PHENND K-16 Partnerships Network, 2013-2014

Posted by on September 17, 2013

By Liz Shriver

On June 4, the K-16 Partnerships Network met for our 3rd Annual Summer Institute. The Institute was attended by over 75 participants who represented dozens of colleges, universities and non-profits from the greater Philadelphia area. The goal of the Institute was to learn about the formation of the newly formed Office of Strategic Partnerships of the School District of Philadelphia and provide feedback on its initial plans. All attendees were viewed as experts in school-community partnership and were asked for ideas, goals and strategies for partnership building with Philadelphia schools. We closed out the day with a panel of School District principals from W.D. Kelley School, Kensington Health Sciences High School, Cooke-Wissahickon School, University City High School and Kensington Creative and Performing Arts High School. These school leaders provided invaluable insight to our Network members regarding the personal importance of partnerships to their school communities and the innovative approaches principals have had to adopt in order to meet student needs.

During this day we established:

· Optimal conditions for successful partnerships and realistic goal setting

· New venues for partnership incubation

· How to align new partnerships with the SDP strategic plan

· The role of the partner, the school, and the District

The day provided new insight and showed our commitment, as the K-16 Partnerships Network, to ensuring excellent programs and services for young people in Philadelphia. Stacy Holland, the director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships, reinforced the need for all K-16 Partners to continue to support their schools and to do so through coordinated efforts. With the start of the school year in full swing, there are innumerable needs of schools and communities. This year, the K-16 Partnerships Network will focus on connecting University network members to local initiatives.  We will also continue to bring everyone together to share best practices and make new connections and to build a robust community of organizations and institutions dedicated to maintaining partnerships with Philadelphia schools. Our meeting schedule is below. In addition to these meetings, I look forward to visiting your campuses, schools and organizations to promote and learn from all of the great work you are doing this year!

K-16 Partnerships Meeting Schedule

Save the Date! Tuesday, October 22, 3:00-5:00PM
K-16 Fall Speaker & Reception for School-Community Partnership VISTAs,

Ongoing meetings & events:

o December K-16 Partners Meeting: TBD

o February K-16 Partners Meeting: TBD

o April  K-16 Partnerships Spring Forum, 12:00-5:00PM

o June K-16 Partnerships June Institute, 9:00AM-5:00PM