PROJECTS
SCHOOL CLOSURES
We examine school closures as spatial events that reshape neighborhoods, alter community resources, and influence patterns of opportunity across the city.
THE PROJECT
Over the past several decades, Baltimore has experienced repeated cycles of school closures, consolidations, and educational restructuring.
While these decisions are often framed through enrollment trends, facility utilization, and budgetary constraints, their impacts extend far beyond school buildings themselves.
Our research explores how school closures intersect with broader indicators of community well-being, including poverty, vacancy, population loss, public investment, and historical patterns of segregation. Through mapping, policy analysis, and community-centered inquiry, we seek to understand how educational infrastructure functions within the larger urban landscape.
CLOSURES AREN’T JUST ABOUT BUILDINGS
They reshape the conditions that shape opportunity.
Reduces access to quality education
Impacts families and community stability
Accelerates vacancy and population loss
Reinforces patterns of disinvestment
Alters the landscape of opportunity
THIS WORK ASKS A SERIES OF CRITICAL QUESTIONS
Where do school closures occur, and where do they not?
How do closure patterns align with historical disinvestment and neighborhood change?
What are the long-term impacts on students, families, and communities?
How do residents experience and interpret these decisions?
What role does public policy play in shaping educational opportunity across space?
By combining spatial analysis with lived experience, Urban Atlas Collective seeks to contribute to broader conversations about equity, community development, and the future of public education in Baltimore.
This project is currently ongoing and will include mapping, policy analysis, community interviews, and visual documentation examining the relationship between school closures and structural inequality across Baltimore City.
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Your voice, your experience, your neighborhood. Help us build a more equitable future for Baltimore’s children and communities