programs and in supporting other teachers in their use of the program. The peer coaches training is designed to ensure that all teachers master the critical components of Direct Instruction with consistent, effective teaching across all classrooms.

This pilot was highly successful and proved to be an effective approach to develop new teacher coaches.
bobActor Bob Heck Joins City Springs Team



His career as an actor and writer includes work in network TV shows, feature films, theater, industrial films and trade shows, as well as commercials and interactive computer presentations. In an eighteen year career as an on-air host (Bob the Vid Tech), he received ten Capital Region Emmy Awards and a national CINE Golden Eagle Award.

During School Year 15/16, Mr. Heck partnered with existing staff on variety of projects including an eighth grade Claymation film and an anti-bullying program that used role-playing to teach conflict resolution skills. In May he assisted with the school's production of "Willy Wonka Jr.", which was directed by Language Arts Teacher  Lauren Stoltzfus.

Mr. Heck also worked with music teacher Brad Gartrell and Prek-3 students during the last two periods of every school day. In one class he helped students turn the alphabet song into a musical theater piece complete with guitar accompaniment by Mr. Gartrell.

We look forward to a new school year filled with exciting dramatic arts activities.

Clip from City Springs Production of Willy Wonka Jr.

Hopkins Students present their report
on school mental health services
hopkinsHopkins Students Shed Light on School Mental Health Services

Last school year BCP worked with a group of dedicated Masters of Public Health (MPH) students from The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health - Andrew Seiden, Mahendra Naidoo, Elysse Lasser and Will Herbert - to better understand how mental health services are provided in Baltimore City Public Schools.

The students' MPH Practicum project, "Mental Health Services and  Baltimore City Schools," was completed as part of a course taught by Professor Shannon Frattaroli entitled "Formulating Policy: Strategies and Systems of Policymaking  in the 21st Century."

The partnership was made possible by SOURCE's (Student Outreach Resource Center) 2014-2015 Service-Learning Faculty and Community Fellows Program. SOURCE is the community service and service-learning center for the Bloomberg School, the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing at Johns Hopkins University.

During the project, the team conducted a needs assessment and gap analysis to better identify gaps in mental health service provision, reviewed the available literature and history of mental health services in Baltimore City Schools, and interviewed key stakeholders.

Their research quickly indicated that the initial hypothesis -  that the level of school mental health services provided did not meet the need - was not completely accurate. In response, the group worked with BCP to  modify their deliverable from a policy recommendation to a FAQ to help principals navigate the  Expanded School Mental Health (ESMH) Program.

In January the students visited the BCP offices to deliver  a very informative and engaging presentation to BCP staff members and one of our principals.  After the presentation, the principal remarked that their findings had answered some longstanding  questions about school mental health services.

We would like to thank Andrew, Mahendra, Elysse and Will for their outstanding work and congratulate the team on winning a 2014-2015 MPH Practicum Award. Special thanks to SOURCE Director Mindi Levin, SOURCE Associate Director Elizabeth Doerr and Professor Shannon Frattaroli for making this partnership possible.

View the School Mental Health Services FAQ at: 

View the PowerPoint presentation below:

fourthFourth Annual "Are You Smarter than a BCP 5th Grader?" 


Relive the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat with the new video of the fourth annual "Are You Smarter than a BCP 5th Grader?" quiz show starring Senator  Bill Ferguson , Mayor  Stephanie Rawlings-Blake ,  Baltimore City Public Schools  CEO Gregory Thornton, Actor Megan Anderson and Actor Robert Heck.

Thank you to our event sponsors:  Venable LLP Foundation (Lead Sponsor),  Mama's On The Half Shell (Dinner Sponsor), Nacho Mama's (Dinner Sponsor),  Baltimore's Child,  The Baltimore Guide,  Charm City Ice,  Chesapeake Employers Insurance,  The Children's Bookstore,  Congressional Bank, Executive Insurance Benefits,  Heaven 600 WCAO,  Leonard Paper Company,  McGraw-Hill Education,  Northwest Evaluation Association,  Summit Business Technologies and T. R. Klein & Company.
Megan Gillick, Senior Consultant for
Plus Delta Partners, helped Govans
Elementary with a marketing makeover.
govansGovans Gets Marketing Makeover

Govans Elementary School has received an extreme marketing makeover thanks to the pro-bono consulting services of Megan Gillick, Senior Consultant for Plus Delta Partners and former Loyola University Maryland VP for Advancement.

Business Volunteers Maryland connected Megan with BCP in May 2014 through their PENCIL Partnership Program.  PENCIL inspires innovation and improves student achievement by partnering business leaders with public schools.

"BCP was looking for a volunteer to help develop a strategic marketing plan for Govans Elementary and Megan was the perfect match," said BCP Executive Vice President Larry Schugam.

During school year 14/15 Megan held numerous meetings with school leadership and led focus groups with teachers, current parents, prospective parents, students, and alumni.  She then synthesized the focus group information into a branding document, which will guide the development of targeted messaging for various audiences.

Throughout the process Nyah Vanterpool, former Manager of Business Volunteers' School Partnership Program, supported the partnership through meetings and regular check-ins.

BCP would like to thank Megan for her expertise and generosity and for offering to provide additional pro-bono marketing support. Special thanks to Business Volunteers for connecting BCP with Megan, as well as many other talented business leaders over the years.
bcpBCP Students Win MTA "Words on Wheels" Competition

Wolfe Street Academy fourth graders Yonathan Camillo-Espinobarro and Gianna Given, and Hampstead Academy third grader Aurelia Zeltzman were winners in the MTA's 2015 "Words on Wheels" poetry competition.  For the 16 th  consecutive year the MTA has collaborated with Baltimore City Public Schools and the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) to celebrate poetry and art in transit.

Out of hundreds of submissions this year, only 15 students were selected to have their poems illustrated by MICA students and displayed on MTA buses across the city.

View the poems below:

Pandas, Pandas, Everywhere
By Gianna Given, Fourth Grader, Wolfe Street Academy
Artwork by Shreyas R. Krishnan 
Teacher: Ms. Houck

Pandas, pandas everywhere!
They're black, not blue.
They love bamboo.
Pandas, pandas everywhere.
Could I have one maybe here and there?
Someday I might, but not tonight. 
Unless...
Pandas, pandas in my dreams!
Pandas, pandas everywhere.

Two
By Yonathan Camillo-Espinobarro, Fourth Grader, Wolfe Street Academy
Artwork by Jackie Zhu 
Teacher: Tiffany Judy
When the sun goes down, the moon comes out.
When a dog dies, a new one is born.
When a scientist fails, another succeeds.
When a planet explodes, a new one is created.
When someone dies, it rains.
When there is a fire, then it pours.
Things happen by two.

By the Sea Shore
By Aurelia Zeltzman, Third Grader, Hampstead Hill Academy
Artwork by Meltem Sahin 
Teacher: Lauren McKinley

The waves lap the shore
The wind is in my face
Free as a gull soaring high
Sun shining down on my freckled face
Never want to leave this place
Baltimore Curriculum Project | 410-675-7000 | [email protected] | www.baltimorecp.org
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