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Schools

Report Card: Greenwich Alliance for Education

A Foundation for the Future

Since were on a break last week, we thought we would take the opportunity to tell you about a group in Greenwich that supports the Greenwich Public Schools in some very unique and inspiring ways.

Pop quiz: Which town organization is literary, musical and a grant-maker among other things?

Answer: Greenwich Alliance for Education

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Organized in 2006, the mission of the Greenwich Alliance for Education is to mobilize community resources to provide opportunities and services that foster educational success for all Greenwich Public School students. This sounds wonderfully ambitious but what does it really mean? Well, to start, at the heart of their efforts are two core beliefs:

  • Greenwich is a community with the will and the means to help every child achieve educational success and a promising future.
  • There is much that takes place outside the classroom and before children even attend school that is critical to their success.

The racial and economic diversity of Greenwich presents both challenges and opportunities. Many families in this community are unable to support their children in ways that are critical to helping them realize the promise of a successful future. At the same time, all students benefit from wide and varied array of meaningful enrichment opportunities. The Alliance sees these needs and seeks to bring the community together for the benefit of all our children.

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The Alliance joins some 80 other education foundations in the State of Connecticut in supporting public school children. Working closely with the Greenwich Public Schools, the Board of Education, the PTAs as well as the Town government, community service organizations and the private sector, the Alliance identifies needs and opportunities and builds support for a variety of programs that prepare our young children to succeed in school, provide them with ongoing support and inspiration, from birth to graduation, support efforts to close the “achievement gap” and provide imaginative and challenging enrichment experiences for children at all levels of achievement.

The Alliance supports a variety of innovative, ongoing programs serving hundreds of public school students and students to be:

Going Places with Books is the Alliance's early literacy program which features the "Storymobile." Perhaps you have seem it parked at the Island Beach parking lot? The Storymobile provides interactive read-aloud experiences which integrate multi-media and bilingual elements into a carefully designed literacy curriculum. It  serves hundreds of children from Byram to Riverside, every month, free of charge. 

Tuning In to Music provides free private and semi-private instrument lessons for band and orchestra students in the Greenwich Public Schools in the 4th through 8th grades who would otherwise not have access to such instruction. The goal of this program is to provide these music students the skills and confidence to continue their musical pursuits at . In the first three years of Tuning In to Music more than 150 students have taken on the challenge of furthering their musical education. 

Reaching Out Grants program is a more recent undertaking which, in partnership with other local nonprofits, allows teachers to create innovative pilot programs that provide opportunities for Greenwich Public School students to build foundational skills and pursue passions. More than 1,000 students have participated in the grants programs and more than $320,000 has been distributed. The Alliance will be accepting grant applications on March 1, for grant funding for the 2011-2012 school year. (If you are interested in obtaining a grant application visit the Alliance website to download one and to read about past grants and current programs running at Greenwich High School.)

The Alliance is also partnering with thein "Greenwich Reads"  which will bring the Storymobile to the library and the as part of this community program. The Alliance will also be collecting "gently used" books at all of the library locations during this event to redistribute throughout the community. 

Most recently, the Alliance has undertaken a new project which attempts to help alumni of Greenwich High School reconnect. Did you ever notice that you can't poke someone on Facebook who isn't there? While there are several social and professional networks on our airwaves, it can seem like information overload without meaningful results; a case of digital “Water, water, everywhere; Nor any drop to drink."

The Alliance is partnering with Harris Connect to help Greenwich in another way. In an effort to help Greenwich High School’s alumni stay connected, the Greenwich Alliance for Education, in cooperation with GHS, has contracted with Harris Connect to update information for all  GHS alumni around the world. Harris will then produce a hardcover Alumni Today publication that will help GHS alumni find their old school friends and can be used for personal and professional networking as well. Greenwich High School Alumni Today will feature biographical listings with up-to-date contact information along with photos and essays submitted by alumni. Fast and easy to use, listings can be searched alphabetically, geographically and also by class year.

Beginning in mid-February, Greenwich High School alumni will be contacted by mail and/or email to verify and update their contact and career information. Alumni will be asked to respond by phone beginning on Feb. 21st to ensure that their listing is accurate and up-to-date. “We encourage all GHS Alumni to respond to this request,” said Julie Faryniarz, executive director of the Greenwich Alliance for Education. “We’re hoping to compile an accurate and comprehensive resource that all our alumni will find useful and fun. If, however, individuals prefer that their personal information not be published, they can do so by making their wishes clear to the Harris representative to whom they speak.” 

Headmaster of GHS Chris Winters is looking forward to the results this project will garner. "As both the current headmaster and alumni of GHS, I am pleased that an effort is underway to bring our GHS community closer together," Winters said. "With my own GHS 30th Class Reunion around the corner, I know how nice it is to reconnect with dear friends, many of whom I haven't spoken to in years. I am grateful to the Greenwich Alliance for Education and Harris Connect for making this initiative possible."

As one can imagine, some alums are much easier to locate by virtue of their visibility. When asked about the Greenwich Alliance/GHS/Harris effort, First Selectman Peter Tesei said, "It seems that most people are able to track me down pretty easily, but I know how hard it is to locate many of my GHS classmates. This new GHS directory will make it much easier to get in contact with them. Congratulations to the Greenwich Alliance for Education for leveraging this important and long-lasting communication tool."

Harris Connect is the largest alumni publication company in America. Harris specializes in alumni publications and the data needs involved with this type of project. This is not the first time that Harris Connect has "connected" Greenwich High School. State Representative Livvy R. Floren recalls that she brought Harris to GHS for the first time back in 1996 when she was the school's PTA president. "The Harris Directory is a wonderful tool to keep the Greenwich High School family connected from generation to generation," Floren said. The undertaking is very different from the programs the Alliance normally undertakes but at the same time the networking opportunities which will ensue will hopefully strengthen the community support for the Greenwich Public School System. Another example of the Alliance strengthening our Town in an innovative manner.

The Greenwich Alliance for Education is an independent, not-for-profit, tax-exempt education foundation. For more information about the Alliance, call (203) 340-2323 or visit www.greenwichalliance.org

 

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