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Recent TCS graduate Jordan Leon began his first semester at Community College of Baltimore County today. Jordan had his full lineup of classes with Fundamentals of Communication, Intro Spanish, Health and Wellness, and English. As a testament to the ongoing support provided by TCS, Jordan started his day with a phone call to Mr. Tom. "I was nervous going in, but it was good. I have a lot of work coming up," Jordan said. The class he is most looking forward to is Health and Wellness. We are confident that Jordan has the tools for success! ...

We welcomed another half of the community Thursday night at our second orientation meeting for students, families, and sponsors! As in the last meeting, we discussed community expectations around behavior and communication and changes for the upcoming school year. Aidan, a rising Junior, said "I learned a lot about how the school is going to be different this year. It was very informative and important for the students to know what will be happening". It was a great opportunity for the new and continuing families to introduce themselves and learn about each other. School starts just next week and we are so excited to jump back in to another successful year! ...

The first orientation meeting for the new school year was a success! We are counting down the days to the start of school, and the excitement is building. Half of the community, both new and continuing families, gathered together last night. We had a great mix of students, parents, guardians, sponsors, and siblings. On the agenda were introductions, community and school guidelines, and changes for the 2019 Fall Semester. These meetings are a great time for our continuing families to get to know our new members; it’s wonderful to see the community in action as we welcome the newcomers. Thank you to everyone who came out and participated! ...

We love seeing our students give back to the community! Rising Junior Salma Ruiz-Cruz has been busy this summer in the Baltimore YouthWorks program. Salma spent the last month teaching English to Spanish-speakers ages 6-12. She tutored the children with worksheets on topics such as grammar, vocabulary and spelling. Salma says that her favorite part of the experience was watching as the kids became more comfortable with her over the month, and getting to grow with them at the same time. A highlight for her was working on her own Spanish skills as she helped translate for the parents. Salma is interested in teaching, and she says that this experience helped give her insight on what age she likes to teach most.  We are very proud of Salma for the wonderful job she has done this summer! ...

The school continues to expand and improve - and so does our TCS family! We are pleased to announce Rebecca Obniski as our new part-time science teacher. Rebecca first worked with TCS through the CSI science program as an graduate at Johns Hopkins University. Since then she has obtained her PhD in Biology from Johns Hopkins. This will be her first teaching position.  Rebecca says the thing she is most excited about in teaching at TCS is transferring her experience working with science in the lab to students who haven’t had that exposure. “I am excited to be that intermediary between them and a new world,” she said. The science subject that is most fascinating to Rebecca is genetics, which was the focus of her PhD. She explained that genetics is interesting because it is like a “secret code” that directs so much about our bodies and provides so much variation in life.  In addition to her love of science, Rebecca really fell in love with teaching when she led labs through CSI. “I love facilitating that “a-ha!” moment when someone figures out something,” she said. Rebecca believes that in teaching, the goal is for your students to internalize the subject and to know it so well that they can teach it to others.  Aside from science and teaching, Rebecca is a musician- she can play both violin and organ. If she could change just one thing to make the world a better place, she would make all peer-reviewed journals free, to grant open access to information to...

This weekend, our Head of School Tom Culotta was recognized by Neumann University for his work with The Community School. The event was attended by Neumann University faculty and staff, alumni, new students, and families and is intended to increase the University’s presence in Baltimore City. Mr. Tom, who obtained his bachelor’s from Neumann, gave a speech to express his gratitude to the University, and to talk about his work with The Community School. In his speech, Mr. Tom acknowledged that both TCS and Neumann are values-based organizations. “Neumann really lives their mission. I found this in all of my interactions with them”, Mr. Tom says of the University.  Mr. Tom was also presented with a special framed copy of his diploma by Neumann University President Chris Domes. ...

Johns Hopkins University Center for Social Concern staff met with TCS today to discuss growing the future of our CSI science program. In attendance were Nairuti Shastry,  Community Partnership Specialist at the CSC, and Baltimore First Director of Community Partnerships Bentley Addison, a Johns Hopkins student.  Baltimore First is a student-led group founded in 2017 within the Center for Social Concern. “Committed to equipping students with the skills needed to affect transformative social change, Baltimore First serves as a catalyst for students looking to expand their philosophy of service and understanding of Baltimore City” (CSC website). Their mission is to facilitate meaningful relationships between their volunteers and the programs they support. As most of our community members know, The Community School has worked with the Center for Social Concern for over a decade on our CSI-Community School Initiative program. CSI enables Johns Hopkins undergraduate students to create science lab lesson plans and lead labs here at TCS. One goal of the project is long-term sustainability; the program has been building an inventory of both lesson plans and equipment that TCS can access if CSI ever dissolves.  In the meeting today, TCS discussed with Baltimore First leaders Nairuti and Bentley ways TCS and Baltimore First can work closely together for the best experience possible for us and our CSI student volunteers. We are excited by this growing partnership with Baltimore First that will allow us to expand the capacity of the CSI program....

Another year is successfully completed! The End of Year ceremony for the 37th class of The Community School commenced on the beautiful day of Sunday, June 9th. As the tree leaves surrounding the Glass Pavilion rocked in the wind, the community gathered to celebrate the hard work of the fourteen students who made it through the rigorous school year. The ceremony opened with a short speech from Dave Bayer, chairman of the board of trustees. Following Dave, Mr. Tom described some of the highlights of the year, and gave thanks to each member of our staff. Next, Mr. Tom recognized the students and said a word about each student's personality, achievements, and goals. Our student speakers this year were sophomore Salma Ruiz-Cruz and Junior Sara Harris. After they spoke, our two graduating seniors Donald Lacy and Jordan Leon each gave a speech about their time at TCS, how they have grown, and what they plan to do next. Keep an eye out for the forthcoming videos of the speeches! A lovely community gathering unfolded after the ceremony. Students, sponsors, alumni, and other community members enjoyed food and drink, conversation, and of course a lot of picture taking. Decorations and food were coordinated by the Board of Trustees, led by Dave Bayer. The program, per tradition, was coordinated by Mr. Tom with the help of the students. Special thanks to the Johns Hopkins Center for Social Concern for the use of the Glass Pavilion. Click HERE to view the full gallery of photos from the 2019 End of Year Ceremony!...

The students were splashing into summer this Friday at the end of year pool party. After a year of determined work, the students were able to get some well-deserved relaxation and fun thanks to the hospitality of Tony and Kate Culotta. Tony, a member of the TCS advisory board, and his wife Kate welcomed both the students and alumni Dyrrell Moon and Vernon Laumann into their home for the party. Delicious food and perfect weather were on the menu for the day. The students learned to play bocce ball in addition to playing tennis and enjoying the pool. Thank you Tony and Kate for this great end of year sendoff! ...

Reflection and recognition - that is the purpose of the year’s final sponsor meeting. As the community gathered together Thursday night, we had an opportunity to do just that. At the start of the meeting, students, their families and sponsors had a chance to share their thoughts on the year. A few of the community members expressed how amazing it is that a school like ours exists, and commended the hard work that goes into making TCS happen. Lisa Knickmeyer, graduate coordinator at Mother Seton Academy who sponsors two Community School students, commended the new dual enrollment program. Ms. Knickmeyer pointed out that giving our students the opportunity to complete college credits while in junior and senior year is unique and set us apart from most of the area private schools. Mr. Tom made sure to give recognition to the students' hard work throughout the year, describing some of the key highlights of this year’s curriculum and activities. He also recognized some students for their achievements that went above-and-beyond. Sara Harris and Claude Nicholson both made honor roll this year. Donald Lacy, Jordan Leon, and Olivia Yates never missed a day of school, and Jacob Cougle had perfect attendance by both attending every day and always being on time. As summer begins, we look ahead to the changes taking place next fall. We will be welcoming new faces and growing our enrollment to 22 students. We also plan to hire a new part-time math and science teacher. Thank you to everyone in our special community...