Strive wins grant of $490,021 to improve school-community connections

Strive, the public-private collaborative to improve education in Greater Cincinnati, has received a grant of nearly $500,000 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, money that will be used to create deeper connections between the community and the schools in the Cincinnati Public School district.
 
The two-year grant will go toward sharing information transparently between the school district and public; creating task forces consisting of grassroots leadership to address concerns and drive action to improve education; and creating strong school-business partnerships for the small high schools in the district. Strive and the school district will conduct an audit of current communications practices and future strategies and Strive will work with the Community Building Institute at Xavier University to identify community members who can help drive progress. A consultant will be hired to oversee the model development of effective school-business partnerships.
 
"This grant will enable us to start working on much needed improvements ... and also to communicate effectively the successes that our community can be proud of and the challenges that our community can rally around to address," says Jeff Edmondson, executive director of Strive.

Writer: David Holthaus
Source: Sherri Lung, Strive
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