At the Baltimore Curriculum Project’s Board of Directors meeting on December 7, 2023, board members and BCP administrators and staff continued their focus on developing a new BCP strategic plan. This plan will guide BCP’s operational endeavors for the next three years.
BCP has been working with EdScale, a strategic plan firm that consults with states, districts, schools, and education-focused organizations for better results and plan implementation, since last year. At the Board meeting, Tom DeWire, EdScale founder and principal consultant, presented a draft of the BCP strategic plan for review and feedback from the board.
To build on BCP’s strengths and to address challenges, Mr. DeWire outlined several strategic plan drivers that will shape the formal plan to be reviewed and voted upon by the BCP Board later in spring 2024.
All of us at BCP are very excited to work with EdScale and the BCP board to develop a nimble, needed strategic plan that builds on our strengths and accomplishments and positions us to continue to offer exceptional education and community services in Baltimore. BCP has 25 years of partnering with City Schools to provide a comprehensive public education as Maryland’s largest operator of neighborhood conversion public charter schools. Our new strategic plan will position us to deepen and expand our mission and reach.
Updates from the BCP Board Meeting
As is the BCP board meeting tradition, each quarterly board meeting rotates to a different BCP school. The meeting’s location was Govans Elementary School with guest presenter Principal Bernarda Kwaw. Principal Kwaw has served in Baltimore City Schools for nearly three decades, beginning as a teacher at Collington Square Elementary. She has also been an instructional coach and assistant principal for BCP schools before becoming principal in 2018. Principal Kwaw shared academic highlights of the school and general updates with the board.
New Board Member Betsey Hobelmann attended her first meeting in December. She brings a wealth of marketing, communication, event planning, fundraising, and public relations skills to the BCP Board. A former middle school classroom teacher in Prince George’s County, Betsey has worked at Ketchum Public Relations. A Yale graduate, Betsey has extensive volunteer experience. She is currently a Calvert School Board of Trustees member, Development Committee member for Ashley Addiction Treatment, and a Board member for the Women’s Hospital Foundation.
Enrollment across most of the BCP network continues to be strong with three schools exceeding their enrollment projections for the 2023-24 years. As the Perkins-Somerset-Oldtown Transformation project continues on the public housing surrounding City Springs Elementary/Middle School continues, enrollment at the school remains slightly down.
Plans continue for the new City Springs building after the November 2023 approval by h City Schools’ Board of Commissioners and the City’s Board of Estimates for a new building. Dr. Rhonda Richeta, City Springs Principal, and Laura Doherty have participated in meetings to outline the ed-specs and identify all the essential elements that the building must include to support a high-quality educational program. An RFP is pending release to solicit bids from designers and architects to move the project to the next level.
The Hampstead Hill expansion project is moving ahead with permits and additional funding being secured.
This year, three BCP schools are going through renewal and have begun preparations for a successful renewal process: City Springs Elementary/Middle, Frederick Elementary and Govans Elementary.
We continue to be extremely grateful for the service, devotion, and expertise of our incredible Board.
