The Baltimore Teachers’ Training School opened on January 5, 1901 at the corner of Lafayette Square and Greene Street in Baltimore City. It was established by the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners in response to a call for educational reform. Education suffered from a lack of employees, resources, and professionalism from high up administrative levels down to the classroom. Maryland schools’ success rates paled in comparison to other states and this problem created the need to reevaluate teachers’ instruction. Only normal school education guaranteed formal teacher instruction. At the time the Baltimore Teachers’ Training School was established, less than five percent of teachers had normal school training. The others had no formal teaching instruction and their formal education spanned from elementary to college graduate. The late 1800’s and early 1900’s marked a period of educational reform in Maryland. By reform thought, teaching was a profession and required professional training.

In addition to teacher training, critics of the education system called for reform at the administrative level. Toward that end, the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners was established in 1898 under the Educational Chapter of the Baltimore City Charter. This move to establish a governing board separated schools from the politics that influenced corrupt appointments to teaching and administrative positions within the city school system. The mayor, Thomas G. Hayes, appointed nine members to the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners to oversee hiring and termination of teachers, approve or deny teacher nominations from the Superintendent, remove teachers by order of the Superintendent, determine salaries, and advise building maintenance or development. The Board took control of city schools in 1900 and appointed reformist James Van Sickle as Baltimore City Schools Superintendent.

Educational reform thrived in the Baltimore Teachers’ Training School under its first principal, Sarah C. Brooks. The mandatory one year course for teacher training introduced theory, history of education, and practice teaching. The optional second year allowed teachers to earn salary credit. In 1907, the second year became mandatory for teacher training and was devoted entirely to practice teaching in nearby elementary schools.

Promotional exams assessed teachers’ skills and determined career advancement. Supplemental courses also qualified teachers for promotion. The courses included English Literature and a project that required teachers to choose an opportunity for improvement within the classroom and propose a practical solution. Teachers opposed the supplemental programs and were reluctant to spend outside hours to complete courses they found unnecessary. Teachers raised questions concerning fairness in grading promotional exams. As a result of this dissent and unrest Sarah Brooks resigned as principal at the Baltimore Teachers’ Training School and the Board of School Commissioners removed James Van Sickle from the Superintendent position in 1911.

The Baltimore Teachers’ Training School operated under the same ideals of reform and practice teaching from 1912 to 1924. The school gained national attention for its breakthrough reformist curriculum and set a new standard for professional teacher training in Maryland. By 1924, the Maryland State Board of Education decided to educate all teachers, including Baltimore City teachers, in one place. The Baltimore City Board of Education agreed to merge the Baltimore Teachers’ Training School with the Maryland State Normal School. The benefits of the merger included making the improved curriculum available to all Maryland teachers and forcing the state to fund the city teachers’ educations instead of Baltimore City. All of the students were incorporated into the student body of the Maryland State Normal School which almost doubled the enrollment for the 1924 school year. Select teachers from the Training School were offered one year contracts to join the Normal School staff. Baltimore City was reimbursed for all expenses paid to furnish and supply the Training School. The students and select faculty of the Baltimore Teachers’ Training School then operated under principal Lida Lee Tall as the Maryland State Normal School.