Baltimore Polytechnic Institute has become the first high school in Maryland to install an industry-grade cyber range, giving students hands-on practice detecting and fighting off simulated cyberattacks instead of just reading about them in a textbook. The new lab, a Series 3000 Cyber Range, was donated and installed at the North Baltimore STEM magnet school this month by workforce training company BCR Cyber.
A College-Level Lab Inside a High School Classroom
According to WBAL-TV, the cyber range resembles an introductory college cybersecurity course, simulating real-world cyberattacks so students can practice detecting and responding to online threats that have impacted infrastructure. The station reports the lessons are designed to prepare students for real-world scenarios they will later face in college and the workforce, with BCR Cyber providing the funding behind the installation.
The donation goes beyond hardware. Per a press release detailing the installation, BCR Cyber also included faculty instructor training, train-the-trainer support, and ongoing administrative assistance so Poly teachers can maintain and grow the program on their own over time. Students access the range through dedicated remote workstations built into existing computer science and engineering classes, where they practice live attack-and-defend scenarios rather than working through abstract theory.
Ribbon-Cutting Planned for Cyber Range
BCR Cyber announced that a ribbon-cutting event for the range was planned for September.
The high school installation builds on a much larger state push. In November 2024, Governor Wes Moore awarded $1.8 million to BCR Cyber and the Maryland Association of Community Colleges under the Cyber Workforce Accelerator initiative, which provides access to cyber ranges at all 16 of the state's community colleges, as reported by StateScoop. Poly's lab also brings cyber range training into a Baltimore high school classroom.
Filling a Deep Cybersecurity Talent Gap
The push to get students trained early comes amid strong national demand for cybersecurity workers. CyberSeek data published June 2, 2025, showed 514,359 cybersecurity job listings over the prior 12 months, according to figures cited by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
BCR Cyber, established in 2017 as the Baltimore Cyber Range, says it has trained thousands of cybersecurity learners and achieved a job placement rate exceeding 83 percent for program graduates, according to BCR Cyber's announcement. The coursework BCR Cyber developed also prepares trainees for the Security Operations Center Operations Analyst I certification, a state-recognized credential covering threat analysis, Linux navigation, and incident mitigation, per Carroll Community College's program description.
A Historic School Adds a New Chapter
Baltimore Polytechnic Institute was founded in 1883 as an all-male technical manual trade school, became coeducational in 1974, and today operates as a public STEM magnet high school serving more than 1,600 students in North Baltimore, according to background compiled on Wikipedia. The new cyber range adds a modern, hands-on layer to that engineering-focused legacy, giving current students a chance to train on the same live-fire systems used to prepare adult professionals for jobs in one of the state's most in-demand fields.
