Blog

Welcome to the 2019-2020 School Year!

Welcome back to another school year! The classroom was full with all twenty students this morning as the day started off, as always, with the important topic of current events. Students watched news stories and discussed the events, sharing their current knowledge and opinions. Mr. Tom emphasized that not only do we want students to have opinions, “we want you to move towards an informed opinion. If you stay tuned in this course, you will be extremely well-informed”. After current events, we held an introduction session. Everyone paired off and interviewed each other, then used that information to introduce each other to the rest of the class. We have a diverse class this year with interests ranging from sports to cooking/baking to drawing and science and everything in between. The students spent the day switching between their classes and getting to know each teacher and subject. At lunch, we honored Aidan’s birthday (which is today!) and all of the birthdays that happened over the summer. Fun fact- we have three students with birthdays on August 26th! The students dove right in to working in the afternoon in the independent study session, getting off to a good start with balancing the workload.

It was a successful start to what will be a productive year full of learning and growth. 
Please click here to view the full photo gallery from the first day of the 2019-2020 school year!

Community Spotlight: Mark Harris

Today’s spotlight shines on Mark Harris, community volunteer and father of senior-year student Sara Harris. HVAC extraordinaire Mark has been working around the school the past few weeks to ensure all three classrooms maintain a comfortable temperature for learning. Mark has donated his time to help the school with all things heating and cooling for the past four years; he has installed two HVAC systems for the school and he maintains them regularly.

According to Mark, he keeps coming back to help around the school because of “the quality of the education that my daughter receives and the professionalism of the people that teach her”. When he is not volunteering at TCS, Mark is an instructor at Community College of Baltimore County. We are very grateful for all of Mark’s work around the school!

Gearing up for back-to-school

It’s crunch time here at The Community School! The school is noisier than normal today as everyone hurries around putting the final touches on renovations, organizing, cleaning, and curriculum planning. As everything comes together in the later hours of the day, you can feel the excitement in the air. The staff met for one last check-in to prepare for the events of the day tomorrow. We know all of the hard work of the summer will pay off once the students are here. We look forward to seeing everyone here in the morning, well-rested and ready for another year of learning!

Community Spotlight: Eddie Gavin

We want to shine a spotlight of gratitude on Eddie Gavin, long-time member of the TCS community. Eddie has been working hard for a few weeks to make sure our building is ready for the students next Wednesday. He owns his own home improvement company, making him the perfect man for the job. Eddie has helped with every major TCS building project over the last 40 plus years.

Tom and Eddie were next-door neighbors in the 1970’s on 27th street, and in 1977 when Eddie was just 12 years old, he helped start the founding organization that would become The Community School. Eddie has been consistently involved in the organization ever since, and today he serves on our Board of Trustees. In fact, the Gavins’ involvement with TCS is a family affair. Four generations of the family have been involved including Eddie’s son who is a TCS graduate. Eddie’s brothers, Timmy and Kenny, and son Michael have been here working on the building as well. Eddie’s son Ryan, who also serves on the Board, has volunteered several evenings this past week to make sure the computers are set up for the start of school. 

Thank you so much, Gavin family, for all that you do – and happy birthday, Eddie! We appreciate you a lot!