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Baltimore City College

3220 The Alameda, 21218; 410-396-6557

Charter/zoned school: Citywide high school with criteria for admittance

Grades served: Ninth through twelfth

Application process and deadlines: Baltimore City Public School students apply through their middle school guidance counselor who submits the applications by the December deadline. Students outside of BCPSS should contact Mr. Karl Starks at the Office of Student Placement at 410-396-8605.

Brief school history: Our vision for school improvement is to “produce graduates who enjoy studying and learning and are ready, willing, and able to perform as responsible leaders.” This is consistent with our 168-year history of producing local, regional, and national leaders in government, politics, business, and the arts. Our graduates include a Nobel Laureate, three Congressional Medal of Honor winners, Pulitzer Prize and Emmy Award winners, senators, congressmen, governors, mayors, professional athletes, and prominent persons in the arts, theater, film, and television. Our school motto reflects our commitment to hard work and excellence. It is “Palmam Qui Meruit Ferat, which means, “Honor to the one who earns it”. Ninety-nine percent of the graduates of the class of 2008 chose post-secondary education with 94% selecting a four-year college. In the last eight years, the selectivity of admitting colleges as measured by Peterson’s Guide to Four Year Colleges has increased by almost 100 percent.

School Leadership

Principal: Mr. Timothy Dawson

Contact information: 410-396-6557 (phone); 410-243-0669 (fax)

Vice Principals: Cindy Harcum and Dale Halterman

Academics

Baltimore City College is the third oldest public high school in the nation offering a college preparatory program of study in the liberal arts. As a citywide, magnet high school for the Baltimore City Public School System, “City” is the only school to offer the prestigious International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, an internationally recognized curriculum requiring students to apply knowledge and understanding within and beyond predetermined subject groups. City’s mission, to prepare students for success in the best colleges, is aligned with the academically challenging goals of IB. Long after earning certification as an IB World School in 1998, City continues to incorporate IB’s goal of developing the whole student by providing a balanced program of international awareness, critical thinking, and rigorous assessment. In the freshman and sophomore years, our students engage in the IB Middle Years Program, a program consisting of eight subject groups integrated through five areas of interaction that provide a framework for learning within and across the disciplines. By grade 10, students must complete the personal project. In the junior and senior years, students may select among Advanced Placement (AP) and IB Diploma courses. In the DP program, students study six courses at higher or standard levels and complete additional core requirements of the extended essay, theory of knowledge, and service. Those who commit to the full two-year IB curriculum are candidates for the IB Diploma. Those students who elect to take up to five IB courses over a two-year period are candidates for the certificate. Among our 40 Advanced Studies classes, we offer six courses in Advanced Placement.

City College students are expected to earn 29 credits and meet the following distribution requirements: English, four credits; fine arts, two credits; foreign language, four credits (including Latin); health, 0.5 credit; information technology, one credit; mathematics four credits; physical education, 0.5 credit; laboratory science, four credits; social studies, four credits. City College requirements exceed those of the State of Maryland in fine arts, foreign language, mathematics, and social studies. Students at City College must earn a minimum GPA average of 70 each year to remain enrolled for the next school year. An additional program requirement for students entering ninth grade in the 2007/2008 school year is successful completion of the IB Middle Years Personal Project.

Test Scores

City College met Adequate Yearly Progress in all categories for the last five years. More specifics on scores including the High School Assessments are available here.

Enrichment Activities

We offer an extensive program of co-curricular activities and clubs that include Speech and Debate, Model United Nations, Red Cross, Global Action Committee, Students Helping Other Students, Film Society, Drama Club, Foreign Language Exchange, It’s Academic, and more. Among the more prominent of our activities are the world-renowned choir and our regionally recognized speech and debate programs. Our athletic program is represented by boys' and girls’ basketball, lacrosse, and soccer; girls’ badminton; our co-ed swim team; and our perennially strong football team.

Teaching Staff and Classroom Management

Teaching staff: The faculty consists of 73 full-time teachers and one part-time teacher. Our faculty averages more than 10 years of teaching experience with most of our teachers having earned advanced degrees in their area of content. Our academic advisory board is represented by the principal, three administrators, and nine department chairs and/or liaisons.

More information on student demographics is available here.

Facility Description

Founded in 1839, City College is a national historic landmark. The “Castle on the Hill” is located on the 32-acre hill bordered by 33rd Street, The Alameda, and Loch Raven Boulevard. Our students have access to six computer classrooms, three arts labs, an electric keyboard lab, a language lab, and six science laboratories.