Amber Outlaw watched her 5-year-old son, Brandon, romp around the playground after school last month. It’s his first year at Matthew A. Henson Elementary School in Baltimore. Litter lines the outside of the fence, but there are two playgrounds and a huge lawn. Outlaw said she likes the school — the friendly staff, the feeling of safety that doesn’t always extend to the Easterwood neighborhood as a whole.

About a quarter mile away is a mural commemorating Freddie Gray at the site of his arrest on April 12, 2015, at the age of 25. Outlaw didn’t know that Gray had attended Henson Elementary. “That’s something I can teach him,” she said of Brandon.

Nor did she know that, when she’d studied at the now-closed William H. Lemmel Middle School in the early 2000s, Gray had also been there. She doesn’t remember him from back then.

She knows his name now, 10 years after he died of injuries received while in police custody, which catalyzed uprisings throughout Baltimore that drew national attention. But before Gray became a young man famous for his death, he’d been a City Schools student taught at Henson Elementary, Lemmel Middle and Carver Vocational-Technical High School.

Public testing data, an imperfect measure, shows that the schools faced challenges in educating students when Gray attended. And Hensen and Carver still do today in some ways, despite a decade of intervention and promises since Gray’s death. (Lemmel shut down five years before Gray was killed.)

The year after Gray’s death, Baltimore City Schools got a new CEO; the previous one having been forced out by the school board amid concerns he lacked vision and follow-through.

His successor, Sonja Santelises, a former chief academic officer within the school system, told The Baltimore Sun at the time that she was ready to seize a “moment” in Baltimore since the uprisings, which put a national spotlight on the city’s systemic issues, including a school district plagued by lagging test scores, low enrollment and failing physical infrastructure.

“With all of this attention on Baltimore, we can show that this is still a place where excellent schooling — for low-income kids, for kids of color, for all kids — can still take place,” Santelises said.

In the nine years since she took over as CEO, she’s drawn a mix of praise and criticism for either mitigating systemic issues or failing to keep them in check. The next academic year will be her last as the system’s leader. The city school board agreed to a one-year contract renewal last June, though Santelises said she’d wanted to stay longer.

At a City Council hearing about the state of City Schools last year, Santelises defended her record: “We now have young people in Freddie Gray’s neighborhood who know how to play a violin and who can take algebra in middle school,” she said. “Because when I came, none of that was there.”

Through a spokesperson, Santelises declined to comment for this article.

Matthew A. Henson Elementary (attended 2000-01)

City Schools officials said Gray was a Baltimore elementary schooler for only one academic year; it’s unclear what he did before that. After providing his dates of attendance, the school district was unable to give any further information to explain the timing of his grade levels and eventual dropout in the ninth grade.

During his year at Henson Elementary, the school outperformed the city average in some areas.

In 2000, the state used the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program test to measure academic progress. The Sun published the schools’ composite index scores at the time, roughly equivalent to the percentage of students who scored at a satisfactory level on the test. In 2000, Henson Elementary scored 27.4, compared to the city’s 20.5, both significantly lower than the state average of 45.3 that year, though.

Now, students take the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program test, which a Maryland State Department of Education spokesperson said reflects changes in state standards since prior assessments.

As of 2023-’24 data, 19% of Henson Elementary students in grades three through five were considered proficient at math and 17% in English language arts, compared to 14% and 23% districtwide, respectively.

Math is a tough subject to learn, said Christian Anderson, associate professor of mathematics education at Morgan State University and a former Baltimore teacher during some of Gray’s time in the district.

There are numerous factors contributing to why it’s a been a trouble area for so long, he said, such as a national curriculum trend to emphasize critical thinking over memorization and shortcomings in the way teachers are trained.

Language arts scores tend to be higher because reading is associated with all the subject areas, whereas math can be more isolated with science, he said.

There are other issues to contend with, as well.

“Food deserts, lead paint, safe and affordable housing — there are many society forces that are not academic forces that impact students” and their performance in Baltimore, Anderson said.

Henson’s attendance rate last academic year was 87%, above the city’s by 2%. The school earned three out of five stars on the 2023-’24 Maryland Report Card accountability metric, a grade that includes academic performance, attendance and surveys about school culture, among other components.

Shirley Squirrel, parent to a 10-year-old at Henson, said she grades it at about 80 out of 100, due to its good teachers and services like a food pantry, though the school “could be better.” Her daughter is a special education student, as was Gray, who had learning disabilities reportedly from the lead paint exposure. Squirrel said educators handle her daughter’s individualized educational plan well.

Misskay Wilson works as a crossing guard at Henson. She sent her kids there and also attended as a child. “It was good; it was always good,” she said of the school.

Academics aren’t the only way to judge a school, Anderson said.

“It’s very important for a school community to create an environment where … students feel safe and feel heard and feel validated in a school environment where they can achieve,” he said. “When schools do that, that’s what people remember. They remember how a teacher made them feel, not necessarily what they learned in class.”

William H. Lemmel Middle School (attended 2001-2005)

Outlaw, who graduated from Lemmel Middle in 2005, described her years there as a fun time, remembering a museum trip and a project tracking cicadas. The school had a sense of community, just as Henson Elementary does today, she said.

Karen Kotchka worked at Lemmel Middle in the early 2000s, when Gray and Outlaw attended, as a former staff developer and chair of the English department. She recalls inventive ways educators would make learning fun, such as competing in a Black History Month trivia contest.

“I don’t think Lemmel ever really had that good of a reputation,” said Kotchka, who now works as a librarian in Washington. “I’d tell people I worked there, [and they’d say,] ‘Oh, that’s a terrible school.’ … But [the principal] was very creative and encouraged people to be creative as long as it benefited the kids.”

Both Kotchka and Outlaw cited the band program in particular, and Outlaw participated in music and mentorship. Although she admits to being a “spitfire” at the time, she said, “They stayed on me” academically. She credits her teachers with helping her get into Saint Frances Academy for high school.

In 2003, the first year for which the education department still has data publicly available, 19.6% of Lemmel’s eighth graders were considered proficient at reading, and 5% or less were proficient at math on the Maryland School Assessment, another standardized test. The city averages were 26.3% for grade eight reading and 9.8% for math that year.

The attendance rate that year was 86.1% at Lemmel, in line with the city’s middle school average of 86.6%.

The following year, reading proficiency for eighth grade jumped up to 34.7% (district 36.8%) and math to 5.4% (district 16%). But the school was able to beat the city middle school average in one metric: The attendance rate was 92.3%, 5.8% above the district. The cause of the increase is unclear.

But the facilities were in rough shape. In fiscal year 2002, Lemmel was the only school out of 100 inspected by the Department of General Services rated as “poor.”

Kotchka made a case to the Board of Education to save the school from closure in 2009, saying it would “cause instability and disruption in both the lives of our students as well as the schools that they will be siphoned into.”

She talked about the many special programs Lemmel had implemented, including a gifted and talented program, mentorship opportunity and truancy court initiative that had helped turn around attendance issues.

“I am reminded of the old saying ‘throwing the baby out with the bathwater,’” she said in closing. “It is a phrase of German origin taken from a treatise written on fools who, by trying to rid themselves of a bad thing, succeed in destroying whatever good there was as well.”

Her passion couldn’t save the school, which was one of several to close as part of a 2009 district reorganization plan.

Looking back, Kotchka said the school wasn’t “breaking any records with our test scores,” and enrollment had dropped. Around that time, she said, more charter schools started opening, and elementary schools began a trend of adding higher grades so students didn’t have to leave as soon. Lemmel’s per-pupil funding went down, and its large facility became a “burden” to the district, she said.

“The main reason we see schools close isn’t that students fail, but they don’t see enough students to stay open,” said the Rev. Derrick DeWitt Sr., president of Clergy United for the Transformation of Sandtown, a nonprofit serving Gray’s former neighborhood. He’s also a board member of New Song Community Learning Center, a charter school operator in West Baltimore.

Two charter schools, ConneXions: A Community Based Arts School, serving grades six through 12, and Bard High School Early College Baltimore, now occupy the former Lemmel building.

“I think it’s good to have a lot of choices for types of schools,” Kotchka said. “Different kids thrive in different kinds of environments. You could go to a college prep program or an experiential learning program — they’re very different in their approaches.”

However, conflict resolution can be difficult when charter schools bring in students who aren’t from the neighborhood, and parent involvement can be lower when families aren’t living in the community, DeWitt said.

And even the charter schools, which often draw students from across the area and have selective entry processes, are also teaching many children who are living in poverty and coming to class without enough supports.

ConneXions scored two out of five stars on the most recent Maryland Report Card. As of 2023-’24 data, 5% or less of students were deemed proficient on both sixth through eighth grade math and Algebra 2, compared to 6% and 9% citywide, respectively. English language arts for grades six to eight was at 15% proficiency, half the rate of City Schools. Attendance was at 85%, the same as the city average.

Bard High School, a partnership with Bard College in New York that allows students earn college credit, was also a two-star school for 2023-’24. As of that year’s data, 10% of students were considered proficient on the Algebra 1 assessment, one percentage point above the district. (Many of the more advanced students had already taken the Algebra 1 test in middle school.) High school English language arts was a high note, at 53% proficient compared to 35% from City Schools overall.

Annette C. Anderson, deputy director of the Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Safe & Healthy Schools, a graduate of West Baltimore schools and the founder of a university-partnered charter school in Pennsylvania, was surprised to hear Bard had only been awarded two stars, as she’s seen what a positive effect its model has had on some students.

However, she said, “University partnerships are not inexpensive, and they require a lot of oversight. Those partnerships require a lot of work.”

Bard College did not provide a comment on the high school’s two-star status.

Annette Anderson’s brother and sister attended Lemmel Middle and were part of a gifted program that they loved, she said. “Many of the teachers were from the community. The teachers also went to our church. These are people you saw in the community,” she said.

Carver Vocational-Technical High School (attended 2005-08)

Carver Vo-Tech, where Gray attended high school, had over 1,000 students this academic year. Its E-shaped building is nestled against a park, train tracks and a football field, where Gray played on the junior varsity team. He’d been enrolled for three school years, leaving in April 2008, City Schools said.

Attendance and graduation rates were higher at Carver during Gray’s tenure than they are now — attendance never fell below 86% during those years, always beating the district by at least a few percentage points, and the graduation percentage stayed in the mid-80s to low-90s.

In the most recent data, attendance was at 67%, however, compared to 85% for the district, and the four-year graduation rate was 71%, the same as the city’s figure.

“All of the school systems don’t do enough with truancy, and reducing the dropout rate with these kids is so important. … You find education has become the exception. Why is ‘I graduated’ the exception to the rule versus the normal?” DeWitt, the charter school board member, said.

Testing data from Gray’s era is mixed, with Carver students often falling behind the district and other times pulling ahead. But in the recent data, Baltimore City’s average performance beat the school’s.

From 2005 to 2007, Carver’s algebra proficiency rates on the state assessment were 8.1% (district 21.8%), 34.9% (district 36.8%) and 33.3% (district 28.6%), respectively.

On 2023-’24’s algebra test, 5% or less were proficient. The city average was 9%.

English 2 proficiency rates were 34.1% (district 34.6%) in 2005, 30.4% (district 37.3%) in 2006 and 57.4% (district 48.1%) in 2007.

On the most recent 10th grade English assessment, 20% were deemed proficient; City Schools students overall were at 35% in 2023-’24.

“State testing is a snapshot. It’s a moment in time. We never know what students were going through on that particular day or in that season of their lives. You can’t put all learning achievement on results of a test,” Morgan State’s Anderson said.

English is 16-year-old Kaylen King’s favorite subject at Carver. “They teach me well, and I learn very quickly at that,” he said.

Jayonna Powell, also 16, was quick to say she has all As. She likes her teachers, though some are too strict, she said. Brianna Prince, 16, said she’s being well-prepared for a career in cosmetology.

Jarren Matthews used to work at Baltimore City College, the city’s oldest public high school. He’s now a counselor at Carver Vo-Tech. “They’re different worlds,” he said.

“Parent involvement isn’t as great [at Carver]. You can tell the difference when parents are involved.”

DeWitt pointed out that many families in the West Baltimore area are struggling with concerns such as food insecurity, a lack of jobs, addiction and crime that make parent involvement and academic achievement more challenging.

Matthews tries to help students deal with some of these broader issues. “They’ve gotten used to so much trauma. A lot don’t know how to cope with it,” he said.

Hopkins’ Anderson said City Schools have ramped up resources for mental health and social and emotional learning in the decade since the uprisings. “Our young people have seen some things,” she said.

Gray’s death has had other impacts on education, DeWitt said: “That incident eroded the trust of young people in any kind of government system, including education, or at least helped to erode the trust,” he said. Kids who remember it “don’t trust teachers. They don’t trust police. They don’t trust any figures of authority to be on their side.”

On a recent morning before school, authority figures were plentiful on campus — staffers, mentors from a nonprofit, a crossing guard, a police officer — keeping eyes on the teens as they shuffled to class.

Many of the students said they didn’t know who Gray was, much less that he’d been a Bear like them, walking the same halls and seeing out Carver’s large windows to the neighborhood just outside.

Have a news tip? Contact Kendyl Kearly at kkearly@baltsun.com or on X as @KendylKearly.