NCEED School of Thought Scholar Series

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Join Morgan State University's National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED) for a special School of Thought screening of Stolen School, a documentary examining the lasting impact of the 1967 closing of Foster School, the all-Black neighborhood school in Evanston, Illinois’ historically Black 5th Ward. Dr. Shannon Paige Clark, Assistant Professor of Organizational Leadership at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, served as an executive producer of the documentary.

Through the voices of former students, educators, residents, and community leaders, Stolen School explores what was lost in the pursuit of school desegregation and chronicles a community’s decades-long effort to reclaim what disappeared. The film offers a powerful opportunity to consider how decisions made in the name of educational progress can produce complex and lasting consequences for students, families, schools, and communities.

Following the screening, Dr. Clark will join thought leaders from the Baltimore community for a panel discussion examining what the story of Foster School can teach us about the intended and unintended consequences of school desegregation, evolving efforts toward educational equity, and the ways in which the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement continues to shape American education.

Viewing Stolen School invites critical reflection on the historical roots and contemporary consequences of school closures and encourages us to consider whose voices, histories, and communities are centered—or overlooked—when decisions about education are made.