Clay Hill Public Charter School

About Us

A partner school to Patterson Park Public Charter school in Southeast Baltimore, Clay Hill Public Charter School (CHPCS) opened in Fall 2021 serving 186 students in grades Kindergarten through 3rd grade. CHPCS is growing year by year to serving 540 students in grades Kindergarten through 8th when at full capacity.

CHPCS's mission is to be a place where children thrive as members of a vibrant and inclusive learning community with families, caregivers, staff, and neighbors engaged in a practice of whole-child education. By teaching and learning from one another, we embrace unique identities and cultivate an atmosphere of love.

CHPCS's vision is life-long learners, healthy families, and strong neighborhoods.

Curriculum

The CHPCS curriculum reflects the best practices at Patterson Park Public Charter School while also reflecting the identities, interests, and needs of the unique CHPCS student body.

• Whole - Child: The CHPCS curriculum is rooted in serving the whole-child using the Community School model through our school values of children, equity, love, creativity, wellness, and collaboration. This looks like but is not limited to, believing in the awe-inspiring power of children and together ness, embracing unique identities, creating a network of support, fostering critial thinking, and improving physical, mental, social and emotional health

• Interdisciplinary and Thematic Instruction CHPCS will use a motivating learning model that teaches the same theme to create meaningful connections across subject areas. For example, in 3rd grade, students will study the Chesapeake Bay in social studies class and then illustrate algae blooms and draw crabs from real life examples in art class. At CHPCS, students will be engaged in their own learning by pursuing their own interests and having choice about how they find answers and solve problems. The curriculum will promote a love of learning through additional instruction in art, music, physical education, Spanish, and community service.

• Cross-Curricular and Community-Based Learning: Instruction at CHPCS will aim to engage every type of learner by using hands-on and real-world learning experiences. We believe that when students can apply what they are learning to real life, it is more authentic and engaging. We see our neighborhoods and Baltimore City as living classrooms and take advantage of all they have to offer. For example, in 6th grade math, students will participate in an “Aquarium Design Challenge” where they apply lessons about surface area of three-dimensional shapes from math class to engineering concepts studied in science.

• Partnerships: CHPCS manages over 15 partnerships to support our curriculum and supplement our school operations. Some examples include:

- Language Project - provide Spanish Language lessons during the school day

- Baltimore Symphony Orchestra – Provides musicianship classes during the school day

- Y of Central Maryland - Provide aftercare programming

- Villa Maria Health Continuum – Provides on-site mental health care

- Maryland Food Pantry - Supplies our on-site food pantry

- Vision for Baltimore - Preforms free vision screenings and provide free glasses to students who need them

How To Apply

Enrollment deadline is 2/2/26.