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Inner Harbor East Academy for Young Scholars
Address:
200 N. Central Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21202
Phone: 410-276-0306
The Inner Harbor East Academy for Young Scholars Charter School is a collaborative partnership between Sojourner-Douglass College (S-DC) and the East Baltimore Community Corporation (EBCC) that was formed to address the many social problems, particularly access to quality education facing the residents in East Baltimore.
The Mission of the Inner Harbor East Academy for Young Scholars is to provide a unique learning environment for pre-k through grade 12 students that offers an ecological approach to student achievement. This approach embraces the student, teacher, family and community, and the model incorporates human as well as educational services. In addition to meeting the Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) Master Plan goals and objectives, students will become life-long independent learners, critical thinkers, problem solvers, and effective leaders to meet the demands of a rapidly changing world. Fostering interactive parental, teacher, and community involvement is the critical component to achieving the Academy’s mission.
The Inner Harbor East Academy for Young Scholars follows an ecological approach to student academic achievement. The ecological approach is one in which, in addition to students and teachers, family and community are also considered essential building blocks of a results-oriented educational learning environment. The ecological perspective, graphically illustrated, recognizes that student performance and educational outcomes are achieved in an environment influenced and shaped by all stakeholders. This approach enhances, and exceeds available educational options, aligning the charter school with the mission and goals of the BCPSS Master Plan to achieve the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act.
This ecological perspective, a reoccurring theme throughout the history and philosophy of Sojourner-Douglass College and the East Baltimore Community Corporation, provides the framework for developing specific “family-community centered” strategies and activities to expand educational options. With the ecological approach, service providers and educators view the student as a whole person, more effectively providing an array of services to impact the challenges confronting families in the East Baltimore community. Offering coordinated educational and human services to the Academy’s families and students will produce improved educational outcomes. As a result, families will be strengthened by linking them to a school-based community support and a service network.
The ecological approach to student educational and social needs also enables teachers and educators to provide curricular opportunities that enrich student learning in and out of the classroom. The model also supports effective communication between parents and teachers, helping them work together with school managers and service providers to enhance student performance. Through regularly established parent-teacher meetings and workshops, parents/caregivers will participate in and help design innovative educational options. Finally, the ecological approach uses educational programs and activities that extend learning beyond the traditional classroom.