With almost half of Baltimore City school teachers leaving the profession within five years, a local partnership is working to help educators feel valued. The Educator Support Collaborative (ESC) creates partner teams each year to renovate teacher lounges and support spaces within Baltimore City schools. These spaces provide educators a place to relax and recharge during the school day.

Two TU staff members within the Office of Facilities Management spent their summer as part of a team working with the ESC to design and renovate a learning space within a Baltimore City school. KellyAnn Callahan, senior facility planner, and Kerry Spence, assistant director of design, worked with Youth Opportunity, an alternative school in West Baltimore that serves students who have not found success in traditional educational settings.

ESC brings together designers, contractors and furniture dealers to transform spaces into dedicated areas where teachers can decompress, collaborate and recharge during the school day. The schools are selected in the spring, and ESC teams meet with school staff to understand their needs. The designs are presented in May, and renovations are completed over the summer in time for the start of the school year.

This project focused on creating a more inspiring, functional and welcoming environment for students and educators. Team members, including Callahan and Spence, generously contributed their time, expertise, creativity and energy to bring the vision to life, demonstrating a shared commitment to supporting local schools and creating positive learning environments for students. 

Unlike many ESC projects, this renovation focused on a multi-purpose space that would serve students and staff. The redesigned space functions as an orientation area, lunchroom, study space, meeting room and place of respite for the school community. The space was completely revitalized this past summer and has already made a meaningful impact on the school community, showing how volunteerism and community engagement can make a lasting difference. 

The new space even caught the eye of local media. Check out the clip from WBAL TV News.