Columbus Schools Have Created a Broad Range of Partnerships

The partnership programs that Columbus Schools are engaged in cover a wide range of disciplines, grade levels, and locations. There are several successful partnership programs in the Columbus Schools.

"Computers Rock 24/7" is a partnership program focused on introducing technology to fourth and fifth grade girls to technology. Students in the program develop their own web pages and learn about computers from the inside out. This program is a partnership between Columbus Schools, Weinland-Hudson Elementary School, The Ohio State University Women in Technology, and The Women in Computer Engineering.

"Modeling Physical Sciences in Ohio" is a program aimed at teacher development and training. This partnership program involved Columbus Schools, College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at Ohio State, Ohio Board of Regents, and Worthington City Schools. This partnership program centered around a three-week workshop intended to train Columbus Schools teachers in better methods of instruction that will be more effective with students from a variety of levels and backgrounds. Ongoing Saturday workshops held throughout the school year will revisit the techniques used in the original workshop and help foster a cooperative bond between teachers.

There are a number of literacy partnerships in several schools in the Columbus Schools system that addresses all manner of literacy difficulties and language arts development. One literacy partnership program involved two Columbus Schools' elementary schools, Medary and Trevitt Elementary Schools, working with Ohio State Department of English. The "Medary and Trevitt Literacy Partnerships" aims to provide extra literacy tutoring to first graders. Students from Ohio State will work with Medary Elementary first grade students in a program where students receive reading help during school hours. The Trevitt Elementary School program will have the Ohio State student tutors working in all manner of language arts in a one on one after school program. The students have benefited greatly from the individual attention that can be provided.

Another literacy partnership in the Columbus Schools is the Johnson Park Middle School Literacy Partnership. Started in the 2005-2006 school year, this program had Ohio Stat undergraduates from the Writing Program acting as advisors and mentors on the Johnson Park Middle School newspaper. The Johnson Park Middle School Literacy Partnership also had the students from Ohio State and Johnson Park Middle School working together to produce the monthly magazine "M," a magazine for and about middle schools on the east side of Columbus. This literacy partnership was part of a larger project between Johnson Park Middle School and Ohio State, led by the P-12 Project.

The "Africentric Literacy Program" is another tutoring cooperative between Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing in Ohio State's College of Humanities and the Columbus Schools' Africentric Elementary School. This program is now in its sixth year and has resulted in higher reading and writing test scores. The "Africentric Literacy Program" holds a special end of the year celebration in which the students in the program read selected writings from the year. All participating students in the program receive writers' kits and a hardbound book of all the students' work over the year.

Stacy Andell is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. Stacy has a nose for research and writes stimulating news and views on school issues. For more on Orlando schools visit www.schoolsk-12.com/Florida/Orlando/index.html