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City School Works To Stay Off Chopping Block

BALTIMORE (WJZ) --One city school is on the defensive trying to stay off the city's chopping block. City school leaders are considering a slew of schools to close.

As Gigi Barnett reports, parents and students say if the school shuts down, they don't have many other options.

Renaissance Academy is the only high school in the Upton/Druid Heights neighborhood of west Baltimore. Classes there are small and students say they get the attention they need.

"Being here makes me feel safer than I felt at other schools. They actually get involved in your life and it's not a big school so everybody knows everybody," said student Kahlil Bridges.

The school says it received notice last week that it was on a list of Baltimore schools to shut down at the end of the year. Parents, teachers and students immediately launched an emergency meeting, rallying to block the closure. Many of the students are high-risk and low performance is to blame for the potential shutdown.

"Closing Renaissance is the wrong thing to do. It actually has a model that can be replicated throughout the Baltimore public school system," said parent Loreal Mallett. "And it should be."

The school is a little more than a mile away from where Freddie Gray was arrested. The school's staff received national and local attention for helping students cope with the unrest and riots back in April following Gray's death.

"The school has been the base and it's been the base when everything has fallen apart. So to have that foundation challenged or rocked, I think it will create a lot of challenges," said Renaissance Academy social worker Hallie Atwater.

WJZ contacted the school district about the next steps for Renaissance Academy. School leaders would not confirm that the high school is on their list of schools set to close.

City school leaders say they will not release the names of schools on their shut down list until their November 10 board meeting.

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