City Springs Elementary / Middle

City Springs Elementary/Middle School is a neighborhood charter school operated by the Baltimore Curriculum Project (BCP). We are a conversion charter school, which means we were an already existing Baltimore City Public School that was taken over by an outside operator to bring innovative and research-based curriculum and other programs to enhance the school.

We believe that all students have talents and can learn through a variety of instructional experiences. We believe that Direct Instruction is the best way for our children to learn. Direct Instruction provides repetition in order for our students to master skills. Once a solid foundation is in place, Direct Instruction connects concepts and builds skills to ensure mastery.

We also believe that all students are unique which should be addressed through in-school and extracurricular programs that develop life skills and leadership qualities and foster self-esteem, self-motivation, and success.

We further believe that the home and community should contribute to the total development of our students. We need YOU to share in our vision to help us develop an education for life for our students.

We realize that we can achieve our goals by addressing the needs of our students. Their needs fall into these categories: attendance, academic achievement, leadership development, and career or college readiness. Each student needs to work in a classroom that exemplifies the best in learning and in positive human relations, a place where each will find success and meet high expectations in the areas of academic performance and citizenship, a place where students will feel the joy of learning.

Ongoing

Ideally, these volunteers would work with children over the course of at least a semester, though preferably for a year or longer; this benefits both the child and the volunteer because it creates a stable adult in the child’s life and allows the volunteer to see the growth of the child’s work. These opportunities would preferably occur within the course of the school day, but could also be integrated into the after-school program, if needed.

• Listen to children read out loud, help with their fluency, have someone to talk to (perfect practice makes perfect).
• Act a “Reading Buddy” for pre-k - 3rd-grade students. During the day volunteer would visit students and read with then aloud and talk about the content afterward.
• Develop content for after-school programs
• Plan events based on your interests
• Assistance with school events (e.g. school plays/performances, health fairs, judging science projects, social studies fairs, sports programs, cheerleaders, arts programs, etc.)
• Garden spruce ups
• Cheerleaders for events (sports, celebrations, Arts )
• Tutor students after school in math, reading, and writing.

Ongoing/Macro-level/Scholarly Projects

• Community assessment of the schools (e.g. research chronic absenteeism and its relation to health)
• Holiday Planning Club: Responsible for helping organize the holiday giving process which includes: working with the school to identify families for holiday adoption, organize gift wrap party and logistics for the giveaway.