History
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Corps and Alumni
Baltimore
Teach for America is a vital partner of the Baltimore City Public School System providing a talented corps of teachers from around the country to bring new data-driven approaches and energy to teaching and learning in our classrooms. The best part is that so many of these educators stay beyond their two-year commitment for a gift that keeps on giving throughout the city years later.
- Dr. Andres Alonso, CEO of the Baltimore City Public School System
Teach For America • Baltimore is playing a critical role in improving schools and communities. This year, a corps of nearly 250 of the nation’s top recent college graduates is working in underserved schools across Baltimore to ensure that students facing the challenges of poverty are given the educational opportunities they deserve. Our alumni are leaders in the classroom, in education more broadly, and across all sectors. Together, they are making educational equity a reality in Baltimore. Learn about living and teaching in Baltimore.
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Press | |
Corps Impact | |
Alumni Impact | |
Regional Supporters | |
Contact Us | |
Executive Director |
Press
Recent press releases
Recent press coverage
Corps Impact
During the 2009-10 school year, nearly 250 corps members are directly impacting the lives of approximately 15,000 students in Baltimore. Sisi Dong and Danielle Roeder are examples of the tremendous difference our corps members are making.
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Sisi Dong (Baltimore Corps '08) Danielle Roeder (Baltimore Corps '08) |
Sisi Dong spent all of last summer designing and implementing the first ever Advanced Placement English course at Doris M. Johnson High School. With the help and mentorship of Baltimore alumnus Chitamawe Mulwanda (Corps ’05), Sisi completed all necessary paperwork and coursework to ensure that her class would be in compliance with Advanced Placement criteria. The rigorous curriculum she prepared for her 12th graders included King Lear, The Color Purple, Oedipus Rex, and The Great Gatsby. As of mid-February, twenty-three of Sisi’s 26 AP English students have applied to attend college in the fall. One of Sisi’s students had been accepted to Howard University, Towson University, Coppin State University, University of Maryland, College Park, and University of Maryland – Baltimore County.
Danielle Roeder embodies what it means to involve her students and their families in their education to reach success. At the start of the year, Danielle set a goal that her first graders would grow, on average, 1.5 years in reading and average 80 percent mastery on prioritized math standards provided by the district. To make this happen, she reviews goals daily with her class and communicates consistently with parents about their children’s progress throughout the year. Danielle’s first graders track their own progress, both on her computer and on a class chart in order to keep them invested in their achievements. Danielle also teaches her students about malleable intelligence and the fact that the “more we learn, the bigger our brain gets”. Due to Danielle’s relentless work, her students surpassed their goals. Students grew, on average, 1.82 years in reading and averaged 84 percent on their math standards.
Principal Satisfaction
- Approximately 95 percent of recently surveyed Baltimore principals (in schools with Teach For America corps members) reported that they would consider hiring another Teach For America teacher.*
- 95 percent of principals in the Baltimore region rated the impact on student achievement of the Teach For America teacher(s) at their school compared to that of other beginning teachers they had worked with as “Average” or higher.*
*"Teach For America 2009 National Principal Survey,” Policy Studies Associates, July 2009.
Impact on Student Achievement
A growing body of research shows that corps members have a positive impact on their students' achievement. Read more about our impact.
Student Profile
- Students served who are eligible for free/reduced lunch: 73%*
- Students served who are African-American and/or Latino: 89%*
*Percentages vary by school district
Baltimore: Corps Member Placement
| Assignment | % of Corps* |
|---|---|
| Elementary School, Lower (1-2) | 7% |
| Elementary School, Upper (3-5) | 11% |
| Secondary Math | 9% |
| Secondary English | 25% |
| Secondary Science | 14% |
| Secondary Social Studies | 17% |
| Secondary Foreign Language | 16% |
| Secondary Other | 1% |
*Percentages are rounded and may not add up to 100 percent
Characteristics of the 2008 Corps
| Corps Profile |
|---|
| Average GPA: 3.6 |
| Average SAT: 1344 |
| Held leadership roles on campus: 89% |
| People of color: 30% |
*Percentage of senior classes who applied to Teach For America
Alumni Impact
Fostering Alumni Leadership for Systemic Change
As the number of corps members grows, so does our alumni base. By 2010, we will have over 600 Teach For America • Baltimore alumni pursuing professional careers and impacting educational reform from every sector.
- Nationally, more than 60% of corps members continue to work in education,
including more than 360 who are school leaders. - 93% of all alumni report they are supporting Teach For America’s mission
through their career, volunteer activity or graduate study.
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Shannen Coleman (Baltimore Corps ‘03) |
Shannen works with educators, parents, students, community leaders, nonprofits and corporations to ensure students have safe, productive after-school options by organizing community members and leaders to impact policy and creating an engaging curriculum for students that compliments their school curriculum.
Regional Supporters
We are grateful to have many supporters who generously contribute to our movement in Baltimore. The foundations, corporations and individuals listed below have made it possible for Teach For America to continue to recruit, select, train, and support teachers who are working to eliminate educational inequity in our city.
| Advisory Board |
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| Jan Rivitz (Board Chair) The Aaron and Lillie Straus Foundation |
| Rheda Becker Community Leader |
| Bruce Behrens Brown Advisory |
| Noel Carroll M&T Bank |
| Jacqueline C. Hrabowski Community Leader |
| Maureen Kennedy Community Leader |
| Bonnie Legro The Abell Foundation |
| Mark Lerner Chesapeake Partners Management Co. |
| Donald A. Manekin (Outgoing Board Chairman) Seawall Development Company |
| Betsy S. Nelson Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers |
| Dwight Taylor COPT Development & Construction Services, LLC |
| Rhona Wendler Community Leader |
| Paul Wolman Feats, Inc. |
| Christy Wyskiel CWW Research |
End of Year Report:
For a detailed look at the impact of our corps members in Baltimore and the program and financial status of Teach For America · Baltimore, please read our End of Year Report.
Contact
To support Teach For America • Baltimore with a gift or to request additional information about our impact or finances, please contact:
Teach For America • Baltimore
Omari Todd, Executive Director
Courtney Cass, Development Director
2601 N. Howard St
Suite 300
Baltimore, MD 21218
p 410-662-7700, f 410-662-1746
omari.todd@teachforamerica.org
courtney.cass@teachforamerica.org
Executive Director
Omari Todd has served as the executive director of Teach For America • Baltimore since August of 2006. In that time, Todd has grown the organization’s regional funding base from $1.2 million to $3.8 million and increased the corps size by 80 percent. At present, he is leading the region in an ambitious three-year growth plan that will double the total number of corps members in Baltimore City by the 2010 school year, and raise the regional budget to over $6 million. Through negotiations with the state, Todd has secured a Teach For America growth pilot, which will overcome coursework barriers to placing corps members in high need areas, like elementary and early childhood, and facilitate a twofold increase in the diversity of the incoming corps. In addition, Todd has worked to expand our alumni presence throughout the city, growing the number of alumni school and district leaders from six to thirteen with the goal of securing twenty alumni in school leadership positions by 2010. Finally, Todd has strengthened Teach For America’s relationships and visibility in Baltimore, garnering champions in the funding community, at the district level, and in city government.
Todd first joined Teach For America as a 2000 Baltimore corps member, and he taught 4th grade for four years at Yorkwood Elementary School. Inspired by his work in the classroom, he brought his skills and talents to Teach For America’s summer institute in New York where he served as a school director in 2003 and 2004. Todd's passion for the city of Baltimore, its neighborhoods, and his students and their parents led him to become the associate organizer for BUILD (Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development). In that role, he directed a campaign to bring a grocery store to the northwest part of the city, led the final phase of a project to bring 134 affordable homes to West Baltimore, and secured $1.1 million for the Child First Authority Program, which served more than 1,000 students in ten Baltimore schools. He is a graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana and received his master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University.
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