The Importance of Partnerships between
School Districts & Nonprofits
The following article was written by Jen LoPiccolo, Director of School and District Partnerships at the National Partnership for Student Success.
Core memories are those extremely emotional experiences that stay with us for eternity, even shaping how we view others and ourselves. We also don’t always realize the impact of those experiences on our lives until years later. In my research for this post, I came across countless stories of intergenerational experiences that had lasting effects on both the caring older adults as well as the young people they mentor, tutor, and support during their time of service.
- Grandma Ginny and her 7th grade students have been creating memories together for over four years in Madison, Wisconsin through RSVP of Dane County’s Foster Grandparents Program.
- Brenda Hall is one of many AARP Foundation Experience Corps members helping young readers improve their literacy skills across Baltimore, Maryland.
- Janice Magri volunteers in a 3rd grade classroom in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and divides time between working one-on-one with young readers and reading aloud to the whole class through Senior Adults for Greater Education.
Find a Volunteer Opportunity Near You:
Answer the call to service to support young people in your area. Find an opportunity in your community to volunteer as a tutor, mentor, or other NPSS-aligned support.
Combating Chronic Absence with Community Partnerships.
Organizations across the country are eager to partner with school districts and return to or expand upon the pre-pandemic numbers of engaged schools. AmeriCorps Seniors programs alone operate in all 50 states and DC and engage over 140,000 caring adults. As though that number isn’t impressive enough, a longitudinal study published in 2018 found that AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers in the Foster Grandparents program volunteer for an average of six years. AmeriCorps Seniors and other AmeriCorps programs represent two of many types of community-based programs that offer training, placement and support to its seniors.
Meanwhile, every community is combating record numbers of chronic absenteeism in our schools at a time when ESSER funding is about to sunset. We will need to leverage all of our assets and build community-wide plans to ensure every learner feels a sense of belonging and receives the support they need to thrive and grow. At the National Partnership for Student Success, we have over 30 Supporting Champion organizations that engage older adults as paid or volunteer supports as tutors, mentors, and more. That’s a lot of core memories just waiting to be share.
Jen LoPiccolo
Director of School & District Partnerships
Reference to any non-U.S. government organization, event or product does not constitute an endorsement, recommendation or favoring of that organization, event or product and is strictly for the information and convenience of the public.
This website is developed and maintained by the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University for the National Partnership for Student Success.
It follows the website privacy policy found here. View the website's accessibility statement here.