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2015-2016

Appreciation Report

Dear Friend of Patterson Park Public Charter School,

We are pleased to share our 2015-2016 Appreciation Report with you. In conventional terms, this is our annual report, but we changed the name because these accomplishments are not things we achieved alone. These are achievements that our donors, partners, and volunteers help make possible.

Our goals for this Appreciation Report are to tell you the story of PPPCS, summarize the year’s accomplishments, share personal stories, and look forward to future goals. In the practice of our Tribes community agreements, we appreciate you very much for your support of our school!

Sincerely,

Sarah Sandoval-Mohapatra Charles Kramer Jane Lindenfelser

President Principal Executive Director

Life-Long Learners

Healthy Families

Strong Neighborhoods

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About Our Students

PPPCS serves 686 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. All of our students are residents of Baltimore City; most of them live in neighborhoods north of Patterson Park. PPPCS is a tuition-free public school, so all Baltimore City students are eligible to apply. The diversity of PPPCS students reflects the neighborhood of the school. We celebrate and cherish this diversity because we believe children learn best surrounded by people from many different backgrounds.

57% Black

27% Hispanic

13% White

3% two or more races

100% Eligible for free meals; PPPCS is a Title I Schoolwide School

16% have Limited English Proficiency

12% Receive Special Education Services

Thanks to Freepik for the Vector images

About PPPCS

“Mrs. Cook is my favorite teacher. In her class, we did a play for the Kindergarten students, and our moms and dads. I was a porcupine. There were also snakes, monkeys, birds, and men! I wasn’t nervous at all.

-Demuriel

What’s next for PPPCS?

We have begun actively planning the school’s future. We have designated a “Next 10” committee, referring to the next 10 years of the school’s existence. In the spring, we hosted a Next 10 Forum to engage staff, parents, and students in conversations about growth, tackling questions around stability and how can we create offer the opportunity for a PPPCS education to more of Baltimore’s children. Transparency and collaboration are core values of this process. Please visit our website www.pppcs.org to learn more.

Something is missing!

We think pictures and stories are more fun than charts and graphs, so we left some out. If you’d like to see our latest budget or financial audit, please contact Debbie Mattera at 410-558-1230, ext. 393 .

The mission of Patterson Park Public Charter School is to provide a community-centered learning environment that values diversity and embraces a whole child approach to develop well-educated citizens.

Our Vision: Life-long learners, healthy families, and strong neighborhoods.

Our Core Values: PPPCS is a community-founded school driven to academic excellence and devoted to a whole child philosophy in a diverse setting. We believe in …

Challenging every child academically using interdisciplinary, thematic, hands-on instruction that fosters creativity, critical thinking and a life-long love of learning.

Developing character in our young people by cultivating civility, perseverance, resilience and shared responsibility.

Partnering with our broader community to support student success, healthy families and strong neighborhoods.

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We are a Community School!

Out of School Time

270 Students participated in 4- or 5-day after-school programming

170 Students participated in after-school sports (soccer, lacrosse, running, tennis, baseball, basketball, & volleyball)

130 Students participated in after-school clubs (Gardening, NAL, Robotics, Destination Imagi-nation, Chess, Girl Scouts, & Open Studio)

299 Youth attended summer programs at PPPCS

A community school is both a place and a set of partnerships between the school and other community resources. Its integrated focus on academics, health and social services, youth and community development and community engagement leads to improved student learning, stronger families and healthier communities. Here is a summary of our community school accomplishments this year!

Health Services

275 students received vision and hearing screenings

55 students received the flu mist vaccine

8 students received free exams and glasses at Lens Crafters

79 students received dental care from the Mobile Dentists

30 students received therapy from Villa Maria

20 students received mentoring from the University of Maryland School of Social Work

Food Access, beyond breakfast & lunch

250 Suppers served daily

125 families received food from the food pantry

193 bags of food were given away each month

Volunteer Ms. Sutton gives Kassan a sticker after the Mobile Dentists provide him dental care.

Our Community Partners Art With a Heart

Baltimore CASH Campaign Baltimore City Health Department Baltimore Community Foundation

Baltimore Curriculum Project Baltimore Dance Crews Project

Baltimore Department of Parks and Recreation Baltimore Medical Systems

Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts Baltimore Social/Bmore Kids Sports

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Banner Neighborhoods

BARCS Boy Scouts at St. Casimir's School

Breath of God Lutheran Church Butcher’s Hill Neighborhood Association

CampFire USA CASA de Maryland Charm City Fitness

Coppermine Fieldhouse COR

Creative Alliance Design Collective

Dominic “Mimi” DiPietro Family Skating Center Featherstone Foundation

Fitness Fun and Games Friends of Patterson Park

Gallery Church Girl Scouts of Central Maryland

Higher Achievement Hopkins Bayview Heart Health Department

Hord Coplan Macht Johnny Rad's

Johns Hopkins Health Systems Community Outreach Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Lenscrafters Lions' Club

Living Classrooms Loading Dock

Maryland Food Bank Maryland Science Center

MICA Mobile Dentists Morgan Stanley One Straw Farm

OrchKids Parks and People Foundation

Patterson Park Audubon Center Patterson Park Neighborhood Association

Playworks PNC Bank

Port Discovery Priority Partners Raising a Reader

Ready At 5 Relay Foods

Resumes and Beyond RoofTop HoT

Salt Tavern Southeast Anchor Library

Southeast Community Development Corporation St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church

Tribes United Stationers

University of Maryland Extension University of Maryland Dental School

University of Maryland School of Social Work Villa Maria of Catholic Charities

Waterfront Partnerships Wide Angle Youth Media

The PPPCS community celebrates Mexican & Central American Independence Day each September with a party full of cultural food, dancing, and traditions.

846 Volunteers

served

12,067 hours

The partnership was a

perfect opportunity to

fuse my professional

interests and assets

with a volunteer and

education opportunity

at our neighborhood's

charter school.

-Pat Lundberg, Design Collective

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10th Anniversary Year

PPPCS celebrated our 10th Anniversary this year! To kick it off, our students participated in a logo and poster contest. On September 19, over 170 community members gathered in the Park to

celebrate our 10th Anniversary! Community members were asked to write something they love about PPPCS on the chalkboard and pose with it in a picture. Our OrchKids Bucket Band and Fife & Drum Corps performed. Despite the hot sun, attendees enjoyed games of chess in the park. At the end of the year, a time capsule was dedicated in our library.

Technology Upgrades

Thank you to the France-Merrick Foundation for the $75,000 grant to support upgrades to our technology infrastructure, specifically our servers, networks, and phone system. These upgrades have greatly increased our technological capabilities and efficiencies.

OrchKids

PPPCS launched a full-time partnership with OrchKids who taught musicianship classes to Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten and Bucket Band and Choir classes to middle-school students.

Service to the Community

PPPCS organizes two semiannual Schoolwide Service Days. Students in every grade participated in service-learning activities. Some examples of these activities included:

Third grade educated younger grades about recycling and being green by performing a reader’s theatre, polling classes, and creating graphs on schoolwide knowledge of recycling. In addition, they learned about pollution and the Chesapeake Bay and what they can do to help.

Fourth grade made placemats for Meals on Wheels and collected canned protein items such as tuna for their pantry.

Service learning is one way PPPCS lives its core values of developing character in our young people by cultivating civility, perseverance, resilience and shared responsibility. Service learning also enhances the curriculum by extending learning to hands-on, meaningful experiences.

BIG this year

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Our National Academic League team made it all the way to the National competition this year. National games are played by using video conferencing technologies.

PPPCS received a school performance measure (SPM) score of 92 out of 100 points on climate and attendance.

Our attendance was 96%.

We received 564 applications for enrollment for 100 openings.

96% Attendance

92 SPM score

6 to 1 Applications for enrollment to

openings

Honor Roll

We hosted a Robotics competition at PPPCS in November, and our Robotics team competed in the World Championship for the second year in a row.

Our 3rd & 4th Grade Destination Imagination team won 1st place at North Central Regional Tournament competition and competed in the State competition!

Our Boys’ Basketball team made it all the way to the Baltimore City finals tournament, where they finished the season as #2.

Four of our 5th grade students placed 3rd at the 2016 Johns Hopkins Community Science Fair!

2016 School Survey

Staff gave PPPCS a 95.9 Overall Index Score in the 2016

School Survey! Parents gave a 91.1 Score! The School Survey

contains questions about administration, family involvement, physical environment and safety.

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Mayor Recognizes Teachers for Humane Education

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake visited PPPCS with ReLove to recognize two of our teachers, Ms. Raxenberg and Mrs. Giarratano, for implementing humane education in the classroom.

Dr. Kramer is a Transformational Principal

Our principal Dr. Charles Kramer is being designated a Transformational Principal by BCPS, an honor for leaders who “profoundly and successfully transform the lives of their students, teachers, partners and the community that surrounds them.” (www.baltimorecityschools.org) Follow Dr. Kramer on Twitter @DrChadKramer

2015 Partnership School Awardee

PPPCS earned a 2015 Partnership School Award from the National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS) at Johns Hopkins University. PPPCS was recognized for making excellent progress in strengthening and sustaining a comprehensive program of school, family, and community partnerships.

PPPCS provided detailed descriptions of specific strategies that help to engage more and different families in ways that support school improvement goals for student success. NNPS looks for evidence of good program development including teamwork, leadership, goal-linked plans for action, implementation, evaluation, and network connections.

“Patterson Park Public Charter School is applying research-based approaches to strengthen its welcoming climate and to engage parents and community partners in ways that improve student attendance, behavior, achievement, health, and high school graduation rates,” said Dr. Joyce L. Epstein, Director of NNPS.

PPPCS was recognized for its work in engaging and recognizing volunteers, as well as its efforts to build community and good character in its students.

“I love dancing with GoNoodle in Mr. O’Connell’s class!”

-Yari

Staff Honors

“My best memory from school is making grilled cheese in Ms. Murphy’s class. We used bread, cheese, and butter and cooked it. It was tasty. Everyone knows the recipe for grilled cheese.

Joell & Jefferson are my best friends.—They like Pokémon.”

-Victor

“I loved planting cool stuff in Ms. Ontiveros’ class! We planted sunflowers, lima beans, and tulips! I enjoy school when we get to garden.

-Adreanna

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Meeting Jane

Jane Lindenfelser is the new Executive Director at PPPPCS. Jane has been a teacher and has worked in Alumni Affairs for Teach for America Baltimore. We asked her a few questions to get to know her.

What are you looking forward to at PPPCS? Working with an incredible team and community on behalf of kids. This place, the people fill me with awe—it is so joyous. I have been reflecting on what I want the City to be for my daughter, and PPPCS embodies my vision of that—preparing kids for the life ahead and inspiring their passions. I grew up in a small town, and appreciate the strength communities gain from people building relationships with one another—knowing, loving, and showing up for each other. I’m so excited to get to know this community.

Do you have any favorite memories from school? Yes, I taught middle-school Language Arts in Baton Rouge, and I was so pleasantly surprised to learn that the boys in my class loved poetry! One boy in my class Jeremy, who was on the football team and flirted with girls, organized a poetry night where he recited his original poem about clouds; it was so beautiful and unexpected. Another boy Troy wrote poems only in the spirit of toilet humor. Poetry is risky and difficult, but students love the chance to create, make mistakes, and have a voice.

Is there a teacher who has had a particularly strong influence on your life? Yes! Ms. Welty—she was my English teacher and student council advisor. I got into trouble in high school for smoking and was suspended from my activities, including student council. I thought she was disappointed in me, but she told me that she wasn’t disappointed in me, everyone makes mistakes, and that she believes in me. I will never forget her saying those words to me.

Meeting Mr. Skeen

Steve Skeen is the new Resident Principal at PPPPCS. Mr. Skeen was a teacher in Baltimore City for 7 years. We asked him a few questions to get to know him.

What are you looking forward to at PPPCS? I’m looking forward to working with and learning a lot from the staff as well as meeting the kids. I’ve never worked at a charter school before, so I’m excited to learn how it functions.

What is something that you are proud of? When I was teaching at William Paca, just north on Lakewood, I volunteered to start up and coach the school baseball team, which I did for 2 years. Then I started teaching at Gilmor on the West side of the City, and I started the team there. We bused the players from Gilmor to Patterson Park to play. One game, William Paca played against Gilmor, and I was so proud to see that the Paca team that I had started had not only kept playing but also grew to double its size. I am so proud to have put that in motion.

You recently became a parent. How has the experience been so far? Yes, my daughter Evelyn is 3 months, and she fills me with more joy than I ever expected. I can’t wait to be there for the rest of her life. I think being a father has given me new experiences that have enriched my perspective on how we treat students in education. I’m more nurturing than I was before, and I’m excited to be there for all of the kids at PPPCS this year.

Fresh Faces & Fond Farewells

Fond Farewells “I’ve racked my brain, and there is no favorite memory, nor a story that captures what PPPCS has meant to me and given me. Rather, the simple experience of being here every day, even on difficult days, makes life simply worthwhile.” -Ed Rutkowski

Ed Rutkowski served as the Executive Director at PPPCS for 8 years and retired in July. We thank Ed for his service to the community, PPPCS, and all of Baltimore’s children. Despite retiring, Ed is looking forward to continuing his advocacy in Education in Baltimore City.

“When I think about my favorite memory from PPPCS, it is so hard to pick just one. If I must, it would be my 2nd trip to Spain with our middle school students. The trip was full of emotional highs and lows. While there, I watched the students’ awe struck faces as they got to see the things they read about in class for years. I was proud when they tried new dishes that they were unable to pronounce the names of and even more proud when they smiled and said they liked it. We all grew on that trip... I was able to appreciate their courage and open-mindedness. As I traveled around Spain with them, I couldn’t help but think that our future will be bright with these smart, open-minded students leading the way.” -Ms. Diya Hafiz

Ms. Hafiz, former Assistant Principal at PPPCS, is now the Principal at Brehms Lane Public Charter School. We will miss Ms. Hafiz very much, thank her for her service to PPPCS for 9 years, and wish her all the best in her future endeavors!

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Individual Donors (The following individuals supported PPPCS with

contributions of $500+ in FY2016.) Jennifer & Robert Amann Robert & Bradley Anderson Anonymous Christina Billiet & Andrew Vetter Candace Caraco Aaron & Shannon Fries Megan & Eric Hutchinson Bess Keller Helene Luce Bill & Mimi Mules Pat Murray Ed & Kay Rutkowski Michael & Betsy Rutkowski Sarah Sandoval-Mohapatra & Pramit Mohapatra Christopher & Dana Scott Edward Sharp Stephanie & Dale Simms Dave & Debbie Smeltzer Wilson & Sada Vandiver Carol Wagner John & Melissa Wesby (The following individuals supported PPPCS with

contributions of $100-$499 in FY2016.) Sandra Abdul-Hafiz Milica Ackers Michael & Luisa Amann Jennine Auerbach & John Murphy Sara Bahr Martha Barrett Robert Bellman & Carole Osterer Steven & Claudia Buckman Patricia Darling Patricia DeMaria Bailey & Stanley Fine Christina Fuller Tom Geddes Gail Godwin & John DiGirolamo David Good & Lori Anne Nicolle Gregory Heid Grant & Charlene Heslin Myra & Kalman Hettleman Melanie Hood-Wilson Patrick Irish Frank Jannuzi & Jennifer Martin Tasha Johnson Chet Keough Brian & Krista Kern Charles Kramer & Amy Wilson Sarah Lawhorne & David Murray Karen & Edwin Leland Albert Lietzau Nathaniel Lohman Lorie Lojzim Tiffany & John Lundquist Martin Marne & Susan Bowman Paul & Lisbeth Mitchell Carisa & Joseph Perry-Parrish Janet & Dean Player Gloria Romeo Norma Rosario & Angelo Ortiz Janice & Robert Rupp Charles Schomann Raymond & Marie Shipley Ian & Rebecca Smith Steve Sobelman & Sloane Brown Eric Strain & Grace Serafini Waqiba Strother Alan Sun & Jill Daniell Nancy & Mark Supik Philip Symonds & Leslie Sporn-Symonds Robert Trombley & Julia Wolfson Robert Wall Randy Sue Wase & Philip Goodwin Gregg Wilhelm & Marik Moen Peggy & John Workman

(The following individuals supported PPPCS with contributions of $1-$99 in FY2016.)

Jared Ackers William & Risa Agresti Michelle Alleyne Emily Augustine & Adam Bradbury Gabrielle Bashist Matthew Bass Sally Bennett Whitney Birenbaum Amanda Bourgeois Dave & Rea Bowles Dave Bradford Ryan Browning Nicole Burke Charles Butler Emilia Calleja Sanchez Pablo Calvo Jarret Cassaniti Ana & Gerrado Cervantes Bob & Amanda Choflet Martha Corrales Cash Crooms

Alanna Crotty Rlee Cummings Clarice Darling Ian & Shannon Davis Ken Eppard Sandra Farjardo Marie Flowers & Timothy Ross Margaret Gebauer Kimberly Gensler Zachary Gerth Barry Glotfelty Jodi Gowans Hailey Grandchamp Denetria Green Eliza & Randy Greer Arvin Guerra-Ramos & Teresa Ramos Anna Hanley Jack & Jean Heslin Keith Hill Kenny Hood Vanessa Hoppe Andrew Hwang Cynthia Hypki Tarnisha Johnson Amber Johnson Darryl & Mary Jurkiewicz Gary & Alice Just Laura & Thompson Kehrl Yoon Kim Klinton & Hallie Kinder Theodore Kuczarski Leslie Labrecque Michelle Lacroix Aurelia Lewis & Justin Davis Jane Lindenfelser Jenny Loza Tania Luna-Murillo Christa Makadia Deborah Mattera & Dan Ream Lindsay McConnell

Leo McFadden Michael Mitchell & Damaris Weeks Mixi Mondragon-Soto Derek Nesland Kelly O'Connor Jessica Pegorsch & Kristoffer Vandevander Erica Pitkow Libby Prewitt Lori Raxenberg Virginia Richard Karissa Rippy Cierra Rivers Gertrude Rutkowski Virginia Ryan Edward Sabatino Nicolas & Jennifer Sandoval Danyell Scott Philip & Che Shannon Tori Simms & Ray Hofmann Elizabeth Simon-Higgs Marjorie Smith Selina Smith Tom Stockton

Clare Strange Naseem Tarmohamed Bryan Tenney Maria Thomas Lisa Toole & SungWoo Kahng Michelle Tracy & Mike Otto Jason Trageser & April Lawson J. B. Van Wely Rosalyn Vera Sarah Waters Demitre White Erica Whorley James Wiedermann Joshwyn Willett Saralee Wolf Stephen Zielinski Ledin Zuniga Foundation and Organization Donors The Abell Foundation Action for Healthy Kids Alpha Phi Alpha Charitable Foundation AmazonSmile Foundation The Baker-King Fund Baltimore Community Foundation Baltimore Medical System Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts Breath of God Lutheran Church Butchers Hill Association The Eddie C. & C. Sylvia Brown Family

Foundation Family League of Baltimore France-Merrick Foundation Hoffberger Family Philanthropies Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Johns Hopkins Centro Sol Johns Hopkins Government and Community

Affairs Johns Hopkins Medicine East Baltimore

Community Affairs Johns Hopkins University Dept. of Security,

Parking, & Transportation

Joseph and Harvey Meyerhoff Family Charitable Funds

Kent Family Foundation Lois and Philip Macht Family Philanthropic Fund M&T Charitable Foundation Mark Parker for District 1 Maryland State Department of Education Patterson Park Neighborhood Association Ravens Foundation Ready At Five Safe and Sound Campaign T. Rowe Price Foundation The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation UPS Foundation William & Lanaea C. Featherstone Foundation Wright Family Foundation Business Donors 2910 on the Square 9Round Advance - The Document Specialists Baltimore Social Barcoding Bo Brooks Boston Street Dentistry Boston Street Running Canton Self Storage Castillo & Villegas Boutique and Day Spa Chesapeake Community Advisors Chesapeake Wine Company DAP Products Inc. Flynn & O'Hara Uniforms Friedman Computer Solutions H.U. Dove & Company Hamilton Bank Kona Ice Laughing Pint M&T Bank New Star Car Service On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina Ortiz Transport PNC Bank Really Raw Honey Reflex Fitness Relay Foods Riverside Advisors Samos Greek Island Grill Sharky's Bar & Grill Southway Builders T&D Plumbing & Heating Co. Target Take Charge of Education Teltek Systems Tindeco Wharf Trace Architects Weyrich, Cronin & Sorra, CPAs & Business

Consultants Workshop Development In-Kind Gifts Gifts in kind are greatly appreciated and fulfill

many of our diverse needs, including fishing rods for our fishing elective class and a drum set for our music classroom. We thank all of our friends and family members who give to PPPCS in such generous and imaginative proportions.

We greatly appreciate the dedication and

generosity of all of our donors and partners. If we missed your name in this Annual Report, please accept our apology and let us know, so we can recognize you in the future!

Thank You to Our Community of Partners

“I give to PPPCS because it is a way for me to give back to a school community that does so much for my child and her educational goals. I am so blessed to have her attend a school that really cares about her and our family.”

-Aurelia Lewis

27 N. Lakewood Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21224 410-558-1230 www.pppcs.org PPPCS is a Community School and a Title I School-Wide School.