Kelsey Volkmann, The Examiner
2007-10-09 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

BALTIMORE -

When other students leave their schools for the day, the boys at Maryland’s first all-male charter school are just embarking on five more hours of math, homework, puzzles, debate team, physical education and dinner.

The 130 sixth-graders at Bluford, Drew and Jemison Math Science Technology Academy, which opened this year in East Baltimore only blocks away from homicide scenes, come from all over the city.

Some are the sons of lawyers. Others come from broken homes. But all stay from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and half the day Saturdays for field trips and guest speakers. Eight in 10 students qualify for reduced or free lunches.

“This is gang prevention so they aren’t on the streets becoming drug runners,” said Anne Emory, who came out of retirement after serving as an assistant state schools superintendent to co-found the school.

The principal and teachers call the predominantly black students “scholars,” with the goal of raising expectations and placing the focus on preparing boys for the city’s more prestigious high schools and opening their eyes to college.

This weekend, students with the best attendance and behavior will visit Morgan State University’s homecoming football game.

As Principal Kevin Parson walked through the school office Monday, past a display of university pennants, he called to an 11-year-old slumped in a chair, “Sit up, scholar.”

Parson, who grew up in Baltimore’s Latrobe housing projects, knows what happens to boys who drop out of school. He started teaching after working at a prisoner halfway house with the hopes of preventing young black men from getting into trouble in the first place.

“The gangs provide the protection, money and support that the families should provide,” he said.

“At this school, we are the students’ extended families.”

Student Tyrone Glenn said he likes that he isn’t distracted by girls and enjoys the longer school day.

But the extended hours also cost more, as public funding covers only the typical seven-hour school day, leaving the new school $400,000 in debt, said Benjamin DuBose, treasurer for the school, named after pioneering black astronauts and a doctor.

Financial hardships are common at many of Maryland’s 30 charter schools, said Joni Berman, president of the nonprofit Maryland Charter School Network. The state’s charter schools enroll 7,000 students, use public funds and operate independently.

Court backs charter funding

The state’s highest court ruled this summer that Baltimore City’s school board should dole out more for charter schools. This year, each charter student received $8,400, compared with the $13,000 spent per pupil at regular city public schools.

kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com