Collington Square Elementary/Middle School in East Baltimore has a new room where students tinker with 3D printers, circuit kits and coding tools instead of just textbooks. The Cal Ripken, Sr. STEM Center opened at the school in August, giving students a hands-on space for math and science that the school previously lacked at this scale.
The center grew out of a mentorship partnership between the Johns Hopkins Police Department and Collington Square, according to The Johns Hopkins News-Letter. The paper reports that the Johns Hopkins Police Department officially launched its Police Athletic/Activities League, or PAL, partnership with the school in summer 2025, with JHPD officers participating in chess and financial literacy programs, a holiday toy drive and other community events. The program has included financial literacy lessons and educational and well-being activities.
Jones-Massey has described the STEM center in terms of opportunity and inspiration for students, according to Johns Hopkins University.
A Partnership Rooted Blocks From the Hospital
Collington Square sits just blocks from Johns Hopkins Hospital, and the school has hosted the Johns Hopkins Police Athletics/Activities League program as part of what the university describes as a broader commitment to its surrounding community, according to Johns Hopkins University. Johns Hopkins provided financial and logistical support for the STEM center itself, and the university says the room gives students access to hands-on, enriching math and science learning opportunities designed to strengthen critical thinking, problem-solving and collaboration skills.
Plans for the space were first announced in July, when the JHPD PAL program announced plans for technology, resources and programming at Collington Square. PAL activities are already underway at the school. The JHPD PAL effort is currently focused on Collington Square's roughly 200 students in pre-K through eighth grade, according to the same Hopkins reporting. Mikala Nuccio, Collington Square's community schools coordinator, has helped guide the rollout at the building, per the News-Letter.
What Students Are Actually Doing in the Room
Similar Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation STEM centers elsewhere in the state give a sense of what the hands-on activities look like. At a Baltimore school partnered with the University of Maryland Medical System, students explored and tinkered with high-tech tools such as 3D printers, according to UMMS, alongside coding and electronics activities. A Calvert County center built with Constellation Energy's Calvert Cliffs Clean Energy Center focuses on hands-on learning in coding, robotics and 3D printing, per the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation.
The center is named for Cal Ripken, Sr., who was a Baltimore Orioles player, scout, coach and manager, according to the News-Letter. The foundation launched its STEM initiative in 2016 to provide underserved elementary and middle school students in disadvantaged neighborhoods with STEM activities, the foundation's website notes.
Part of a Wider Statewide Push
Collington Square is one of several Baltimore-area schools to receive a Ripken-backed STEM center in recent years. Fort Worthington Elementary School was the fourth school to benefit from the partnership between Baltimore City Public Schools and the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, providing more than 740 students with $30,000 worth of high-tech equipment, according to Baltimore City Public Schools. The district identifies Cherry Hill Elementary/Middle School, Robert Coleman Elementary/Middle School and Matthew A. Henson Elementary School as other schools with centers through the same partnership.
Baltimore County Public Schools has also announced new centers at Cedarmere, Dogwood and Featherbed Lane elementary schools, and is exploring adding six more during the 2026-2027 school year, according to a Baltimore County Public Schools announcement. The county is also expanding the concept into high schools for the first time, with centers planned for Franklin High School and Lansdowne High School, the district says.
Figures on the foundation's total nationwide reach vary depending on when they were reported. As of October 2024, UMMS cited the foundation's claim of more than 600 STEM centers in 25 states and Washington, D.C., reaching more than 260,000 students. A 2026 Baltimore County Public Schools post cited a higher foundation figure of more than 868 STEM centers nationwide. Whatever the precise current count, the expansion into East Baltimore gives Collington Square's students a resource the school did not previously have at this scale, alongside the JHPD PAL program's presence at the school.
