The Children's Aid Society

Press Release: The Children's Aid Society's Community Schools are Focus of Agency's Annual Symposium, "Thinking Globally, Acting Locally"

Date: October 15, 2007

Contacts:
Ellen Lubell, The Children’s Aid Society, (w) 212-949-4938, (c) 917-854-6864
Emily Crossan, The Children’s Aid Society, (w) 917-286-1548, (c) 201-344-5742

Presentations to explore impact of strategy that addresses unmet needs of children in schools

Chancellor Joel I. Klein and Mayor of Baltimore are featured speakers

When: October 18, 2:00–4:00 pm
Where: The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, 42 West 44th St.

NEW YORK – To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the opening of The Children’s Aid Society’s first community school partnership, Children’s Aid’s Annual Symposium will focus on its community school model and the impact this strategy has had on education in New York City, as well as across the country and around the world. Currently Children’s Aid partners with the New York City Department of Education in 22 community schools in East Harlem, Washington Heights, the Bronx and Staten Island.

A Children’s Aid Society community school offers extended hours, extended services and extended relationships, in order to combine the best quality educational and youth development practices with a wide range of on-site medical, dental, mental health and social services to ensure that children are physically, emotionally and socially prepared to learn.

Five special guests are scheduled to share their experiences with community schools and highlight the local, national and global perspectives on their impact:
• Joel I. Klein* is Chancellor of the Department of Education for the New York City Public Schools, a system that serves 1.1 million students. Since being appointed Chancellor by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2002, Klein has undertaken sweeping reform in the city’s schools.
• Sheila Dixon, the Mayor of the City of Baltimore, Maryland, was an early and strong proponent of the community schools model that is gaining ground in her city.
• Julian Piper, Extended Services Director for ContinYou, The Extended Schools Support Service in England, will provide the international perspective. By the year 2010, England aims to make every school an Extended School (community school); currently one-third of the country’s schools have adapted the model.
• Regina Little is a parent of two boys who attend Children’s Aid’s Community School 61 in the South Bronx. She is a strong parent leader and voice in her community.
• Thomas W. Kingston, President of the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation in St. Paul, Minnesota will bring the perspective of a private operating foundation advancing the community schools agenda. St. Paul was one of the first school systems to receive technical assistance from Children’s Aid.
• Jane Quinn, Children’s Aid’s Assistant Executive Director for Community Schools, will moderate the symposium.

A video, "Community Schools: Opening Doors of Opportunity,” will introduce the audience to Children’s Aid’s community schools in New York City.

“Children’s Aid’s community schools are a bold approach to education that removes obstacles to learning and a child’s development, that adds staff and resources that are responsive to the needs of students, parents and community in a school and that promotes education reform,” says C. Warren Moses, Children’s Aid’s Chief Executive Officer.

“The primary goal of Children’s Aid’s work in community schools is to provide children with all of the supports they need in order to be successful in school and ultimately, in life,” says Jane Quinn, Children’s Aid’s Assistant Executive Director for Community Schools. “We have a lot of evidence that community schools are a better approach than a traditional school model.”

Approximately 9,000 schools nationally and internationally are in the process of adapting the Children’s Aid Society’s community school model. Children’s Aid’s National Technical Assistance Center for Community Schools has assisted thousands of schools in the United States and thousands around the world adapt the model.

When: October 18, 2:00–4:00 pm
Where: The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, 42 West 44th St., NYC
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The Children’s Aid Society is one of the largest and most innovative children’s services agencies in the nation. Children’s Aid serves more than 150,000 children and families in New York City each year, at over 45 locations, without regard to race, religion, nationality or socio-economic status. The mission of The Children’s Aid Society is to ensure the physical and emotional well being of children and families, and to provide every child with the support and opportunities needed to become a happy, healthy and successful adult. Children’s Aid’s services address every aspect of a child’s life, from infancy through adolescence, and include education, health, counseling, adoption and foster care, youth development, career readiness, arts and recreation, prevention and emergency assistance. For more information, please call 212-949-4938 or visit www.childrensaidsociety.org.

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Please RSVP if you would like to attend The Children's Aid Society’s Symposium, as space is limited. Please email Ellen Lubell at ellenl@childrensaidsociety.org or Emily Crossan at emilyc@childrensaidsociety.org.

* Note: Joel I. Klein will be in attendance from approximately 3:15 – 4:00 pm.

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