As our 20th year winds down, we wanted to celebrate our 20 year anniversary by sharing a few accomplishments, acknowledgments, and 20 success stories to mark our time together.
Over the past 20 years, Children’s Scholarship Fund Baltimore we have served more than 7,650 students, distributed more than $14,230,000 in tuition assistance paid directly to schools in Baltimore, and or achieved a high school graduation rate of 97.9 percent. Nearly all of our 8th graders go on to graduate high school — and 84 percent of the children who participate in our program go on to college.
While numbers are important, they only tell part of the story. We are serving real families and schools who are making a positive difference in children’s education.
The path has not been easy or simple. Since our founding in 1999, there has been little change in two troubling trends.
- Graduation rates for poor students who attend public schools from K through 12 are less than 50 percent.
- The poverty rate in our city remains high. Nearly 24 percent live below the poverty line, which is $23,090 a year for a family of three. The percentage goes up from there when looking at just children, with 35 percent living below the poverty line and 61 percent living in low-income households that have incomes that are less than two times the poverty level.
This is why we continue our work. For just $2,000 per student per year, CSFB doubles the chance that these students will graduate from high school and go on to college. We are grateful to our generous funders, both foundations, individuals, corporations, and our alumni who support this life-changing program and enable us to do the work we love.
Throughout this 20th anniversary year, we highlighted some of the many people and stories that represent CSFB and the values we stand for. Here’s a look at some of the 20 stories we’ve highlighted this year.
Start of the Year
For a more in-depth look at our statistics and numbers, check our post from the beginning of the school year. It talks about the money spent on each child, and why parents have chosen to work with CSFB for 20 years
Stories Round One
In our first “20 stories” blog post, we highlighted a CSFB parent who is grateful for the program, one of our generous donors (who helped us reach our #GivingTuesday goal!), and the program founder, Suzanna Duvall.
Favorite Fundraisers & Events
In this post, we highlighted some of our favorite events over the past 20 years, such as the “City Learns” Scavenger Hunt, the Stylin’ Studies Fashion Show, and Fund the Future.
To read about some of our other favorite events, check out more here.
Keeping Families Together
One of the things that we think is important in a child’s education is staying with family. We make an effort to accept all siblings in a family, keeping families supported and together.
To read about some of our families that have stuck together through the program, check out this blog.
Scholar Stories
Last but not least, we highlighted some of our program alumni, like Joe Flemke, Jeremiah Alston, and Shawni Coleman. To read more about their stories, check out our post here.