Baltimore’s aging public schools are frequently in need of major renovation or rebuilding. When this occurs, the student body and faculty are usually moved to a separate facility for the duration of the construction work. The temporary facility is known as a “swing school.” In our community, the swing school is Northwestern High. Northwestern has been used as a swing school since it was closed as a public high school in 2017. Forest Park High School used Northwestern as a swing school in that year. Northwestern is currently being used as a swing school for Cross Country Elementary/Middle School, which is being rebuilt as a 21st Century School.
In summer 2025, Baltimore
Polytechnic Institute (“Poly”) plans to move to Northwestern as a temporary
space while its regular school building on Cold Spring Lane is being renovated.
The renovation is scheduled to be completed in the academic year of 2028/29.
This move will impact our community in many ways, so it’s to our advantage to
be aware of it.
Poly is a prestigious school for
science, math, and engineering students. It was founded in 1883, and the City
is justifiably very proud of this magnet school. Poly students have a 99% rate
of college acceptance and a 55% attendance in advanced placement (AP) classes.
The Poly student body reflects the population diversity of the City, with a
majority African-American enrollment and a slight majority of female students.
Poly was the first Baltimore City school to racially integrate in 1952. The
school offers many AP courses and takes pride in 23 interscholastic sports
teams and an award-winning band.
Many city, state, and community
leaders are proud graduates of Poly. Notable Poly alumni include H.L. Mencken,
Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Dashiell Hammett, among many others in the sciences, government,
and the arts.
In preparation for the Poly
move, members of our community met with representatives from Baltimore City
Public Schools (BCPS) at Northwestern in February in a hybrid in-person/Zoom
format. BCPS presented basic facts and the timeline for the move. State
legislators Delegates Sandy Rosenberg and Dalya Attar attended the meeting on Zoom,
as well as a representative from City Councilman Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer’s
office. This meeting was convened by CHAI, on behalf of the community.
Concerns raised by the community
focused primarily on transportation. The present student body of Poly is 1555,
by far the largest enrollment ever at the Northwestern facility, raising
concerns about the overall impact of a student body of this size on the local
community. Northwestern High is located in the Fallstaff neighborhood, where
parking for residents is extremely limited. Most of the streets are one-way,
with parking on both sides of the street. There are no parking pads in the backs
of the houses for homeowners to park their cars. Local residents pointed out
that some in the community do not return to their homes late at night, knowing
that there will be no available parking; instead, they stay with friends or
family. Multi-family residents occupy some homes in Fallstaff and park multiple
vehicles on the street, exacerbating an already existing parking problem. There
is a concern that many high school students drive to school, and Poly students
are probably no exception to this rule. Northwestern High has only 94 parking
spaces on site, barely sufficient for faculty and staff, with no spaces at all
for students. There is a deficit of about 40 parking spaces for just the
faculty and staff.
Also of concern is the increase
in traffic along the Park Heights Avenue corridor, morning and afternoon. As
current parents of Poly students can attest, there is considerable traffic on
Cold Spring Lane at the school at these times. This stretch of Park Heights is
already heavily traveled, with two large schools along this route (Cheder
Chabad and Bnos Yisroel).
Secondary concerns center on the
size of Poly enrollment. Cross Country Elementary/Middle School, currently
using Northwestern as a swing space, has an enrollment of 649. Poly has a
current enrollment of 1555 students. How will the influx of this large student
body impact our community?
These were the questions the
community asked of BCPS representatives at the public meeting. The answers
were, for the most part, insufficient or inconclusive. Community leaders
reached out to Del. Sandy Rosenberg after the meeting with concerns about these
unanswered questions as well as the lack of community engagement on the part of
BCPS. Delegate Rosenberg immediately arranged a Zoom meeting between community
leaders and representatives from BCPS to present our questions and concerns
once again, in a smaller group format and with decision-makers from BCPS,
including the Chief of Staff for the Baltimore City Public Schools. This
arrangement was much more satisfactory. In addition to Del. Rosenberg, the
meeting was attended by Del. Dalya Attar, Del. Tony Bridges, and a
representative from Senator Jill Carter’s office.
BCPS representatives stated that
they are aware of parking concerns and of the lack of parking in the area
surrounding Northwestern High. Their long-term plan is to find a convenient
central location near the school where school buses and student drivers can
park, and students can be transferred to shuttle buses for transport to
Northwestern. Several locations are under consideration, some of which, should
they come to fruition, are practical and satisfactory to the community. The
shuttle option would not only ease parking problems but could possibly alleviate
concerns about traffic jams at pickup and dismissal (depending on which
satellite site is picked). BCPS has to take into consideration that there needs
to be a different start and dismissal schedule for nearby Fallstaff Elementary
Middle School and that their teachers, staff, and parents need parking near
their school, too.
Del. Rosenberg also introduced
legislation to limit the time any school site can be used as a swing school to four
years. He subsequently removed this language from the bill because it has served
its purpose of raising this issue with the leaders of City schools. Del.
Rosenberg has pledged to continue working on this issue. That will include an
evaluation of other schools or facilities as possible swing schools as more
schools are renovated.
The community realizes that we
are fortunate to have Poly, a prestigious magnet school, as a temporary
resident in our area. We foresee minimal, if any, security issues with this
high-achieving and motivated student body. We are merely seeking practical
solutions to our questions and concerns at this early stage, before potential
problems materialize and when they may be more easily solved. Our primary
responsibility is to our home community and to make sure our residents are not
burdened in any way by this move. After all, we live here; Poly is a
temporary guest.
We look forward to many more
productive meetings with BCPS about this planned move and to a mutual
understanding for the good of all parties involved. We look forward to hosting
Poly students, faculty, and staff from 2025 to 2028 and wish them well with the
renovation of their home building.
We wish to thank our state
delegates, especially Del. Rosenberg and Del. Attar, for their ongoing proactive
interaction with our community and for sharing our concerns about this move.
Del. Rosenberg has been especially forthcoming in his assistance and
understanding, as always, for which we are very grateful.
