George Washington Community High School

The presence of a thriving school led to economic revitalization of the West Washington Street Corridor.  For eight years, George Washington Community School has collaborated with IUPUI to provide mutually beneficial partnerships and programs for Washington and IUPUI students.  Several programs today create greater capacity for GWCS and increase IUPUI student learning:

Center for Service & Learning

1. Community Outreach Partnership Center – serves as a site for events and workshops on financial literacy, predatory lending and health.
2. Great Indy Neighborhoods Initiative – serves on taskforce groups especially those focused on education, civic engagement
3. Learning Communities Initiative – coordination of Fugate Scholars that implement ScholarShop and AVID
4. Sam H. Jones Community Scholars Program – serves as a community site for service scholars and many tutors
5. Westside Education Taskforce – representation and active participation in the taskforce

School of Education – site for learning for future educators

School of Physical Education

• Fit for Life – dedicated a space for a school-based community fitness center and currently hosts the program

Campus & Community Life

• RISE Tutoring – serves as community site for the program

Multiple Service Learning Courses in various schools

University College

The impact of the collaboration is significant. For example, 91% of the 2008 GWCS graduating class went onto post-secondary education. Some of the students attend IUPUI as various majors including construction technology and education.

Jim Grim, Community School Coordinator and Learning Communities Initiative Director, said:

“The Service Scholars from IUPUI serve as important role models in addition to the invaluable information they present to our students about college and its quality-of-life benefits. We would not have had 81 percent of our first graduates in 2006 and 84 percent in 2007 go into post-secondary education had it not been for the ongoing presence of IUPUI service students at Washington. Our success is the direct result of IUPUI's commitment to service learning and we are grateful for it.”

IUPUI students have been enhanced and inspired by the partnership with the school as well.   One Fugate Scholar said: “I was proud to speak about my whole George Washington experience. The fact that we are able to be positive role models is great just with our presence, but the fact that we're able to convey the message about furthering their education is the most importance issue we're addressing.”  

The partnership with GWCS is reciprocal, the foundation of which is a genuine concern for educating youth and creating opportunities for the entire community to be engaged in growth and development efforts.  Most programs are developed from conversations among the stakeholders.  One community leader, Diane Arnold of the Hawthorne Community Center, says that the partnerships work on the Westside because everyone is bringing AND taking away something from the table.  She equates the partnership to a pitch-in dinner:  each person brings one dish, but by the end each walks away full.   This demonstrates the diversity of ideas as well as the commitment that partners bring to the table.  George Washington Community School is just one partnership focus for the Westside.  They rarely reject an opportunity that will provide mutual benefit to the students as well as the community partner. 

George Washington Community School IS the model for school/community engagement.  The school has been awarded the Inaugural National Community School Award by the National Coalition for Community Schools and was recognized by the KnowledgeWorks Foundation of Cincinnati, Ohio in 2004 as “one of the nation’s best examples of a school as center of community”.  The school’s investment in developing lasting relationships with partners is a long-term commitment. Although some programs come and go, the George Washington monthly community advisory council meetings provide a forum to engage and connect new and existing partners.   IUPUI has representation on the advisory council and is engaged in setting goals for student achievement.  In addition to this support, multiple programs that are staffed by IUPUI students create greater capacity for the school to address such topics as seeking post-secondary education, tutoring for math, science and language arts, assisting with after-school programs, serving as AVID college-prep tutors, and funding and training for teacher-focused service learning classes. 

Approximately 50 – 75 IUPUI Students, Faculty and Staff work with GWCS each school year with an estimated value over $300,000.  The work at GWCS provides a platform for IUPUI students to learn in the community.  The students receive hands-on experience working with students, teachers, administrators and other partnering agencies.  Students get exposed to a thriving community resource in one of the poorest communities in Indianapolis.  They have an opportunity to make an impact on future development of the community by assisting GWCS students and their families with education and learning about the in’s and out’s of education after high school.  Our IUPUI students are given the opportunity to become role models.  They share their own stories with high school students and provide encouragement.  The individual students tell the GWCS students that, “If I can be a college student, so can you!”

The partnership with George Washington Community School has prompted IUPUI to become engaged in larger national, even global, conversations on engaging universities in their surrounding community that for urban campuses is most often underserved neighborhoods.  The success of the GWCS partnership inspires our staff to constantly develop concepts for new ways to engage in community.  It has also helped to secure funding for programs in financial literacy and health promotion.