Exceptional partnerships are the center of the success that Child First Authority finds witen making an impact on the lives of students and families. Becoming a partner in the community requires great commitment and presents an opportunity for residents to have a voice. While each community where Child First schools are located is strikingly diverse, they unite with similar visions. A vision to have access to domestic resources and wraparound services, students to become more confident about possible career paths, middle school students to prepare to attend top high schools in Baltimore, and a safe space for children to prosper at the end of the school day.
As a lead community school agency in Baltimore, partnerships with organizations and local non-profits in the scholastic space allows Child First to create robust programming that enriches the lives of students, families, and the communities where they reside. In the 2022-2023 school year, Child First partnered with Art with a Heart, Clay Art w/ Herb Massie, D-N-A, Home Away from Home, and The Movement Team to provide captivating art instruction, fundamental techniques of DJing, culinary preparation, sports coaching, and mentoring. Further support services include mental health resources, housing and food access, parenting courses, efforts to remove absenteeism barriers, workforce development, and adult learning programs.
In 2023, Child First expanded into three new community schools to meet the needs of ever-evolving communities. With an increased Hispanic population, Child First instituted a staff expansion hiring a bilingual community school coordinator to bridge the gap between the community school framework and Spanish-speaking families. In addition, there’s an opportunity for additional community school coordinators within our organization to take beginner Spanish classes to further our organization’s commitment to inclusivity and interrelation.
Our work doesn’t stop when the school year ends. In an effort to prevent summer learning loss, the out-of-school time (OST) team developed an appealing summer enrichment program that effectively enhanced middle school student success through student voice and choice surveys. Programmatic changes were implemented to reflect student interests and allowed for academic support to improve educational outcomes during the school year. This resulted in the highest middle school summer enrichment participation in the history of Child First. Revolutionary features included a STEM curriculum developed through a partnership with BGE and the Y of Central Maryland that allowed students to create solar ovens, solar houses, and participate in hands-on and virtual reality-based training at the BGE training facility exhibiting yet another great partnership in action!
