Past Grants

ACLU Foundation of Maryland, Inc.

Two-year funding for continued support of the Baltimore City Education Reform Project, designed to maintain and secure equitable and adequate state and city education funding for all children in Maryland, with particular focus on disadvantaged children. The agenda calls for the reinstitution of the inflation factor in the budget, advocacy for full-day pre-K programs for poor children, interventions designed to increase attendance, and lower suspension rates. The ACLU will also monitor Baltimore City Public Schools to ensure that management and funding reforms translate into effective educational programming and that there is increased family participation in free and reduced-price meal programs.

American Communities Trust

For implementation of the Baltimore Scholar Athlete Program in three Baltimore City Public Schools. Support is provided through counseling, coaching, mentoring, and SAT preparation. In each school, a dedicated resource space, known as the “Zone,” is equipped with laptops, printers, e-readers, Internet access, mailboxes, calculators, and electronic membership cards for student-scholars to use on a daily basis. Data are collected on attendance; GPA; athletic participation rates; and graduation, college-acceptance, and matriculation rates.

Arts Education in Maryland Schools Alliance

Three grants for continued support and expansion of programs to integrate the arts into the curriculum of Maryland’s public schools. These programs incorporate e-portfolio pilot projects and the arts integration summer training for seven Baltimore City Public School art teachers.

Baltimore City Community College Foundation, Inc.

For support of the new Aspiring Scholars Scholarship Program, which provides performance-based scholarships for 75 graduates of Baltimore City Public Schools entering Baltimore City Community College. The scholars are linked to a facilitator who ensures the students are registering for appropriate courses, familiar with their own performance levels, and referred to campus resources for support.

Baltimore City Public Schools – National Academic League

For support of the 2012-2013 National Academic League (NAL), which involves 700 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students from 28 Baltimore City public middle schools in a year-long scholastic extracurricular activity. The NAL games function as competitive events, with after-school team practices two to three times a week under the guidance of teachers. Interscholastic competitions are held every two weeks. First- and second-placed teams compete nationally through video-conferencing. It is intended that participation will increase potential for acceptance into a Baltimore City selective-admission high school.