Keep the original Motto

At the beginning of this school year, some odd parentheses showed up. Just a couple of curved lines, right? No big deal. But those shapely brackets left a mark on me.

The City Neighbors motto—Known. Loved. Inspired.—was a significant part of what drew me to the school in 2020. After 13 years in Baltimore City, I was excited to find a home with colleagues—all the way up to administration—who cared about kids. This staff, well, they knew, loved, and inspired their students. I was thrilled to join the team. And even getting started during virtual learning, which was challenging, didn’t prevent that culture.

So, this year, when I showed up to day one of Professional Development and saw an extra adverb dangling onto the motto, clinging by parentheses, I winced: “Known. Loved. Inspired (Academically).” My flinch wasn’t because I didn’t/don’t intend to “inspire academically.” I’m an English teacher; I love reading, writing, and nurturing all the skills that fall under my content. But that one simple adverb rang very North Ave’ish. I started to envision TED Talking consultants and mass-produced curricula; I dreaded district-wide PD and data-driven walk-throughs.

Within the first hour of PD, the CNHS principal told us, “We all know that ‘Inspire’ means ‘Academically,’ but sometimes we just need the reminder.”

It was a relief to see we weren’t losing our entire identity, but I wondered if we really did need the reminder, if “academically” really was all we “inspired.”

I have seen us—City Neighbors—do so much more.

We inspire growth, arts, empathy, humanity, passion, creativity, wellness, knowledge, love, awareness, maturity, talent, and imagination.

We don’t need a parenthetical expression to qualify our inspiration. From Ms. Jess in Drawing & Painting to Ms. Ross-Jones in Probability & Statistics, every teacher and class is academic and more. No brackets needed.

Written by: Kozbi Simmons, English IV and AP Lit Teacher, City Neighbors High School