School Colors / Fund for Educational Excellence
Chronic absence has soared in Baltimore City Public Schools, with nearly 40% of students missing 18 or more days of school. Lacking required uniforms is a key reason that some students miss school. In 2019-20, School Colors will serve 28 Baltimore City Elementary/Middle Community Schools, partnering with Community School Coordinators to assess the need/sizes for school uniforms, provide uniforms at no cost to students, and monitor the distribution/impact of uniforms throughout the school year. With “Uniform Closets” in each of the schools, School Colors expects to provide more than 4,500 uniforms, improving attendance as a result.
New Leaders – Baltimore
With Abell start-up funding, New Leaders has recruited, trained, supported, and developed 111 principals in Baltimore City Public Schools since 2005. In collaboration with City Schools, New Leaders will launch a new two year Principal Preparation Academy that combines a Foundational Year with the second year Residency Year. In addition to its Induction Academy for 10 first-year New Leaders principals, the organization will train up to 40 leaders in 2019-20 and produce 9 new prinicpals in Summer 2020.
Digital Harbor Foundation
With the Baltimore Rec-to-Tech Fellows Program, Digital Harbor Foundation aspires to build long-term capacity of Baltimore City Recreation and Parks and other community partners to provide meaningful, afterschool and summer tech programs for youth in up to five City Recreation Centers. Digital Harbor’s 18-month Tech Fellows program will help hire and train a Rec and Parks Technology Coordinator in each Rec Center and a Central Office Supervisor as well as provide curricula for 14 courses and equip a dedicated tech facility in each center. In the first year of operation, 550 youth ages 3rd-12 grade will be served, receiving 12,100 hours of afterschool/summer tech instruction ranging from Raspberry Pi to 3D Printing.
Fund for Educational Excellence
The Summer Funding Collaborative (SFC) is an aligned fund that directs resources to high-quality summer programs for low-income children in Baltimore City. In 2019, the SFC included 13 public and private funders that, collectively, distributed $3.49 million to 84 programs, funding a projected 12,500 seats. This grant includes funding for between 15-20 non-profit organizations that will be determined in late winter 2020 through the SFC’s request for proposals as well as a fee for Baltimore’s Promise, the SFC’s administrative backbone.
The Ingenuity Project
The Abell Foundation launched The Ingenuity Project in 1994. Today, Ingenuity prepares and launches the next diverse generation of nationally competitive STEM leaders in Baltimore City, serving 750 students in grades 6-12. This grant will enable Ingenuity to expand and improve access to students of color and students living in concentrated poverty by opening a fourth middle school program at James McHenry School in West Baltimore and through the provision of tailored support and enrichment opportunities. Ingenuity will continue to serve as the exemplary accelerated math and science program that prepares Baltimore City students for selective colleges and STEM careers with its signature Practicum Research experience.