In 2014, the Johns Hopkins School of Education joined forces with Baltimore City Public Schools and Morgan State University to launch Elmer A. Henderson: A Johns Hopkins Partnership School. Now celebrating its tenth year, Henderson-Hopkins consistently ranks as one of the city’s top pre-kindergarten to grade-eight schools, according to U.S. News and World Report.
In the last five years alone, the number of Henderson-Hopkins graduates who continue on to college preparatory high schools has quadrupled, increasing from 16% to 63% between 2018 and 2023.
“We know our students excel when they’re in a stable, healthy, and inspiring environment,” says the school principal, Peter Kannam, Ed ’99 (MEd). “That’s why we invest not just in our whole child, but also our teachers, families, and community.”
“Building on the legacy of the prior East Baltimore Community School, Henderson-Hopkins has continued to grow and flourish to deliver on the promise of an excellent community school for the children of East Baltimore because they deserve it,” he adds.
Henderson-Hopkins’ holistic approach has contributed to some of its greatest achievements, like its rankings and high school acceptance rates, but also a record number of after-school programs, according to operations manager Kelsey Gilbert, Ed ’16 (MEd).
To bolster student success, the school now offers three pre-K classes, 38 after-school programs, and a comprehensive math tutoring program in partnership with the Whiting School of Engineering leading to improved math scores for third to eighth graders.
According to Gilbert, adding pre-K classes has helped students prepare for kindergarten, including those enrolling from the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Early Childhood Center, which shares the seven-acre campus with Henderson-Hopkins.
“We see such a big difference in readiness and success in early education,” she says. “It means that on our whole campus, kids can start in the center at 12 weeks old, and then when they’re four, they can enter our pre-k program and stay with us through eighth grade.”
Once at Henderson-Hopkins, students benefit from 43 full-time teachers, after-school activities for everything from arts and sciences to gardening and sports, and the math tutoring program, which now hires 63 Johns Hopkins undergraduate and graduate students to give lessons at the school four times a week. The tutoring program addresses learning losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been equally impactful for the tutors as it has for Henderson-Hopkins students, according to Xiaoxiao Ma, Engr ’24 (MS), a former tutor who is now a math instructional assistant at the school.
“When I was a tutor, that changed my career,” she says. “I felt most accomplished when I saw my students accomplish something, like getting a question correct or starting to understand something.” As an applied math and statistics graduate, Ma is now pursuing a Maryland teacher certification.
Ma’s passion is common among the teachers at Henderson-Hopkins and boosts the students’ experience, according to the school’s board member and parent, Calvin Smith. His 10-year-old son, Parker, has been enrolled since kindergarten.
“I appreciate that our kids have dedicated teachers and robust after-school programs that allow Parker to figure out his passions,” he says. “He’s comfortable and confident in who he is, can build relationships with other young people, and wants to contribute to society. I attribute much of that to the experience and exposure he gets here.”
An anchor for its East Baltimore neighborhood, the school partners with the Maryland Food Bank for a weekly food distribution program, amounting to 1.3 million pounds of groceries provided to more than 65,000 families thus far. The food helps fill in the gaps for families in Eager Park, a neighborhood designated as a healthy food priority area by Baltimore City. The cost adds up to about $1,600 a week, or $85,000 a year, but is manageable thanks to donations, Gilbert says.
The school also raises $25,000 yearly for teacher wellness initiatives, such as providing supplies, meals, wellness days, teacher appreciation weeks, and stipends for leading after-school activities.
“You develop relationships with the kids. They come to you during lunch or recess asking you to listen to their stories, and you become a therapist, a counselor, or a parent, but you’re still a teacher, too,” according to eighth-grade teacher Danielle Washington, who has taught at Henderson-Hopkins for ten years.
“It’s hard to show up as a teacher if I don’t feel appreciated or lack basic supplies,” she adds. “So, it makes a difference when the school administration considers us.”
“We must give our teachers the support they need so they can be there for our students,” Kannam says. “And we want students to come to school daily and love being here, to find their interests, joys, and passions, and then to thrive as students. I’m looking forward to continuing building that community here at Henderson-Hopkins.”
A contract school of the Baltimore City Public Schools system, Henderson-Hopkins continues to be operated by the Johns Hopkins University School of Education in partnership with Morgan State University.
“We operate Henderson-Hopkins, but make no mistake, this school’s vibrant community is what has made its first decade such a success,” says Johns Hopkins School of Education Dean Christopher Morphew. “We are so proud of our amazing Henderson-Hopkins students and their families, educators, and administrators.”
Topics: Alumni, Parents, Students, School of Education, Strengthening Partnerships