Whether it be convenience, a new administration or ties to the community, few parents and students are taking advantage of the transfer option offered at three local Title I schools.
Lansdowne Middle School and Baltimore Highlands and Riverview elementary schools offered the transfer option after a low percentage of students produced passing scores on the annual Maryland School Assessment exams, said Charles Herndon, spokesman for Baltimore County Public Schools.
Title I is a grant program for economically disadvantaged schools, according to the website of Baltimore County Public Schools.
Deadline to apply for the transfer option was Sept. 16.
Official numbers for this school year's enrollments are unavailable.
Last year Baltimore Highlands had 514 students, Riverview had 428 students and Lansdowne Middle had 610 students, according to the Baltimore County Public Schools website.
Nicole Norris, principal of Lansdowne Middle, said the school had only eight applications for the transfer option.
Students transferring from Lansdowne Middle will go to either Pikesville or Woodlawn middle schools, according to a release from Baltimore County Public Schools.
"I was very pleased," Norris said about the low number of applications. "It was definitely my goal to keep students in their community school."
Despite having to offer the transfer option, Norris said the middle school has improved its MSA scores over the past few years while falling short of the Annual Yearly Progress goals.
Norris added that being a Title I school means receiving extra funds used to run after-school programs and supplying transportation for the students involved in them.
Laurie Slack attended Lansdowne Middle School and has sent her two sons, Steven, 28, and Matthew, 26, through the school. Her daughter, Ashley Cline, is currently in eighth grade there.
She couldn't be happier with the school, she said.
"She's getting a very good education," Slack said, noting Ashley is primarily in gifted and talented classes. "She has a lot of opportunities at the middle school.
"I never really pursued the transfer option."
One of the positive changes that Slack, the vice president of the PTA at Lansdowne Middle, has seen this school year is the use of Edline, a computer program that allows parents to see their children's grades and progress throughout the school year.
Like Slack, Mary Maddox, the first-year principal of Riverview Elementary, is ingrained in the community.
That, she said, helped as she talked to parents about the transfer option, for which only eight applied.
"I'm from the neighborhood. I went to school here and so did my children," Maddox said. "I have credibility with the community. I have long-standing relationships with the PTA.
"I legitimately understand the concerns of the community."
Maddox said her goal this year is to focus on student absences, which she said play a significant role in falling short of AYP.
Having someone from the community running the school played a role in Robin Esposito keeping her second-grader, Luca, and first-grader, Jenna, enrolled at the school.
"Last year, I wasn't happy at all. I was considering home schooling," Esposito said. "(But) Mary Maddox is very positive. She makes parents feel comfortable.
"She's not looking down on this community like I feel a lot of the administrations in the past have done."
Esposito, the PTA treasurer, said the school has a new life this year and that about two dozen more people have joined the PTA.
The enthusiasm and Maddox's goal of preparing the students for college has trickled down to Esposito's children, she said.
"My kids come home and say, 'When I go to college one day,' and it's nice to hear," Esposito said.
Brian Williams, second-year principal at Baltimore Highlands, said he spoke to parents about becoming more involved in the school.
"This is a true community school," Williams said. "It really is the hub of the Baltimore Highlands neighborhood."
Williams noted that many of the students at his school are the third generation of their family to enroll.
The community connection has helped draw parent volunteers to help students with math and spelling, he said.
"I think it helps parents learn what we're doing in school to teach our children, and they can be a part of what we're doing," Williams said. "Hopefully, the things they see and experience they can take home (will) help their children in similar ways."
If the transfer option application is accepted, students from Baltimore Highlands and Riverview will go to either Dogwood or Woodmoor elementary schools, according to a BCPS release.
This year, 10 Baltimore County public schools offered the transfer options after being available to only five schools last year and two the year before.
Including Baltimore Highlands and Riverview, nine of the schools offering the transfer option are elementary schools, including Edmondson Heights, Featherbed Lane, Hawthorne, Hebbville and Middlesex elementary schools, Halstead Academy and White Oak School.
Lansdowne Middle School is the only middle school on the list.