Baltimore City, County Teachers Prepare For Back To School

BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. (WJZ)—Summer is coming to an end, and it's back to school for thousands of kids in Baltimore.

Jessica Kartalija reports city and county school teachers and staff are getting ready for the start of a new school year.

With just days until the start of a new school year, city schools superintendent Andres Alonso delivers his State of the Schools address to more than 200 school principals.

"I think we have made incredible progress over time, and we know we have an enormous amount of work to do,"Alonso said.

Alonso calls the start of a new school year a celebration across the city.

"We are more than ready," he said. "Every single year we are more ready than the year before, and I think that we learn from the past. Schools do things well, and I think opening is one of the things they do beautifully."

In Baltimore County, at Catonsville High School, new teachers get hands-on experience to get them prepared for the first day of school.

"This exercise gets new teachers started with being acclimated here in Baltimore County," said John Staley. For teachers who are new and live in the area, now they get used to be being in the school system."

Debbie Piper is coordinator for teacher development. On Tuesday, 377 new teachers are the students.

"Sounds like a big number, but for us, it's actually a very small number of new hires," Piper said. "All of our curriculum offices are here today and teachers are in small group sessions learning about the subject they will be teaching."

And the new teachers say they're ready to get to work.

"I am teaching in the same neighborhood where I grew up, and it's wonderful," said Claire Rosenberg, Baltimore County school teacher.

"I am really excited. The principal at my high school [was] actually the principal of the high school I went to," said Meghan Goff, Baltimore County school teacher.

New Baltimore County teachers will have two more days to get acclimated, visiting their new schools and meeting with their assigned mentors.

The first day back to school for students is Aug. 29.