There has been a public school in Roland Park since shortly after the neighborhood was founded near the turn of the nineteenth century. Originally, the school, known as “Todd’s Academy,” was located at Roland Avenue and St. John’s Road. Roland Park Elementary/Middle School moved to its present location when the core of the current building opened in 1924.
In its early years, Roland Park School offered instruction for kindergarten through ninth grades. After World War II, the surrounding area grew rapidly, and the school added a second wing to handle the crush of new baby boomer students. In 1957, a new junior high curriculum pioneered the then-revolutionary idea of elective subjects. Eighth graders could choose from a list of options that included foreign languages, music, art, home economics, and industrial art.
In the early 1980’s, the school was organized in its current form, with the elementary school consisting of kindergarten through fifth grades, and the middle school consisting of sixth through eighth. Over the years the old building has been filled in – the library and other central rooms occupy what used to be a courtyard – and expanded, with a gymnasium on the back and a new wing in the front built in the mid-1980’s.
More recently, donated funds paid for the swooping fish fence, a reminder in metal of the nearby Chesapeake Bay and new playgrounds. Parents also spearheaded the creation of beautiful front gardens that bloom throughout the spring and summer.