Since launching in Boston in 2001, City Connects has expanded to communities across the country and across the Atlantic Ocean in Dublin, Ireland. Now, these communities are continuing to grow City Connects to meet their students’ needs.
Here’s a look at why communities in New York, Indiana and Ohio, and in Dublin are expanding City Connects.
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Starting earlier in Poughkeepsie
In Poughkeepsie, N.Y., educators first piloted City Connects in Poughkeepsie Middle School, as a means to ensure that students had access to needed resources.
Now, Poughkeepsie is looking at ways to reconfigure its elementary schools to “increase student academic achievement, enhance student social-emotional development, build stronger relationships in response to parent needs and concerns and [in response to] research,” as a Poughkeepsie Schools article explains.
To further this goal, Poughkeepsie is shifting City Connects into its elementary schools to address “the out-of-school factors that limit the learning of the district’s earliest learners.” This will address “the varying social determinants that serve as obstacles earlier in students’ pre-k-12 matriculation in the school district as a strategy to eliminate issues that are hard to address when students are in middle and high school.”
In Poughkeepsie, City Connects fits well into a larger effort to address children’s needs that includes the city’s Children’s Cabinet. Poughkeepsie also has a federal Full Service Community Schools award that it uses, in part, to pay for City Connects.
Thriving in the Midwest
“City Connects is thriving in the Midwest,” according to an article in a recent article of Marian University Magazine. Marian University’s Center for Vibrant Schools is home to the City Connects Technical Assistance Center.
The article explains how City Connects has grown, noting that it “launched in 34 schools throughout Indiana and Ohio in 2021, initially impacted more than 16,000 students. To date, more than 26,000 students have been served through City Connects.”
Jillian Lain, the City Connects Midwest Director, emphasizes in the article the importance of City Connects’ strategy.
“This program is all about implementing equity,” Lain says. “We’re talking about addressing the needs and strengths of every single student.”
This makes City Connects different from “the traditional student support model in which students who have the highest needs are the ones who receive the most services.”
“We’re hoping to create long-term impacts in the Indianapolis and Indiana communities, which goes along with the mission of Marian University and continues to forge that mission forward in a new way.”
Outstanding Opportunities in Ireland
Gardiner Street Primary School is one of the schools that implemented City Connects in Dublin. Founded in 1830, it’s one of the oldest schools in the country.
Educators at the school “believe firmly in the holistic development of each child. Our participation in the City Connects Programme means we can offer all of our students the opportunity to explore and develop their unique set of interests and talents.”
As they do in the United States, City Connects Coordinators review the needs and strengths of every child. Then, after consulting with parents, coordinators come up with tailored plans for each child. Part of that plan at the Gardiner includes connecting students to a rich array of extracurricular activities that are essential ways to help children grow and achieve.
At the Gardiner, there’s the orchestra, the choir, and Irish dancing. There’s chess, book club, and mindfulness play sessions. There’s basketball, rugby, and gymnastics. And there’s filmmaking. As the school’s website explains:
“Gardiner Street Primary School has a long-standing tradition of film making and involvement in the Fís Film Project.
“We are proud to announce that this year’s film, ‘St. Brigid’ has been shortlisted for an award at the Fís Film Awards.
“The children and teachers involved have been invited to a ceremony in The Helix on the 21st of February 2024.”
By connecting communities with schools, City Connects illuminates students’ interests and talents, giving them a chance to thrive, and ensuring that students and their communities have a brighter future.
