Baltimore Freedom Academy (BFA) was a

Baltimore City Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

middle Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek (d ...

high High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...

school, located for most of its existence in the Washington Hill neighborhood. Founded in 2003 as a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

"innovation school," beginning in 2008 it operated as a

charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

. The school was open to students citywide through the

Baltimore City Public Schools Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS), also referred to as Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) or City Schools, is a public school district in the city of Baltimore, state of Maryland, United States. It serves the youth of Baltimore Cit ...

lottery system. Baltimore Freedom Academy was closed by

following the 2013 school year.

History

Origin

The initial approval for Baltimore Freedom Academy came when Community Law in Action (CLIA), a Baltimore-area non-profit, was one of four groups to receive a $20,000 planning grant from Baltimore City Public Schools. BCPSS hoped for these outside groups to create "innovation" schools, which could serve as small models for future schools. CLIA was awarded their grant for a plan to establish Baltimore Freedom Academy as a new 350-student school that "would use a combination of traditional and law-related curricula as well as hands-on learning." A focus of the proposed school would also be on community

activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fr ...

and

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

. Baltimore Freedom Academy opened in the fall of 2003 with a freshmen class of 105, and new plans for an eventual capacity of 400. The school's founding principal was Tisha Edwards, who had a previous career in

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

, but no education experience. In the first year of operation, BFA was temporarily housed in space at

Baltimore City Community College Baltimore City Community College (BCCC) is a public community college in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the only community college in the city and the only state-sponsored community college in the state. It is accredited by the Middle States Commiss ...

. The first year proved difficult, with 75% (6 of 8) of the initial teaching staff not returning for the next year, but the school did secure a new permanent home further east, in an unused floor of Lombard Middle School.

Lombard Street

By the time it was considered for co-use by the BFA, Lombard Middle School was under capacity, with some sections empty. Built beginning in 1960, with a formal dedication in April 1963, the school complex, built by Piracci Construction Company for $2.7 million (), was designed with a maximum capacity of 2,400 students. In 2005 it had been one of six Baltimore schools that were identified as "persistently dangerous" by the state school board under

No Child Left Behind Act The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a U.S. Act of Congress that reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; it included Title I provisions applying to disadvantaged students. It supported standards-based educati ...

reporting requirements. As it had been preparing to move into its new location, in July 2004, BFA received a private donation of 30 laptops worth approximately $50,000, but all were stolen from the school in December of the same year. Despite this, students in the fall of 2004 rated Baltimore Freedom Academy the second safest school in Baltimore, after the

New Era Academy New Era Academy is a public secondary school serving grades 6 to 12, located in the Cherry Hill neighborhood of South Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It was operated as an "innovation high school" by Replications, Inc. for the Baltimore City ...

. Plans to phase out the troubled Lombard Middle began in 2007, eventually leaving Baltimore Freedom Academy the sole occupant of the building. Starting in 2008, BFA was converted into a

. The school had desired to convert in 2007, but filed its application too late. Also in 2008, it was allowed to expand from a pure high school, adding grades sixth through eight. By this time, the school had 280 students. In 2009, BFA's founding head of school Edwards left to become chief of staff to BCPSS CEO

Andres Alonso Andrés Alonso (born June 14, 1957) was the chief executive officer of the Baltimore City Public School System in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Alonso came to Baltimore from the New York City Public School system in July 2007. He had been ...

(who she would replace as interim CEO four years later).

Closure

In January 2013, a district panel recommended that Baltimore Freedom Academy's charter contract with Baltimore City Schools not be renewed. At a public panel later in the month, BFA representatives argued the review process had been unfair, and that it did not capture all the areas of growth the school had made with its students. Nevertheless, the board voted to revoke the BFA's charter in February and close it at the end of the 2013 school year.

Academics

BFA had partnerships with the University of Maryland Law School to help the students become advocates through what the school called leadership learning.

References

External links

Freedom's Official WebsiteBaltimore Freedom Academy - Maryland Report Card
{{authority control Public high schools in Maryland Public schools in Baltimore Public middle schools in Maryland Charter schools in Maryland Defunct schools in Maryland Southeast Baltimore