SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT: City Springs Elementary / Middle School

City Springs Elementary / Middle School has been a neighborhood conversion public charter school with the Baltimore Curriculum Project (BCP) since 2005.

School Leadership

Our motto is, ‘It’s not a color. It’s an attitude! It’s our students’ attitude as they embrace learning to meet and exceed academic standards in reading and math. It’s how our parents and families get involved. And it’s how our faculty and staff nurture and guide the entire City Springs community to fulfill our promise of educating for life.

Dr. Rhonda Richetta

Principal since 2007

City Springs’ Distinctions

Pre-k to 8, ESOL for all grades
Unique classroom partnerships with colleges and universities across the U.S. with each classroom named for a specific college, university, or trade as part of City Springs’ spirited, success-focused school culture
Faculty and staff known for talent, experience, innovative curricular programs, and use of best-practices for student achievement and development. In 2020, Wyatt Oroke, City Springs’ middle school teacher, was named Baltimore City and Maryland Teacher of the Year, receiving state and national awards, including the “Superhero Award” by Ellen DeGeneres
An extensive athletic program for elementary and middle grades
Committed to a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism
School-wide decisions, policies, and practices are always discussed through an equity lens to ensure an empowering education for all our scholars.
Social Justice curriculum in middle grades and culturally relevant enhancements to curriculum in all grades
A safe, supportive, nurturing, and joyful environment where every child is known and loved

As one of six BCP schools in Baltimore City, City Springs students receive:

Customized learning for each student through BCP’s research-based, individualized Direct Instruction program and Core Knowledge curriculum
Restorative Practices for cultivating relationship-building and problem-solving skills
High quality professional development for teachers and staff

National Champion and Model for Restorative Practices

In 2007, City Springs pioneered the use of Restorative Practice for BCP. Restorative Practices guide the school community in positive problem-solving and respectful communication and collaboration. Today it is used in many Baltimore City public schools as part of their focus on student wholeness.

Dr. Richetta speaks nationally on Restorative Practices and has been one of the country’s longtime champions of the approach.

She was recently highlighted in the Baltimore Banner.

Watch Principal Richetta speak in 2015 about the impact of Restorative Practices.

Robust Afterschool and Summer Programs

City Springs prides itself in offering students a variety of enriching and exciting after-school, summer programs, on and off site, and an extensive athletic program.

Athletics for elementary and middle grades and all genders, including football, soccer, volleyball, basketball, wrestling, baseball, softball, cheerleading, track, golf
Girls on the Run running club
Decade-long enrichment program through Middle Grades Partnership with the private school Boys’ Latin School of Maryland
Year-round programming with the community-based POWERHOUSE run by the nonprofit, Living Classrooms Foundation
Academic and enrichment after-school programming funded through the Family League of Baltimore
MedReimagined, summer biomedical bootcamp
Health, sports, and physical fitness education at The UA House

A New Home for City Springs and its Community!

City Springs historically served the Southeast Baltimore community in Baltimore’s former Perkins Homes public housing. Built nearly a century ago as housing for World War II veterans who worked in Baltimore’s docks and factories, Perkins Homes became public housing. In 2019, the Housing Authority of Baltimore City received $30 million in federal funding to demolish Perkins Homes. Since, City Springs families have been relocated temporarily and many are commuting to school because parents want to keep their children at City Springs. Many families are anxiously awaiting the day that they will move back into the City Springs community.

The new mixed-use community buildings and replacement public housing is under construction with the first phase to be completed by Winter/Spring of 2024 and the entire project completed by late 2026.

Concurrent with the neighborhood revitalization, City Springs will be getting a new, state-of-the-art school building on the large lot adjacent to the existing school.

City Springs’ Partners

In addition to the nonprofits and organizations that support City Springs’ afterschool and summer programs, numerous community organizations provide resources, partnerships, and services to the City Springs community. These programs and services are coordinated at the school.

Services and partnerships include:

Baltimore City Health Department School-Based Health Clinic
Committed group of community volunteers who assist teachers in the classroom and work one-on-one with students
Annual dental and hearing screenings and free glasses and vision screenings for students
Local organizations provide seasonal food and family gifts including Thanksgiving and Christmas
Full-time City Schools social worker, psychologist, school counselor, and a mental health clinician through a partner organization
Partnership with local churches and nonprofit organizations that support families with coat drives, haircuts, shoe giveaways, and school supply donations
Educational partners provide intervention teachers
Franklin Covey Foundation Leader In Me Program
The Baltimore Museum of Art mindfulness and peaceful conflict resolution program for 5th grade through the Beyond Conflict and Holistic Life Foundation
Big Brothers Big Sisters
CareFirst helped fund the purchase of an iPad for every student and a City Springs van
The Baltimore Ravens helped fund our beautiful purple turf athletic field
Holistic Life Foundation mindfulness and yoga for students and staff
Johns Hopkins Health Systems provides full-time mental health counselor and psychiatric services for children
Adopt-A-Class/Career Day Program for 4th graders to explore healthcare careers through classroom visits by Hopkins doctors and health professionals
Johns Hopkins University’s City Springs Science Outreach Project for monthly STEM presentations to 5th grade by the JHU Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering
Outward Bound for environmental education and team building opportunities
The National Aquarium’s Terrapins in the Classroom Program for City Springs to host a diamondback terrapin hatchling in the classroom; includes a field trip to Poplar Island to release the terrapin back into their natural habitat
Baltimore City Football Club to host the first Soccer School at a City elementary/middle school