Grinnell Education Partnership

About the Grinnell Education Partnership

The Grinnell Education Partnership, a campus community initiative, brings together community nonprofits, area employers, the Grinnell-Newburg School District, and community volunteers. Supported by a team of AmeriCorps members working with local organizations across the community, the partnership is helping to ensure that Grinnell’s kids get both a strong start and a strong finish to their school experience.

By working together in new ways, the partnership scales up community-developed initiatives in order to:

• give students a strong start so they can succeed in school in the early years; and
• help students with a strong finish so they are prepared to do well after graduation

To learn more, visit Grinnell Education Partnership.

Working in Community

Listen to the Networks for Social Impact podcast with Northwestern University Professor Michelle Shumate as she interviews Monica Chavez-Silva to learn about the Grinnell Education Partnership. Chavez-Silva shares about the campaign and how this program originated and continues to evolve and thrive in the rural community of Grinnell. To hear the full podcast, visit: Rural Networks for Social Impact in Education. For the full podcast series, visit: Networks for Social Impact in Education Series.

History

The community’s interest in working together to better support local kids and families began when the school district was introduced to the national Campaign for Grade-Level Reading in the spring of 2013–14. The enthusiasm grew rapidly with a unanimous decision by 20+ community organizations to apply to join the campaign. A 2015 grant transformed the effort by funding a team of AmeriCorps members to support both the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading for young students as well as a skills gap initiative at the high school level. AmeriCorps members continue to support community organizations by adding capacity and/or performing direct service so all of Grinnell’s youth can start and finish strong.

Participation

Since the 2015–16 school year, the Grinnell Education Partnership has engaged more than 170 AmeriCorps members and more than 20 local organizations. Through the backbone support of Grinnell College and Greater Poweshiek Community Foundation, the partnership has enrolled AmeriCorps members who have piloted or enhanced more than 20 community-based programs to help support kids and families in Grinnell. GEP has generated more than $200,000 in grant funding and private donations to support community-based learning activities. 

Results

Through countless new initiatives catalyzed by community-wide collaborations, the partnership has increased community capacity and improved student success. Many of the initiatives are now being sustained by organizations within the community.

Recognition

The Grinnell Education Partnership has been recognized on the state and national level for effective cross-sector collaboration benefiting kids and families.

• 2016 Leave It Better Than You Found It Award for highly collaborative community involvement and effective success during its initial stages. (Grinnell-based Claude W. and Dolly Ahrens Foundation)
• 2017 Pacesetter Award for outstanding alignment between private, public, and social sectors to achieve measurable progress in literacy achievement (Campaign for Grade Level Reading)
• 2018 Bright Spot for inspirational solutions (Campaign for Grade Level Reading)
• 2018 Council of Champions for extraordinary individual contributions. Five community members were inducted into the Council of Champions for their outstanding contribution to the campaign — Sarah Seney, Karen Neal, Chad Nath, Doug Cameron, and Julie Gosselink (Campaign for Grade Level Reading)
• 2019 Presidential Excellence Award for volunteerism (International Town and Gown Association)
• 2019 Pacesetter Award for demonstrating population-level progress in the key progress indicator of grade-level reading proficiency in K-3 for low-income children. Also received recognition for serving as a proof point in strengthening cross-sector collaboration, interagency partnership and community-wide mobilization (Campaign for Grade Level Reading)
• 2019 Pacesetter Community Honors for supporting early school success with exemplary work in big tent collaboration. (Campaign for Grade Level Reading)
• 2019 Pacesetter Award for reporting significant progress in improving school attendance and chronic absence. (Campaign for Grade Level Reading)
• 2019 Outstanding Nonprofit Collaboration Award for demonstrating excellence in collaborative efforts that increase the effectiveness and efficiency of services with the long-term goal of enhancing Iowa communities (State of Iowa)
• 2020 President’s Engaged Campus Community Partner Award and Community Collaboration Award (Iowa/Minnesota Campus Compact)
• 2022 Pacesetter Award for GEP's work in supporting early school success (Campaign for Grade Level Reading)
• 2022 Above & Beyond Award from the Grinnell Newburg Community School District
• 2023 Certified High Impact Network — Certified with the Networks for Non-profits and Social Impact at Northwestern University
• 2023 Pacesetter Community Honors for three programs focused on reversing the “summer slide,” creating digital equity, and ensuring kindergartners are given the opportunity to start their education strong. (Campaign for Grade Level Reading)

Sustainability

In 2018, Grinnell began collaborating with statewide Iowa Campus Compact for maximum impact and scale. Through continued collaborations with Iowa Campus Compact and Volunteer Iowa, the community of Grinnell benefits from the dedication and creativity of many AmeriCorps members per year.

Grade Level Reading

How to Get Involved

If you would like to support the Grinnell Education Partnership with a financial contribution or as a volunteer, please contact the partnership to express your interest.