Community Partnerships
Highlights of Community Partnerships

Queens Mall Project    The Queens Mall Community Project

Learning from the Community and reaching out to teach the Community. This is the dynamic process that embodies the philosophy of IS 250’s Magnet theme “Learning Through Community Studies." Embedded in the rigorous core content curriculum are opportunities for community involvement encouraging “real world” experiences. Recently students were involved In the Queens Mall Project, “Step Up. Step Out." Collaborating with the Macerich Corporation, the owner and operator of the Queens Center Mall, students were given the opportunity to combine community service with community studies as they participated in a sixty five city charity event for women affected by breast cancer. The Macerich Corporation is a sterling example of an ongoing community partnership. The corporation’s key personnel meet regularly with RFK’s leadership team to review previous joint projects and plan new ones.

Outward Bound    Outward Bound: www.outwardbound.org

IS 250 has partnered with Outward Bound, an organization that uses creative methods to improve student achievement; build student character; enhance teacher practices; and instill a positive school culture. Their approach promotes rigorous and engaging curriculum; active, inquiry based pedagogy; and a school culture that demands and teaches compassion and good citizenship. At the heart of Outward Bound are learning expeditions and interdisciplinary units aligned with state and district standards. For example our students engage in project based learning, a methodology designed to reach and teach students with various learning styles. This approach involves students in original research with experts to create high quality products for audiences beyond the classroom, similar to the local community and school newspaper that is being developed with City Lore (see below). In addition, Outward Bound’s creative self esteem and team building strategies, such as team based rock climbing, promote the formation and maintenance of strong bonds of interdependence among the entire school community. This approach and such activities help the school community recognize the interdependent nature of humanity and are directly complementary to IS 250’s Magnet theme of Learning Through Community Studies. This year we are engaged in an association with Expeditionary Learning, an Outward Bound affiliated organization that focuses exclusively on education. As we work with Expeditionary Learning, in conjunction with our affiliation with Outward Bound, we are on a path to becoming the first official Expeditionary Learning School in Queens, and one of only a few in NYC, in September 2009. Expeditionary Learning, along with Outward Bound is an organization that is internationally recognized for its dynamic, creative and successful educational programs.

City Lore   City Lore: www.citylore.org

City Lore is an organization that offers a wealth of research and other resources about New York City and the smaller neighborhoods and communities within it that give New York its rich diversity and history. City Lore may well be unmatched as an organization for the great depth and breadth of information they have compiled about the people and places that are the history of New York City from its beginnings to the present time. They are an invaluable resource and partner both for professional development for our staff as well as providing a vast array of research opportunities and other resources for our students. One of the tangible products currently in the works in collaboration with City Lore is a local community and school newspaper. The newspaper will give our students an opportunity to hone their research, writing, photographic, artistic and other skills while reinforcing our theme of Learning Through Community Studies.

Rachel's Challenge   Rachel’s Challenge:  www.rachelschallenge.com

A response to the Columbine school shootings, and started by the friends and family of Rachel Scott, a Columbine victim, Rachel’s Challenge helps students explore their purpose in life while encouraging kindness and compassion and stimulating a positive school atmosphere. The banner shown in the photograph below contains the signatures of RFK students and staff members. These signatures are the first step in the commitment of each individual to identify their goals in life and practice kindness and compassion. After seeing the initial presentation, many of the students will go through a rigorous training process that emphasizes character building and violence prevention. The program trains and educates students so that they will achieve their maximum potential as whole human beings, become peer leaders, spread a message of sound moral values and help prevent large and small incidents of violence and cruelty of every kind.

Total Transformation   The Total Transformation Program: www.totaltransformation.com

The Total Transformation Program helps parents manage discipline issues they may have with their children. This program is offered both to groups of parents/guardians at scheduled presentations and to individuals by appointment. The Total Transformation Program has helped thousands of parents take a constructive pro-active approach in dealing with problem areas in their relationships with their children, as well as their children’s issues with other authority figures and peers. The program is a great fit for our Magnet Theme of Learning Through Studies since the immediate family unit is the nucleus of community. Furthermore, the program stresses respect and accountability among other core values in helping adolescents see themselves and their responsibilities in the context of their interactions with other people and the community at large.

The following organizations are also partners with IS 250: The Macerich Corporation (Owner-Operator of The Queens Mall); Queens College; Saint John’s University; Rachel’s Challenge; Alley Pond Environmental Center; The Queens Museum; The Rufus King Mansion; The Queens Theater; The Queens Zoo; The Queens Hall of Science; The Queens Historical Society; Museum of The Moving; Image; Queens County Farm Museum; Queens Botanical Gardens; Urban Park Rangers; NYC Parks Department; NYPD; NYFD; NY Hospital of Queens; Flushing Town Hall; Science Museum of Long Island; Long Island Children’s Museum; Cradle of Aviation Museum; Madame Taussaud’s Wax Museum; Lower East Side Tenement Museum; The New York Historical Society; The Nassau County Museum of Art; The Vanderbilt Planetarium; Railroad Museum of Long Island
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