Spotlight on The Gateway Partnership
- October 11, 2010
The Gateway Partnership in California was recently selected to receive a national Promise Neighborhoo ds Planning Grant. Gateway is part of Strive’s national network of similar Cradle-to-Career partnerships. Here is what Gateway wrote about our role in their application:
The initial planning grant and support from Living Cities and Strive helped us design a strategic cradle to career framework which has allowed us to be more competitive in the federal application process. The result of this work will help us to ultimately create more successful citizens and vibrant communities.
Strive's framework of community engagement involving all stakeholders working to collaboratively support student success throughout the educational roadmap was a natural overlay to the Promise Neighborhood grant and provided the conceptual structure for articulating holistic and purposeful strategies.
Cal State East Bay has had a long history of working with the South Hayward neighborhood to "address the imbalance in education of poor and minority students with hands-on, data driven approach" as indicated by Nan Maxwell, the grant PI. Many of the community groups have been working in the neighborhood. Importantly, the Gateways framework enabled the community to come together in a new way. Indeed, one community leader, Sara Lamnin of South Hayward Parish, a non-profit organizations started by religious congregations more than 40 years ago was quoted in a newspaper article saying "the Promise Neighborhood grant has brought new energy, new ideas and an infusion of resources --differences that may bring "a lasting change."
"Cal State East Bay is proud to be taking a leadership role in finding new solutions to some of the most serious, longstanding challenges that our community and its children face," said Cal State East Bay President Mohammad Qayoumi. "This will provide new hope and new means for members of our local community to the educational and social support services they need to succeed."
Gateways Partnership focus has been to identify the strategies or the levers along the educational roadmap that would make the greatest impact on the indicators for student success. We see that the Promise Neighborhood grant allows us to put in place a feeder school pattern model (elementary school, middle school, and high school) and community school model as powerful and effective ways to work with children and families over time.
The new normal is that our corporate, community, non-profit, and school district partners see Gateways as an exemplar for how community leaders come together, take action around key levers along the educational roadmap that will produce different and improved outcomes for students. Integrated strategies and funding such strategies for systemic, not episodic impact is viewed as critical to the consortium. More importantly, there is a recognition that the responsibility for impacting and advocating change is shared. What is at stake is the quality of life of our citizens and our communities.
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