Baltimore City Schools outlines districtwide mentoring push, cites pilots and federal work‑study as scaling pathway

Dr. Sofia Rudacille Holmes, lead of Mentoring and Adult Relationships (MAR) for Baltimore City Public Schools, told the board Jan. 22 the district is expanding student mentoring to improve students’ “wholeness” composite score and four‑year graduation rates.

MAR’s work, Holmes said, is aligned with the district’s secondary success priorities and the school system’s blueprint; the team uses two vetted models — a student mentoring program and school‑based mentoring — and provides consultancy to schools that request support. “Every student deserves a mentor,” Holmes said when she opened the presentation.

Holmes described a MAR staffing structure built to scale: a manager and three regional specialists, planned site‑based coordinators, and support roles for impact evaluation, communications and recruitment. She said last year 40 schools budgeted for mentoring; MAR “served 981 students with 985 mentors across 14 schools” (12 high schools and 2 middle schools), and expanded participating programs from two to 15 options districtwide.

The district named external and internal partners it is working with, including Baltimore City College’s pilot near‑peer mentoring, I Mentor, Next Gen Scholars, Young Men United, Sister Circle, UMBC programs, Mentor Maryland DC, and collaboration with Bloomberg Associates on stakeholder strategy for 2025–26. Holmes said the MAR team is piloting student feedback surveys to refine programming and emphasized matching mentoring options to school needs.

Giovanna Pirelli, assistant principal and director of institutional advancement at Baltimore City College, described the school’s pilot that pairs college mentors with Black male students in the IB program. Pirelli said mentors were recruited using the Federal Work Study program, which she described as covering “90% of the mentor’s wages,” leaving a 10% local share. Pirelli said the program used the school’s advisory block for biweekly mentor meetings and an app called AllTimely for scheduling.

Twelfth‑grader Travis Pennington, a mentee in the City College pilot, described mentoring as a “stress reliever” that helped him plan for college and feel supported. “Mentorship allowed me to relax for a little bit… and those conversations were real,” Pennington said.

Board members asked how MAR plans to scale, what limits service capacity and how the work dovetails with apprenticeship and career‑readiness initiatives. Holmes said MAR is positioned as an internal consultant to schools, supporting partner onboarding, mentor recruitment and school capacity building; she called sustainability and “right fit” alignment priorities. Holmes said MAR’s internal goal this year is to recruit 5,000 mentors and described varied time commitments so volunteers can serve at different levels of intensity.

Holmes also told the board MAR projects a per‑student cost “under $10” if scaled across the district’s approximately 78,000 students. She asked the board for help widening the table of mentoring partners and boosting recruitment and visibility. Holmes closed by inviting commissioners and community members to scan a QR code to learn how to become partners or mentors.

Board discussion acknowledged the program’s potential and raised operational concerns — onboarding, partner capacity to accept funds, and retention and closure practices for mentors. Holmes said MAR has piloted asynchronous onboarding and is testing in‑person options, that most retention to date is supported by partner organizations, and that MAR is designing site‑based coordinator roles and a hub strategy to sustain volunteers through changes in availability.

Holmes and presenters did not present a new contract, ordinance or board vote during the session; commissioners requested follow‑up data on partner capacity, the counts of transfers and supports tied to mentoring, and further detail on apprenticeship alignment.

Ending: Holmes and presenters left commissioners with an explicit recruitment request and the QR code for community sign‑up; commissioners pledged to follow up on operational questions.