Will the BCP 5th Graders from City Springs Elementary/Middle, Frederick Elementary, Govans Elementary, Hampstead Hill Academy and Wolfe Street Academy outsmart:

Find out at the eighth annual Are You Smarter than a BCP 5th Grader? Quiz Show Gala on Wednesday, April 10th, 2019 at the American Visionary Art Museum.

Enjoy a fun-filled quiz show, dinner and a cash bar. Actor and comedian Bob Heck will serve as MC.

Tickets: $25

Purchase online at: http://bit.ly/areyousmarter2019

Sponsorship opportunities are available. Email [email protected].

HHA Principal Matt Hornbeck was honored to host legendary Principal Gertrude Williams for a recent visit with administrators, coaches and staff, as well as a tour of classrooms.

Principal Williams served as a teacher, counselor, assistant principal and principal for nearly 50 years.

At 91, she is sharp as a tack. She greeted students on the green top and then twice walked all three floors of the school.

Principal Williams made keen comments on our instructional practices and offered great

feedback for staff.

In her opinion, HHA is “clearly an A+ plus school.” You can learn more about this fierce advocate for children from her book Education As My Agenda.

Here is a summary of the book: “When Gertrude Williams retired in 1998, after forty-nine years in the Baltimore public schools, the Baltimore Sun called her 'the most powerful of principals' who 'tangled with two superintendents and beat them both.'"

"In this oral memoir, Williams identifies the essential elements of sound education and describes the battles she waged to secure those elements, first as teacher, then a counselor, and for twenty-five years, as principal."

"She also described her own education - growing up black in a largely white Germantown, Pennsylvania; studying black history and culture for the first time at Cheyney State Teachers College; and meeting the rigorous demands of the program which she graduated from in 1949."

"In retracing her career, Williams examines the highs and lows of urban public education since World War II. She is at once an outspoken critic and spirited advocate of the system to which she devoted her life.”

To purchase her book, visit https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9780312295431.

Legg Mason recently awarded the Baltimore Curriculum Project a generous grant to support enrichment programming at Hampstead Hill Academy (HHA) and Wolfe Street Academy (WSA).

Audubon Program at Hampstead Hill Academy

Since 2002, Legg Mason has supported Patterson Park Audubon Center programming for Hampstead Hill Academy. Most HHA students would not have access to these kinds of hands-on, experiential enrichment opportunities without Legg Mason’s support.

This recent grant will support the continuation of this important program, which (1) improves literacy by increasing student vocabulary, knowledge and understanding of the natural world; (2) reinforces related science and humanities content learned in school; and (3) increases routine student contact with the natural world.

Last school year, through multiple visits with an Audubon instructor, over 300 HHA students engaged in hands-on immersive lessons on the life, earth, and physical sciences, as well as engineering, technology, and applications of science.

Students experienced 90-minute outdoor lessons in the fall and spring, plus a one-hour winter indoor lesson to bridge the two field experiences. Teachers were provided with two extension lessons designed to help students bring what they learned into their homes, schools, and communities.

Wolfe Street Academy Mindfulness Program

Last school year Legg Mason also supported Wolfe Street Academy's new Mindfulness Program and Mindfulness Room; a space where both students and staff may take a moment to reflect, re-center, and re-focus during the school day.

When students visit the Mindfulness Room, staff guide them through various mindfulness practices such as deep breathing, guided meditation, using a stress ball, coloring, and yoga. These mindfulness practices help students calm down after they have experienced a conflict in the classroom and teach students new coping skills and strategies.

Targeted groups of students who have challenges with classroom behavior and self-regulation participate in weekly 15-minute mindfulness sessions, which are scheduled before 12:00 pm. The students learn a new mindfulness skill during each session and talk about how and when they can use the skill when they feel agitated at school and at home. Skills include de-escalation techniques, non-violent communication, self-regulation, and breathing techniques.

The goal is to equip the most challenging students with the tools they need to “graduate” from the mindfulness room. Once one group graduates, the next group will be cycled through. The overall goal of the mindfulness room is to redirect students who would be typically sent to the office and provide them with a calming space to decompress.

This grant will support the continuation and refinement of WSA's Mindfulness Program.

Bridges String Instrument Program

This grant will also support the Bridges string instrument program at Wolfe Street Academy. WSA provides a well-rounded program that includes solid academics, the arts, physical education and an award-winning after school program; however, WSA families cannot afford to provide extra-curricular experiences for their children such as private music and art lessons. These kinds of experiences increase vocabulary, content knowledge and support academic and overall youth development. It is imperative for student success that WSA provide this type of programming.

Bridges, a program of MAESTRO Ensembles, will provide violin, viola or cello lessons and an orchestra experience for up to 36 students. Lessons are taught by trained, qualified teachers. Bridges supplies all necessary instruments and study materials and students will participate in at least one public performance.

Legg Mason Volunteer Event at Govans Elementary

Nearly 20 volunteers from Legg Mason volunteered with the After School program, part of BCP's 21st Century Community Learning Center at Govans, on December 6, 2018. The volunteers engaged in STEM and other enrichment activities with students in grades K-5.

Thank you

BCP, Govans Elementary, HHA and WSA would like to thank Legg Mason for everything they do to support our students!