Public and Private Schools Working Together to Benefit City Schools Middle School Students
(Baltimore, MD, 6/22/09) At nine independent school or college campuses around Baltimore, The Middle Grades Partnership (MGP) today kicks off its fifth summer of programming for Baltimore City public middle school youth. In programs conceived and taught jointly by public and independent school teachers and college interns, MGP’s summer 2009 grants, totalling $943,000, will equip 600 academically promising Baltimore City public school students with the skills they need to succeed in a rigorous college preparatory high school.
MGP opens up choices for students in their education. Sixty-four percent of the program’s current rising 9th grade participants qualify for entry into Baltimore’s competitive-admissions high schools such as City College and Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. At Collington Square Elementary Middle School, located in one of Baltimore City’s most economically challenged neighborhoods, an impressive eighty percent of rising ninth grade MGP students will attend competitive high schools in school year 2009-2010.
“We are thrilled to offer this comprehensive and effective program to our students and schools,” notes Beth Drummond Casey, MGP Executive Director. “We’re especially delighted to know that, even with the pressures of the current economy, MGP programs are as rich and engaging as ever this year, perhaps even moreso than usual. This is a tribute to the cleverness and commitment of our program leaders at each of our member schools.”
While all programs sign on to the ultimate goal of academically rigorous high school entrance, day-to-day operations at each site look and feel very different, reflecting the varying philosophies, strengths, needs and school cultures of the partnering schools. All MGP students study writing, reading and mathematics. In addition, programs offer music, art, dance, sports, field trips both in and out of Baltimore, high school choice guidance and college readiness instruction as well as campus visits.
MGP partnerships beginning summer 2009 sessions today include:
· Boys Latin School / Garrison Middle School
· Calvert School / Francis Scott Key Elementary Middle School
· Friends School / ConneXions Community Academy / Hampstead Hill Academy
· Garrison Forest School / Collington Square Elem/Middle School /City Springs Elem/Middle School
· Gilman School / Collington Square Elem/Middle School, City Springs Elem/Middle School
· Gilman School/New Song Academy
· McDonogh School / Mt. Royal Elementary Middle School
· Park School / Winston Middle School
· Roland Park Country School / Garrison Middle School
· Towson University / Baltimore Civitas School
The Middle Grades Partnership, a program of the Baltimore Community Foundation, has made grants to member schools totaling $4.9 million since its inception in 2005.
About the Baltimore Community Foundation
The Baltimore Community Foundation distributed $28 million in 2008 to hundreds of nonprofit organizations in the Baltimore region and beyond. With assets of $143 million, BCF comprises more than 600 different charitable funds, some of which support special programs like the Middle Grades Partnership.
BCF invites donors to Invest in Baltimore through its civic agenda, which combines economic development with poverty reduction by making strategic investments in the areas of human services, youth, education, transportation, neighborhoods, diversity, environment, arts and culture, and promoting Baltimore.
BCF helps individuals, families and organizations carry out their charitable plans, with the common goal of improving the quality of life in the greater Baltimore region, today and for generations to come. To donors, BCF offers a complete toolkit for charitable giving, expert assistance in learning more about the causes they care about, and the opportunity to join others with similar interests to learn and give together. To the community at large, BCF offers a permanent, growing source of grant monies, as well as a common meeting ground and leadership on important issues in our region.
In addition, BCF provides grantmaking oversight for two independent foundations, the William G. Baker Jr. Memorial Fund and the Leonard and Helen R. Stulman Charitable Foundation.
More information about Invest in Baltimore as well as support for individual donors’ philanthropy and more can be found at www.bcf.org.