Learning centers form diverse partnerships

The Cincinnati Enquirer

1/9/2006

By Jennifer Mrozowski

Enquirer staff writer

When people joke that Cincinnati Public’s new 105,000-square-foot Columbia Tusculum school looks like it could house a small city, they don’t know how close that is to the truth.

Inside the school are offices for the Cincinnati police, a nonprofit emergency services organization and a YMCA after-school program.

The new Riverview East Academy, which opened last week, collaborates with Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, the Children’s Home of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Early Learning Centers as well as other groups in an effort to improve student achievement.

Riverview is billed as the district’s best example of a “community learning center,” or a school that offers more services to students and neighborhood residents and can stay open nights and weekends for public use.

Cincinnati Public is one of a growing number of city and suburban districts, including Covington and Kenton County in Kentucky; and Hamilton, Sycamore and Talawanda in Ohio, to increase the number of community-school partnerships.

“Years ago, churches and schools were the places of stability in the community and then we got away from that,” said Lillian Carr, a parent coordinator for Seven Hills Neighborhood Houses, a nonprofit emergency services organization. “Now you see it all coming back with the community learning centers because there are so many services that can be addressed at the schools.”

By being in the school, Carr said she is able to assist students and families if they need clothes, food or if their heat or water has been turned off. She also offers parenting workshops.

President Clinton championed the community learning center concept in 1998 as a way to keep public schools open longer to serve children and their communities. The program grew in popularity through a grant program developed under President Bush. States now compete for grants totaling nearly $1 billion a year that go to public or private schools or to community- or faith-based organizations for after-school programs.

Cincinnati schools, Covington Independent and other districts have been awarded multimillion-dollar grants for programs that include after-school tutoring, mentoring, ballet, music and karate.

School officials said such partnerships encourage residents and business leaders to be more involved in schools and, at the same time, provide more services for children. Administrators also said the partnerships assist them at a time when money is tight.

Districts have collaborated with communities to garner taxpayer support to construct buildings. That happened in Mason in 2000 when the district joined with the city to pass a $71.9 million bond issue for a new high school that included an adjoining public community recreation center. The city provides programming, but the schools have priority for use.

Cincinnati did the same in 2003 when it passed a $480 million bond issue for 66 new and renovated schools. The district promised that each new building would include collaborative efforts to benefit the students and community.

At the district’s first newlybuilt school, Rockdale Academy in Avondale, Cincinnati schools partnered with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center to open a health center in the building. The center provides primary care services, mentoring and health education for students and their siblings.

“This is allowing us to maximize our resources,” said Cincinnati schools superintendent Rosa Blackwell. “The city schools don’t have all the money we need, but other entities can help. Why not bring these resources into the schools?”

Riverview East Academy Principal Melody Dacey envisions more partnerships to serve the community at her building, perhaps even opening the school library to the public.

Other districts are weaving community and business partnerships through their buildings. Some are long-standing collaborations with local businesses that are expanding into more schools.

The Cheviot Savings Bank offers a program in which bank managers come to schools to help students open savings accounts.

During one Thursday morning session, four fifth-grade students acted as tellers and collected money from 35 peers before school.

“It helps us on our math skills,” said Dominique Cuzzone, an 11-year-old teller. “It also helps with alphabetizing.”

Fourth-grader Kelly Ikert, 9, made a deposit of $23, some Christmas money and some she had earned for getting As on tests.

Kelly has been depositing money since the beginning of the school year and has more than $100 in her account, she said.

“I think it should keep going so people can save to buy a house or go to college,” she said.

Principal Sandy Bauman of Oakdale Elementary in Bridgetown said students and the bank benefit from the partnership – the bank gets new customers and students learn the value of saving.

Oakdale has other partnerships, too, including one with bigg’s grocery store, that helps finance the school’s art and music program.

Talawanda schools have a growing collaboration with nearby Miami University, prompting the university to create a partnership office this year. The joint venture includes a tutoring program where 300 Miami students per semester volunteer in the schools. The two entities also formed the Talawanda Teacher Academy, a teacher-training program for high school seniors. The course is taught by a Miami University doctoral student.

Hamilton High School opened an addition to its school in 2002 that includes a library accessible to the public after school. Residents can check out books at the school library or drop off books for return to the Lane Public Library. The public library offers community residents free computer classes and book clubs held at the school.

“It’s another way to open up the schools to the community,” said district spokeswoman Joni Copas. “The community owns the schools. The more we can get the community in the schools, the more they can appreciate what the schools are doing.”

E-mail jmrozowski@enquirer.com