Joppatowne: the first homeland security school? Hardly!
I wonder how the students and faculty at the Homeland Security Academy in Baltimore City feel after this USA Today story ran about Joppatowne High School?
The article states that the school has “the nation's first comprehensive high school homeland security program.” What the story doesn’t tell you is that long before Joppatowne unveiled its program, just down the road in that tiny, obscure school system -- Baltimore City -- started its own program: the Homeland Security Academy located on the Walbrook campus. This program has been in existence since the 2005-2006 school year.
I always hesitate to claim that things are the first -- especially nationwide -- but I can say without hesitation that the program in Baltimore City was up and running well before the program in Joppatowne.
Just giving you guys a little clarity.
Categories: Baltimore City, Trends
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Comments
Thanks, John-John. But while Baltimore definitely had a homeland security-themed school before Joppatowne, I don't know if you could call the program "comprehensive." Sadly, events at the school this year have given students real-life exposure to the fight for homeland security. This is the building where, earlier this fall, a boy set a girl's hair on fire. There have been multiple arsons and lockdowns. As I reported in my story about metal detectors earlier this week, Walbrook is one of the three buildings in the city where school police are most concerned about violence.
Posted by: Sara Neufeld | December 12, 2007 12:56 PM
Sara, thanks for pointing out some of the issues that have plagued the school. But that still does not negate the fact that this school had a program years before the one in Joppatowne.
It's not fair to make a claim that a school is the first in the nation and completely skip over another school that has a similar prorgam.
Who knows, maybe a national story about the ingenuity at The Homeland Security Academy might be the kick the school needs to turn things around...
Posted by: John-John Williams IV | December 12, 2007 1:13 PM