About 200 Baltimore City teenagers are returning to school since officials two weeks ago started a campaign to bring back all of this year’s high school dropouts, school officials said.
Principals have made phone calls, canvassed neighborhoods and knocked on more than 700 doors in search of the 925 students who since January have dropped out of school, school officials said. The success they’ve had holding two resource fairs where students can learn about their education options, including classes to earn a GED or fight substance abuse, has encouraged officials to hold six more of the fairs.
Andres Alonso, head of the city school system, said the success of the campaign is “not a one-time thing, but a shift” in the direction of a school system in which it has become accepted for students to drop out.
“I am incredibly encouraged by the response in so short a time and by the willingness of schools and our partners to go the extra mile for these kids,” Alonso said.
“I am not surprised at all, because I think that so many kids must regret making the momentous decision to drop out, and must feel impotent to change it, when in fact it is our obligation to guide them back to pathways that will take them to a good place in their lives.”
Many dropouts may have left because they became pregnant or had struggles with drugs or alcohol, but some said they were not challenged academically and became disillusioned with the system. The school system receives $10,000 in funding for each student enrolled.
Jack Jennings, head of the Center on Education Policy, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, called the campaign to bring back dropouts one of the most innovative he has come across.
“I’ve never heard of that being done on that scale, so it is unique, and it’s trailblazing,” Jennings said. “This fits in with [Alonso’s] other initiatives in just trying to find the best education possible for kids.”
Resource fairs for returning students
Wednesday, 2 to 8 p.m., Patterson High School
Thursday, 2 to 8 p.m., Northeast Middle School
Oct. 15, 2 to 8 p.m. Northwestern High School
Oct. 18, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Success Academy
