We invite you to join us for any or all of our upcoming professional development 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.
Teaching Through Arts Integration! at City Neighbors Hamilton
Monday, November 9, 2026, 1:30 - 3 PM
Register Here: Experience Baltimore @ CNH - 11/9/26
City Neighbors are a set of arts-integrated, project-based, Reggio Emilia inspired schools. Come learn about arts integration, how it lives in our everyday classroom practice, and get some tools to support the practice in your classrooms or schools. Our time will include observations of arts integration in action, some learning ourselves through arts integration, and sharing of practices that help arts integration come alive.
Analog Play in a Digital World at The Green School of Baltimore
Friday, November 20, 2026, 9:30 - 11:30 AM
Register Here: Experience Baltimore: The Green School - 11/20/26
As technology becomes increasingly woven into students’ daily lives, schools are seeing growing concerns around stress, anxiety, overstimulation, and difficulty managing discomfort and strong emotions. Constant digital engagement can contribute to disrupted sleep, reduced opportunities to read social cues, increased reactivity, and challenges with being present and engaged in the moment. What if play could be part of the solution? This interactive workshop explores how analog play, in the classroom, outdoors, and in nature, can help students regulate stress, build resilience, strengthen social connection, and enhance learning. Participants will examine the ways technology can affect attention, regulation, social interaction, and students’ ability to tolerate boredom and discomfort. Through hands-on experiences and practical strategies, we will explore how simple, low-tech forms of play can create opportunities for students to slow down, connect, take healthy risks, problem-solve, and engage their senses.
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.
January - March 2027: Why Doesn’t Math Stick?An Investigation into dyscalculia’s impact on learning and best practice that support mastery.
Facilitated by City Neighbors Hamilton Special Educatore, Kim Farley
LOOK FOR ANOTHER YEAR OF CENTERING JOY in SUMMER 2027!
THIS EVENT HAS CONCLUDED: 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 the next Virtual Learning Opportunity:
Happy Teachers, Happy Students
Thursday, November 12, 2026 6 - 7 PM
No registration. No cost.
Zoom Link: City Neighbors Pop Up Workshop
Just hop on Zoom for a high quality learning session with City Neighbors High School English Teacher, Sean Martin.
The Workshop: "Happy Teachers, Happy Students" invites us to turn inward and explore how peace and joy in ourselves can become a foundation for peace and joy in our schools. Through mindful breathing, sitting, walking, and sharing, participants will create space to reconnect with the present moment and consider how our own well-being shapes the way we show up for students and one another. We will dedicate our time together to rest, heal, and restore so we can feel joyful in ourselves and bring that joy to the communities we serve. All experience levels are welcome.
The Format: Participants will learn by experiencing for themselves. They will review (or be introduced to) mindful breathing and walking. Then they will be guided in a deep rest, a guided meditation, a walking meditation, and a reflection.
The Outcome: Participants will experience peace and joy in themselves through mindful breathing. Participants will reflect on how their own peace and joy creates a foundation of peace and joy for the people they serve. Participants will understand how to access this peace and joy anytime, anywhere.
Sean Martin is a National Board Certified educator who has been teaching high school English in Baltimore for over twenty years. He practices meditation with the Flowers of Peace sangha in the Plum Village Tradition of teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. In his spare time, he likes to swim, read, relax, and fix things around the house.