Our Impact in Public Education

Consultation and Support for Public Schools

  • We support and consult for other public schools looking to move toward best practices.

  • These opportunities include customized workshops and consultations.

  • Need a customized experience? Let’s design your experience.

Advocacy

  • Our mission to create an environment where schools can thrive leads us to advocate for children and work with many diverse partners who share our goal for great schools.

  • We are founding members of the Maryland Alliance for Public Schools.  The Alliance brings together charter operators from across the state to advocate for legislation, local policies, and practices that support the autonomy and potential of charter schools.

  • We helped to launch the Baltimore Education Coalition. Together we have protected more than $60 million in public education funding. Our physical renovations of the City Neighbors Hamilton campus serve as a model for the current 21st Century Building Schools initiative in Baltimore City.

National Work

  • In addition to welcoming educators from across the country, we are co-founding members of the National Coalition for Diverse Charter Schools – a small group of national charters committed to nurturing schools with diverse student populations.

  • We are highlighted in the book, A Smarter Charter: Finding What Works for Charter Schools and Public Education, as an exemplar of a successful and thriving innovative charter school. We presented at the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the National Charter Schools Conference, the National Middle School Association Conference, Somerville Massachusetts Public Schools, Harvard University, the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools, and more.

  • Re-Imagining Education: The Convergence Center for Policy Resolution convened an extraordinarily diverse group of influential education leaders, thinkers, and practitioners for a sustained dialogue to re-imagine education for the 21st century. After 18 months of work, their vision is truly beautiful–competency-based, socially embedded, open-walled, contextualized, and relevant.  City Neighbors participated in this work of re-imagining and continues in the newly formed network of pioneers to grow the movement.

  • We worked with the Astra Foundation and the Center for Inspired Teaching on Radically Re-imagined Relationships: The Foundation of Engagement, a project where educators collaborated to figure out what makes engagement-based education possible.

  • In 2018, City Neighbors was named a Whole Child Certified School by Educate the Whole Child, which acknowledges schools where each child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

Events and Gatherings

  • City Neighbors Foundation works to create an environment for innovation and success for schools in Baltimore and beyond.  As part of this work, we host events like our Annual Progressive Education Summit and DIY PDs.

Network of Schools

  • The City Neighbors Foundation operates three public charter schools in northeast Baltimore City. We believe that all students deserve a rich, high-quality education, and we work to create great, high-demand schools to serve the more than 800 students who attend our schools. Each of our schools serves a diverse population, selected through a citywide lottery.

  • Through project-based learning, arts integration, and inspiration from Reggio Emilia, our students conduct long-term inquiries seeking answers to essential questions, creating deep understanding while producing high-quality work.