D.I.Y.PD@CityNeighbors is an emergent professional development opportunity, driven by the community of practitioners in attendance. Come together, build community, share practice, get a new idea, share a problem of practice, or just keep innovating, broadening, and thinking. We will present four short breakout sessions for you to choose from, all rooted in our child-centered, democratic ideals of education. DIY PD@CityNeighbors is always free!
Thursday, February 26, 5 PM DIY PD and Dinner Registration February
Thursday, April 23, 5 PM DIY PD and Dinner Registration April
We invite you to join us for any or all of our upcoming professional developent opportunities!
We are excited to announce our continuing collaboration with some of our partners to continue learning and connecting with other schools right here in Baltimore who are aspiring to provide child-centered, authentic, and democratic practices. All events are free.
Thursday, February 19, 1:00 - 2:30 PM Watershed Public Charter School: Consider How to Integrate Arts into Outdoor Learning, REGISTER HERE: Watershed Public Charter School Visit and Learn
Thursday, March 3, 11 AM - 12:30 PM The Park School of Baltimore: Experence our Challenge Course, REGISTER HERE: Park School of Baltimore Visit and Learn Registration
Friday, March 13, 9:30 - 11:30 AM The Green School of Baltimore: Green Hour: Connecting with Nature to Benefit Our Mental Health, REGISTER HERE: Green School of Baltimore Visit and Learn
Wednesday, April 15, 9:00 AM - 12 PM Baltimore Montessori Public Charter School: Sprouting Seeds - Growing a Seed To Table Program, REGISTER HERE: Montessori Visit and Learn
Friday, May 22, 2:00 - 3:30 PM Lillie May Carroll Jackson Public Charter School: Activism in Action: Taking Action for Equity in Our City, REGISTER HERE: Lillie May Carroll Jackson Visit and Learn
City Neighbors Communities of Practice: Join powerful, like-minded educators who are committed to great child-centered teaching practice. Learn, share, push, and grow in a City Neighbors Community of Practice. Participation is free. Applications due February 16, Launches March 2026
Communities of Practice Application: Core Principles of National Board Certification
We are excited to launch our first design experience: Centering Joy: A City Neighbors Design Something. This three-day summer experience will take place from July 8 to July 10 from 9 AM to 3 PM and will immerse a cohort of educators in an opportunity to create a practice, an approach, a structure, an idea that centers joy in their classroom spaces or schools. The experience will take place in-person at City Neighbors High School. The three-day experience will include workshops, design experiences, coaching, interactive and creative exploration, community connections, and more.
Participants will also be invited to participate in two evening group activities, receive a set of texts, and - of course - swag. Light breakfast and lunch will be provided each day. Interested participants should complete the online application. Applications will be reviewed and accepted on a rolling basis with a limit of 30 participants in this first cohort. The cost for the institute is $155 for all three days, payable upon acceptance into the experience. Center Joy Pre-Registration Form
Join us for this Amazing Virtual Learning Opportunity!
No registration. No cost.
Zoom Link: City Neighbors Pop Up Workshop - Wednesday, 2/18/26
Just hop on Zoom on Wednesday, February 18, 2026 from 6:30 - 7:30 pm for a high-quality learning session with Dr. LaTrina Johnson, Balm for the Younger Self: A Letter to the You Who Needed to Hear It
This workshop creates space to speak to your younger self with honesty and care. You'll leave with a letter you can keep, revise, or even burn—and with a practice for holding yourself (and others) with the kind of love that doesn't require perfection. This is testimony as healing, plain speech as gift.
This workshop is for anyone who carries a younger self inside them—which is all of us. Parents, educators, students, community members. This work is for you if you've ever wished someone had told you the truth sooner, or if you're ready to tell it to yourself now.
Required Materials: Bring a photo of yourself as a child. In this workshop, you'll write a letter to your younger self—not to fix the past or rewrite your story, but to offer recognition, rootedness, and the kind of love that sees clearly. What does that younger you need to know? What truth would have changed everything? We'll write, reflect, and share in community, practicing the Womanist love that refuses to look away from our complicated truths.
