Bernice E. Whelchel, former principal of City Springs Elementary/Middle School, a partner school with Baltimore Curriculum Project (BCP) since 1996, when BCP was founded. Mrs. Whelchel, powerful advocate of Direct Instruction for Baltimore City Public Schools and the nation, passed away on September 5, 2025 at the age of 77.
Her educational impact in Baltimore public schools and nationally leaves an impressive legacy. In 1996, her first year at City Springs, Dr. Whelchel partnered with the then-newly formed BCP to bring Direct Instruction (DI) to the school.
Strong, determined, and unafraid to make bold decisions, Mrs. Whelchel knew that she needed to lead a revolution in the classroom and school culture. At the time, City Springs was on the verge of closing. Located in one of Baltimore’s lowest-income neighborhoods with consistently poor academic results, City Springs had been put on probation by the Maryland State Department of Education. Unless the school showed measurable improvement in the 1997-98 school year, the state would take it over.
The research-based DI instructional program by the National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) had been evaluated by Dr. Muriel Berkeley, BCP founder, as the best solution to teaching students to read. With funding through BCP and the Abell Foundation, Mrs. Whelchel and her faculty began DI implementation in fall 1997, the first school in Baltimore to use DI in partnership with BCP.
Three years later, City Springs was a DI success and a national model of what could be achieved. In 1999, Mrs. Whelchel testified before the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the U.S. Congress about the successful school reform that she led. From the transcripts of her testimony:
“At City Springs Elementary School . . . located in one of the poorest public housing sections in Baltimore City, we believe that if the child failed to learn, the teacher failed to teach. Typically students as disadvantaged as ours score below the 20th percentile on standardized reading tests, but last fall, our first graders tested in the 48th percentile in reading . . . We implemented DI because our children were not learning . . . attendance was low, the students were hostile and disruptive, and there was an atmosphere of hopelessness. The school desperately needed to be turned around. And when the Baltimore Curriculum Project offered to help us implement the research-based curriculum, we accepted.”
The results and culture shift she brought to City Springs – and to the City on how DI could transform schools and student success–were astounding. After three years of using DI:
- Attendance rose to 97%
- Disciplinary office referrals dropped from the hundreds to below 30
- More than 40% of fifth graders and more than 20% of third graders performed at or above the satisfactory standard in language on the Maryland School Performance Assessment.
In 2001, NIFDI produced a video, The Battle of City Springs, which told the story of the school’s DI success. Shared nationally, the video shows her resolve, leadership, and enduring vision and how she created a positive school culture of learning and success.
“I wanted to prove to everyone that despite the fact that they were poor, that they were black, that they came from the toughest environments … that those kids were capable of growing and they have,” she shares in the video. “They know that when they get to the fourth grade the expectations for a City Springs student should be U.S. History and they know it’s a seventh grade book.”
Today, under the leadership of Dr. Rhonda Richetta, Principal of City Springs since 2005 (the same year City Springs joined BCP as a neighborhood conversion charter school), the school continues Mrs. Whelchel’s legacy of performance and strong school culture and spirit.
I was blessed to know her, to learn from her, and to carry a piece of her example with me every day. She was a true force in my life, and I will always remember her with gratitude and respect.
Thank you, Mrs. Whelchel, for your impact on BCP and for thousands of deserving children in East Baltimore.
About Bernice Whelchel:
A 1965 graduate of Edmondson High School, Mrs. Whelchel earned her degree from Coppin State University. She served Baltimore City Public Schools for her entire career.
In 1996, Mrs. Whelchel left her position as assistant principal at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary/Middle School to become Principal at City Springs. A year later, she convinced Dr. Richetta to join her faculty as a special education teacher. When Dr. Whelchel retired in 2005, Dr. Richetta succeeded her as Principal.