Winthrop Elementary Hosts Community Partners Dinner March 16, 2010

The John Winthrop Elementary School and the Nelson Chair Community Roundtable at Boston College’s Lynch School of Education will host a Community Partners Dinner on Tuesday, March 16, at 6 p.m. at the Dorchester school.

The dinner will recognize partners who have helped the Winthrop integrate academics, health and social services, youth development and community engagement in order to improve student learning, build stronger families and support healthier communities.

In addition to teachers, parents and community members, guests slated to attend include Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Lynch School of Education Dean Joseph M. O’Keefe, SJ, and the mayor’s education policy advisor, Martha Pierce.

Through a three-year Collaborative Fellows grant from the Lynch School, BC Professor A.J. Franklin has been assisting Winthrop Principal Walter Henderson with community engagement strategies as part of BC’s role in the Step UP initiative, a school-university partnership aimed at reducing the achievement gap.

Franklin’s Nelson Chair Community Roundtable works with non-profit and community-based organizations across the country to help them plan strategically, leverage resources and build capacity.

The Step UP initiative partners Boston College, Boston University, Harvard University, Northeastern University and Tufts University with 10 Boston Public Schools to draw on the universities’ expertise, intellectual resources, and substantial experience in public education outreach to deliver targeted services to Boston students.

The Winthrop School is located at 35 Brookford Street, Dorchester. For more information, contact Sheena Collier, Manager of Extended Learning & Services, at scollier@boston.k12.ma.us.

For information about this news item, contact Ed Hayward in the Boston College Office of News & Public Affairs at ed.hayward@bc.edu.