Community Partner: Liberty Elementary School
Intern: Chelsea Zou
Site Supervisors: Joseph Manko
What is the Liberty Elementary School?
Liberty Elementary School #64 is a part of the Baltimore City Public Schools System
located in Northwest Baltimore. Under the direction of Principal Joseph Manko,
Liberty Elementary has become one of the top performing schools in the city.
“At Liberty, it never feels like you’re doing the job alone, even when you’re in the trenches. It
really feels like a family.” This is part of Ms. K’s answer when I ask her why she loves teaching at
Liberty. After working at Liberty, I would definitely agree that the teachers, students, and
surrounding neighborhood all come together as a family. Even more, I am grateful that this
community adopted and welcomed me for 8 weeks this summer.
So much of my internship, aside from the tangible projects and responsibilities, has been about
learning how a school, given challenging conditions, can best educate its students. I’ve been
involved in preparing for the new school year. I’ve felt frustration at the inefficiency of higher
administration, especially when it comes to improving the conditions of school buildings. I’ve seen
the impact that a strong public school can make on an urban community that is largely poor and
African‐American. I now recognize how crucial it is to serve the ‘whole’ student by framing
education outside of simply math reading, which Liberty does thr