The school was on the bring of being shut down. The school was full of students who had been through tough times. Those same students did everything they could to prevent officials from shutting it down.
In the midst of all of this, the Baltimore Ravens decided to step in and pay the $1.5 million necessary for renovations and other necessary improvements at Renaissance Academy High School to keep its doors open. Rather than let the school going through turmoil be shut down, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said enough was enough in a tremendous charitable act.
Earlier this year, area officials announced a private donor came through with a $1 million donation to the school. The donor’s name became public when this week the Ravens said they weren’t stopping at their original $1 million pledge and would add an additional $500,000.
According to The Baltimore Sun, team executives announced the Ravens were the donor because they thought it would bring positive publicity to the school. Renaissance is just over 2 miles from M&T Bank Stadium where the Ravens play their home games.
“We saw it as an opportunity to get involved and where the Ravens could make a difference,” Team President Richard W. Cass, said.
Biscotti declined to be interviewed by The Baltimore Sun for their piece.
Other than the needed repairs being involved in the potential closure, another reason why officials discussed closing the school was due to a stabbing that occurred in November of 2015 when a student stabbed a classmate, who eventually passed away. Two months later, another student was shot in an apartment close by.
Thanks to the Ravens, work on the school has already begun with a construction crew working on the body of the school. Officials expect the renovation to be done on time for the new school year.
“When you walk into a school, it is going to feel like you are walking into a school and not through the back door,” Ana Castro, principal of JRS Architects, the firm doing the design for the school, told The Baltimore Sun.
“When your outside scope is one of blight, you want to feel safe when you enter your school,” Principal Nikkia Rowe said. “You want it to be a place of learning and powerful thinking.”
Rowe went on to add that the unknown future of the school and the aftermath of the 2015 stabbing had hurt enrollment at the school, but hopes the renovations will turn enrollment back around.
One thing that stands out about the school is its student-mentoring program known as Seeds of Promise. The Ravens are currently in the process of looking for other businesses to help fund the program for at least three years.
Another program at the school is run by The University of Maryland School of Social Work. The program is called Promise Heights and it appoints a social worker to the school who helps students deal with personal issues.
“Sometimes the negative behavior we see can be related to the sense of how you are valued,” Rachel Donegan, associate director of the program, said. “Throw-away schools can give a sense that kids aren’t valued. It will be good for the kids to feel externally valued because they have a nicer space and a prettier space to work in.”
