Like the front door of too many Baltimore buildings, Benjamin Franklin High School’s entrance is bricked-over and, despite some vintage architectural flourishes, pretty forlorn.

Yesterday, the 85-year-old south Baltimore school celebrated the start of a summer of renovations and the promise of new programs and fresh energy from a host of community partners.

Standing before the entrance that will be returned to its former function, and referring to other improvements, like the addition of media and environmental labs, a student tried to explain to the boisterous crowd what it all means.

“We will catch up to the times and the world,” said Angel Mendoza, who will be a senior at Benjamin Franklin next year. “These are opportunities that all suburban kids have…. We can be as good, or even better than, the kids at City or Poly.”

The idea of surpassing Baltimore’s premier public high schools prompted a thunderous cheer from the crowd of about 75 students from Benjamin Franklin, which was labeled “underperforming” last year by city school officials and targeted for re-organization.

But even the best of Baltimore’s schools are dilapidated and in need of repairs that the American Civil Liberties Union estimates would require $2.8 billion to fix. It wasn’t mentioned specifically yesterday, but City College High School, for instance, needs an estimated $2 million to fix its building, fields and leaky roof, according to principal Cindy M. Harcum.

That was the larger message of the gathering, which drew representatives from the Baltimore Education Coalition and the ACLU: the continuing need for the state of Maryland to help fund repairs for severely inadequate school buildings across the city.

“We think all schools should be undergoing renovations to become safe and healthy places for modern-day learning, said Frank Patinella, education advocate for the Maryland ACLU. “We get emails and calls about schools being closed because of boiler problems and electrical problems. Kids are missing school because of this.”

So how, amid all these unmet capital needs, were some of Benjamin Franklin’s met?

Federal Windfall for Fixing a School

Asked where the money is coming from to pay for the changes slated for Benjamin Franklin, a school official pointed to Washington.

“It’s basically all stimulus money,” said Lawrence Flynn, director of facilities design and school construction, one of the officials attending the ceremony yesterday.

Flynn said $3 million in federal “stimulus bond” funds are being used for this year’s construction and renovation of the building, erected in 1926. In addition to making a usable front entrance facing Cambria Street, they plan to add administrative space, two environmental science labs and a library/media center.

Part of the reason for the additional administrative space, Flynn said, is to make room for the school’s community partners, including the University of Mayland School of Social Work. Several of those partners stressed that the physical and programmatic changes at Benjamin Franklin are all connected.

Boosting the School – and Brooklyn and Curtis Bay

“We are literally tearing down the brick wall that separates us from the community,” said Dante de Tablan, faculty and community schools coordinator of the Social Work Community Outreach Service (SWCOS) at University of Maryland.

The re-formed school is going to have an environmental sciences emphasis that includes agriculture, horticulture and environmental studies, de Tablan said.  In partnership with areas businesses and community groups, they are starting a “4 plus 1” schedule that will mean a once-a-week day to develop real-world skills.

“On that fifth day it may be internships for seniors or job shadowing for juniors. A lot of kids don’t have basic math or literacy skills, so it may be working on that,” said Christopher Battaglia, who is taking over as principal next year. “We have some great partners, like Towson University, who will be working with the kids on photography and music.”