Urban/Suburban 50th Anniversary
Last year, we partnered with Monroe #1 BOCES and the Urban-Suburban Interdistrict Transfer Program to help coordinate a yearlong celebration of the program’s 50th Anniversary. The celebration kicked off with a breakfast at Irondequoit High School (where the program got its start) and culminated in June with a commemorative gala co-chaired by Jennifer Leonard, President & CEO of the Rochester Area Community Foundation, and Dr. Walter Cooper, NYS Regent Emeritus.
While the benefits of this program to our community are many, our team was especially excited to get involved in this effort because of its vital role in desegregating our community – a key element in the fight against poverty.
The overall goals of our work with Urban-Suburban were threefold: to increase support for the program in currently participating school districts, to increase support in districts considering participation, and to help raise funds to support both the celebration year events and the Urban-Suburban Scholarship Fund.
As a result of this collaborative work, five new suburban districts signed on to participate in the program in the 2015-2016 school year, and several others have indicated interest in participating in upcoming years. Nearly 300 people celebrated the program at the June 12th Gala and community members donated over $47,000 to help Urban-Suburban continue its mission in our area.
