March 20, 2019 -- The Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District has agreed to partner with the Weiss Institute, in coordination with United Way of Greater Cleveland, to support our students on their path to post-secondary success.
Representatives from Weiss and United Way were at the Feb. 19 Board of Education meeting to discuss the new partnership. United Way has agreed to provide financial support to help launch the initiative.
The Weiss Institute will work with CH-UH and United Way of Greater Cleveland to:
- Analyze existing student data to determine areas of support that are needed to help all students achieve post-secondary success;
- Identify community and district assets which can be harnessed to move all students along a pathway to success;
- Develop individualized growth plans for all students in the district; and
- Provide tracking, evaluation, and coordination tools to ensure success.
CH-UH nurses and social workers will have access to Weiss’ comprehensive post-secondary planning system and database that integrates with United Way’s 2-1-1 Help Center. The system tracks each student step-by-step to ensure they are on track for post-secondary success. The database can easily connect families with resources if the student gets off track.
“We have been working on implementing wraparound services in this district for years, and we are finally starting to see that work pay off,” said CH-UH Supervisor of Community and School Partnerships Nancy Peppler. “This partnership with Weiss and United Way is a tremendous opportunity for our district and, most importantly, for our students. We will have a state-of-the-art system that can track each student’s progress towards post-secondary success. We can also more easily connect students and families with the necessary resources should a student get off track.
“Our previous work with United Way on the Community in Schools Task Force is what brought the Weiss Institute to us. As we explored the potential partnership and saw the track record of success in cities such as Buffalo and Syracuse, it became evident very quickly that this was an initiative that would greatly benefit our students, our families, and our community.”
The Weiss Institute was created out of the Say Yes to Education program, which George Weiss began in 1987. The Weiss Institute was launched in 2017 as a support service for communities seeking to expand their capacity to support young people on the pathway from early childhood to adult success.
Cleveland was recently named a “Say Yes to Education” city, which brought Weiss and United Way together. Former CH-UH Superintendent Dr. Talisa Dixon met with representatives from both groups this past fall to explore the possibility of incorporating certain elements of Say Yes in CH-UH.
CH-UH staff will spend the next year preparing to implement the post-secondary planning system. During that time, a team from Johns Hopkins University will assist in calibrating the specific indicators and data that is most relevant to CH-UH. The district expects to launch the complete system in time for the start of the 2020-2021 school year.