TC’s Office of School and Community Partnerships (OSCP) was created in 2007 to bring the College’s many existing outreach programs under a single umbrella, and to take TC’s partnership efforts to a new level.

The office is headed by Associate Vice President Nancy Streim, who with TC President Susan Fuhrman helped start a model university-assisted public school in West Philadelphia when the two were at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. They also created partnerships with several existing public schools in the neighborhood.

Since arriving at TC, Streim has hosted several meetings with Harlem leaders and public school principals and superintendents to learn their needs. OSCP, created by Streim soon after her arrival, has since added staff, created a brochure and Web site listing all relevant TC resources, and secured more than $8 million in grants to partner with local schools. The latter includes $5 million from the GE Foundation to partner with a group of Harlem schools on curriculum and teacher development in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and math) and $3.2 million from New York State to create STEM-focused after-school programming.

The office is also the focal point for TC’s efforts to launch its own pre-K–8 public school in Harlem, slated for Fall 2010.

Streim heads a staff that consists of OSCP Coordinator Emily Zemke, who does research on partner schools, coordinates communication between the schools and TC, and heads conference planning (see story on facing page); Project Director Janell Catlin for GE Partnership Schools; and Samantha Freeman, Program Manager for Harlem Ivy Partnerships.

Published Monday, Nov. 10, 2008