BALTIMORE — The U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education stopped by two Baltimore City schools this morning that used federal COVID-related funds to help with special programming.
Baltimore City Public Schools got nearly $444 million as part of President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan last year to help schools most affected by the COVID pandemic. The federal government gave Maryland schoolsa total of $1.9 billion to help them recover from the blow of COVID-19.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten was at Harford Heights Elementary School, in northeast Baltimore's Darley Park neighborhood, on Tuesday. She then visited Baltimore Design School, a middle/high school in east Baltimore's Greenmount West area. She was joined by city schools CEO Sonja Santelises.
.@SonjaSantelises and U.S. Deputy Secretary for Education Cindy Marten are meeting with parents and teachers at Harford Heights Elementary School. “When everyone sticks together everything is gonna be alright,” one parent said. She said the Harford Heights is doing just that! pic.twitter.com/8MhiWpnurj
— Baltimore City Public Schools (@BaltCitySchools) October 11, 2022
Harford Heights' tutoring program helped students increase their math and English scores. City Schools noted on Twitter that 170 students - more than a quarter of the student body - is in after-school programs.
The deputy secretary spoke with parents about their students, and with students who noted that tutoring made things much easier.
“It would be harder (if we didn’t have tutoring),” said one student at @BalDESIGNSchool told the U.S. Deputy Secretary for Education Cindy Marten. pic.twitter.com/b6lhakDQUy
— Baltimore City Public Schools (@BaltCitySchools) October 11, 2022
One parent mentioned the help they got from the "Judy Center" - one of the state's Judith P. Hoyer Center Early Learning Hubs, which are located at Title 1 schools to empower parents and families of preschool children.
The parent said: "The Judy Center taught me not how to take care of the physical needs for my child, but also how to teach my child to learn...I thank all of you for your help.”
Harford Heights is home to one of the city's 12 Judy Centers.
City Schools reported that another parent said:
“The school helps my son, but it helps me... My family is far away. The school became my family.”
At Baltimore Design School, the deputy secretary was reported as saying: “When we think about schools… we want schools where students and families are known as whole humans. Baltimore gets it.”
