One-of-a-Kind Daycare Center In Baltimore Helps Teen Parents
There are nearly 1,000 babies born to teenagers in Baltimore each year, according to the Kids Count Data Center. And that has led to a lot of students missing more than 20 days of school each year, making them chronically absent.
So officials at Benjamin Franklin High school came up with a way to help teen parents balance school work and child care. They opened the city’s first all-day childcare center within a school.
The center was three years in the making. Principal Chris Battaglia spearheaded a campaign to raise nearly half a million dollars from the city school system, the state department of education, the city health department, the United Way and other donors to renovate unused space in the building. The day care center opened its doors Oct. 30.