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Community Engagement

At Roland Park Country School, we are committed to building a brighter future for our country’s children and are deeply connected to our local community. We also work with our students to help them understand their roles in effecting positive change. All of our Upper School students complete community service hours.

Our community outreach efforts began over a decade ago, when we first opened our campus to summer public school enrichment camps like Superkids and Reader’s Camp. RPCS is also motivated to become a part of the solution in the education of girls in Baltimore City and is working to develop ongoing programs that foster engagement.

Specifically, our community outreach efforts include:

  • RPCS created and opened the Lillie May Carroll Jackson School, a charter school in Baltimore City for girls in grades 5-8. RPCS was the first independent school in the nation to be approved to open a charter school. Students from both schools come together for several activities throughout the school year.
  • Roland Park Country School established Growing Girls and Gardens, a science-based program that improves academic skills and mitigates summer learning loss for students in grades 7-9 through community gardening as part of the Middle Grades Partnership program. Middle Grades Partnership program, which  provides educational opportunities, enriching experiences and access for Baltimore middle school students across social boundaries, through public and private school partnerships. By providing year-round learning opportunities that prepare students to excel in rigorous high schools and marshaling the considerable expertise of the two schools that are paired up, the Middle Grades Partnership addresses widening opportunity gaps between students. Middle Grades Partnership acts as a catalyst for change by nurturing partnerships that address inequities in education and beyond. Through Growing Girls and Gardens, RPCS partners with its sister school, Lillie May Carroll Jackson. Teachers from both school work together to design curriculum around gardenins, reading, science, writing, math, art, and dance for girls from both school. Since 2005, the program has served approximately 45 girls each summer.
  • RPCS hosts the B.E.S.T. (Baltimore’s Educational Scholarship Trust) academic enrichment camp for ambitious African American students from the Baltimore area who have financial needs. Once students are enrolled, B.E.S.T. positions them for success through academic preparation, character and leadership development, and support programs.
  • RPCS serves as a founding member of the National Network of Schools in Partnership, an organization that provides implementation support, thought leadership, and advocacy to public, charter and private schools, educational access and enrichment programs, and policy and education reform groups.