The East Baltimore Community School is now under the direct supervision of the Hopkins School of Education. The School of Education will be partnering with Morgan State University's School of Education and Urban Studies, as well as the East Baltimore Community School's (EBCS) school board and Baltimore City Public Schools. There has been mixed response from the community regarding how they will benifit from the program.
Morgan State will serve as the overseer of governance of the school, while Hopkins's School of Education (SOE) will spearhead the day-to-day running of the school through a contract with the EBCS board.
In addition, both Universities will be providing teachers for the EBCS through work with Teach for America.
Patricia Welch, Dean of Morgan State University's School of Education and Urban Studies, noted that the division of responsibilities regarding the EBCS and its operation and governance was a mutual decision on the part of both universities.
"[We discussed the] possibility of creating a world-class K-8 school in the area of the footprint of the East Baltimore community's development," Welch said.
David Andrews, Dean of the Hopkins School of Education, has said that he hopes for the school to be a "magnet" attracting new residents to the area. President Daniels described Hopkins' involvement in every facet of the city as "Johns Hopkins devotion to Baltimore" in his August 23rd e-mail. However, the footprint is one laden with past conflict. Current and former residents of East Baltimore do not fully support every aspect of what has been going on in their community.
In 2005, Hopkins partnered with the East Baltimore Development Inc. (EBDI) to rehabilitate the East Baltimore community.
Because only one-third of the properties were reported as inhabited at the time and because of other social concerns with the area, including heavy drug presence, the city decided to initiate an urban renewal project.
However, the urban renewal project evicted residents of the community from their homes.
The president of EBDI at the time relayed to The News-Letter that the city was able to exercise its powers of eminent domain in that situation - a power enabling the state to take private property without consent - to begin the urban renewal project.
The renewal included the construction of new housing, a Biotech Park for research that would partly house Hopkins affiliates and, eventually, the new school.
While residents generally supported most of the renewals, they felt their opinions on what should be done in the community were not being considered.
This feeling of exclusion has continued with the new school as some former and "historic" residents say that they cannot afford the new housing in their old neighborhood in East Baltimore and they aren't being offered transportation to the new school in return.
Their children, therefore, cannot benefit from the EBCS.
The school would have been in their district had they not been forced to leave the area.
Donald Gresham, the former leader of the now defunct Save Middle East Action Committee (SMEAC), is especially active in voicing community concerns pertaining to EBDI and Hopkins involvement in East Baltimore.
"I think [the EBCS] is great for the community . . . but I don't think [former residents] will be able to attend it if they don't have a bus," the former East Baltimore resident said.
"It used to be a couple blocks away from their home and was in the center of where people were living, but they're miles away now . . . [EBDI] needs to find out what people need," Gresham said.
During his time as leader of the SMEAC, Gresham worked to inform EBDI of resident concerns and to protect resident interests.
Gresham explained that he felt that he was being punished for speaking out by being considered ungrateful for the addition to the community.
"We have nothing against progress. The problem is that we are not included.
"There is nothing wrong with not having the same community. I don't have a problem with folks moving in, that's great," Gresham said.
"The problem is that there is nothing in place that will allow historical residents of the community to live here. They can tell me what they want to tell me, but I'm looking at what's going on."
"We just want the people who were living here to benefit from all the things that are going on now," Gresham said.
"We feel that we are being alienated from the benefits of the community. We want to see the same benefits for our children and our children's children."
Discussion about the school and the involvement from the two Universities began almost 10 years ago, according to Welch.
At the time, each university was a part of the school's education committee.
While Welch noted that Morgan has experts in governance and hiring, she also spoke to JHU's experience on the operations end.
In doing so, she spoke of Robert Slavin's development of Success for All, which she said made it natural for Hopkins to take over day-to-day operations of the EBCS.
Success For All describes itself as "a proven whole school improvement approach that helps teachers help every child - even in the poorest communities – succeed in school."
Success for All has been praised by the Department of Education and is heavily supported by Morgan, Hopkins, and the EBCS school board.
Welch is also a major supporter of Morgan's role in the community in which it resides.
"We welcome the opportunity because we really see it as a way of lifting up East Baltimore," Welch said.
"Morgan is a part of the East Baltimore community and supports creating this world-class school for an area that so desperately needs it."
Additionally, Welch supports the diversity that two universities with great variances in their student bodies, yet close proximity, promote.
"There could possibly be cultural differences that come from a student from Morgan [and one from Hopkins] that come from communities that are more diverse culturally, but I can't say that absolutely," Welch said. "I can't say that all Morgan students only come from certain areas because our students come from all over."
"But I think [Hopkins's and Morgan's involvement] creates a kind of cultural mix that I think would be beneficial to the children."
Children living in the vicinity of the school as well as children of families who were forced to leave the community due to EBDI's redevelopment of the area will be offered attendance to the school first.
Children of Hopkins employees who work in the area will then be offered attendance afterwards.
Although the school will retain the public school status of its predecessor, no Baltimore City Public School capital funds will be used in the building of the project.
An emphasis has also been placed on ensuring continued private support for the school.
Gresham just hopes that these benefits can reach former residents now living in other communities.
"We're not the enemy . . . we just want a piece of the pie" Gresham said.
