Baltimore Robotics League, fiscally sponsored by the Fund for Educational Excellence
In its sixth year, the Baltimore City Robotics League will continue to expand the STEM pipeline by sponsoring at least 90 FIRST Lego, Jr. FIRST Lego, VEX IQ, and VEX extracurricular robotics teams for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Directed by a City Schools Robotics Coordinator, The League provides intensive training/equipment for coaches; sponsors and provides fees for local, state and national robotics tournaments; and will launch a summer camp for the first time in 2020. The League expects to send 8 City teams to the World VEX Competition and the US Open Championships.
Baltimore Kids Chess League, Inc.
Sponsored by the Abell Foundation and Baltimore City Public Schools since 2004, Baltimore Kids Chess offers an academic extracurricular program that serves more than 750 children from kindergarten to 12th grade in 40 schools. Teams practice weekly under the auspices of trained chess coaches and compete in novice, local, state and national chess tournaments sponsored by the United States Chess Federation. Baltimore City chess players have gained acclaim for City Schools as a powerhouse; three Kids Chess League teams are expected to advance to the 2020 USCF Nationals.
ACLU Foundation of Maryland, Inc.
In spring 2020, the Maryland Legislature will tackle the aggressive “Blueprint” educational policy and school funding formula recommendations from The Kirwan Commission. This session promises to be a once in a generation opportunity to reapply an equitable statewide educational funding formula, particularly for those children living in concentrated poverty. The ACLU has been critical to maintaining educational funding over the last three decades, and will use its core strategies of advocating to policy-makers and school systems, informing and engaging parents, students and community groups, and for the first time in over a decade, litigating. The goals are to pass a new state funding formula with additional dollars for schools with high concentrated poverty, and to pass the $2.2 billion bill for School Construction.
Success for All Foundation, Inc.
The JHU-affiliated Success for All Foundation is launching its successful Tutoring with Lightning Squad (or Lightning Squad) reading intervention hoping to serve 800 children in up to 15 City Elementary Schools in 2019-20.Tutoring with the Lightning Squad is a small group, web-based reading intervention for struggling readers in first through third grade. Lighting Squad trained tutors provide daily 30-minute tutoring sessions to groups of four children with the support of the on-line Sesame Street literacy program. It is expected that participants will complete 25 tutoring sessions as a minimum and gain a minimum of 2 months of reading growth.
STEM Champions of Baltimore / Fund for Educational Excellence
Like many of Abell’s afterschool academic sports programs, STEM Champions of Maryland trains teacher coaches to prepare middle & high school students for the National Science Olympiad Tournament each Spring. Providing robust curricula and materials for each of the 18 Olympiad activities, STEM Champions also brings STEM professionals and volunteers to work with teachers in the afterschool practices. This year, STEM Champions expects 36 school teams and 650 students to prepare for and enter the City Science Olympiad, with 15 teams advancing to the State Competition, and hopefully to Nationals.