Andrew L. Ross, Ph.D., LCSW-C, president and CEO of The Children’s Guild, operator of Monarch Academy Baltimore, a Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPSS) charter school, issued the following statement regarding Monarch Academy Baltimore’s charter renewal:

Baltimore City Public Schools has recommended that the Board of School Commissioners not renew the charter of Monarch Academy Baltimore. If the Board follows the recommendation, Baltimore will lose one of its largest charter schools at the end of the school year, negatively impacting nearly 1,000 students and their families, more than 80 staff members and the entire Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello community, all of whom have put their trust in us.

Monarch Academy Baltimore is a positive partner that brings many benefits to all it serves. Our school has maintained strong parent and student satisfaction rates because it provides a safe, nurturing environment that encourages children to thrive academically as demonstrated by our continuing growth in enrollment.

BCPSS has suggested that Monarch Academy Baltimore is ineffective in providing services to students with disabilities. This claim is not supported by the evidence. In recent audits leading up to the renewal consideration, BCPSS failed to collaborate with the school and listen to concerns, rushed to judgement before there was an opportunity for the school to present contrary evidence, deviated from their own internal practices and policies, and failed to provide clarity on expectations.

Further, Monarch Academy Baltimore’s roots in special education are extensive, impacting the Baltimore area since 1953, and extending to school districts around the country and internationally.

Currently, Monarch Academy Baltimore serves an urban population of children from kindergarten through eighth grade, including a majority from high economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. Nearly 12 percent of our students have special education needs. Many of our students have experienced poverty, hunger and trauma and need educational and social-emotional support. Our families seek out Monarch Academy Baltimore for its supportive and academically enriched environment after their children have fallen behind at other schools.

BCPSS’s recommendation cites low PARCC test scores, which do not fully measure the progress students have made—especially students from disadvantaged neighborhoods. Because of PARCC’s deficiencies, this test is being eliminated as an assessment tool by the Maryland State Department of Education in the 2020-21 school year. Still, even considering PARCC data, we have shown that students who have been with us for three years or more outperform students who have been with us for less than three years.

Monarch Academy Baltimore’s test scores are improving. Our iReady scores, a national assessment, show significant gains. From fall to spring in the last two years of assessments, Monarch Academy Baltimore has increased the number of students on or above grade level by more than 15 percent.

The Board must recognize that children who have suffered trauma must first be stabilized through a caring, supportive culture to be academically successful in school. Monarch Academy Baltimore has made a significant investment in addressing the whole child, especially our students’ social-emotional and behavioral health. In fact, our BCPSS’s School Effectiveness Report recognizes the success of Monarch Academy Baltimore in establishing a positive school culture and the effectiveness of our teachers.

Monarch Academy Baltimore has become a hub of the Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello community, providing boys and girls with one of the premier school facilities in Baltimore, in a safe, friendly environment that engages the whole child. The school has also worked hand-in-hand with the community and the Coldstream Homestead Montebello Community Corp. to help revitalize the neighborhood, and it serves as a host for Hungry Harvest, a low-cost fresh fruit and vegetable program.This year, Monarch Academy Baltimore in support of our whole child mission is improving affordable housing options and launched an initiative to purchase vacant homes in the area, renovate them and offer them to our families, teachers and community members at below-market prices to help stabilize and reinvigorate the neighborhood.

Monarch Academy Baltimore is committed to the children and families that we serve as well as to the Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello neighborhood. To close the school now would ignore the investment Monarch Academy Baltimore is making on behalf of our students. We believe that a continued focus on math and reading literacy, whole-brain teaching and standards-based practices will position our students to continue to grow in academic achievement. We strongly urge the Board of School Commissioners to further evaluate, look at our strong impact, renew the charter for Monarch Academy Baltimore and not take this vital educational choice away from Baltimore families.

Monarch Academy Baltimore is a public charter school operated by The Children’s Guild for students in kindergarten through eighth grade in Baltimore. Monarch Academy Baltimore provides students with an enriched, rigorous, hands-on, academic curriculum emphasizing project-based learning and the arts and technology. In addition, Monarch Academy Baltimore follows Transformation Education, an organizational philosophy that infuses a school’s beliefs and values into the look of the school building, instructional approach, teachers’ mindset and behavior and operating systems. (www.monarchacademy.org)