LEA Partnerships

What is a School Partner?

In its School Partner Onboarding Guide, the School District of Philadelphia defines “school partners” as organizations that:

• Are fully funded

• Exist as formal entities, which include nonprofit organizations, private corporations, and government agencies

• Are capable of providing high-quality and ready-to-implement programs or services within District school communities

• Can offer their programs or services at no cost to the District or its schools

By contrast, school partners DO NOT include:

• Individual volunteers

• Organizations seeking funding from the District or wishing to charge schools or students for their programs or services

• Researchers not associated with School Partner programs or services

Henry C. Lea Elementary School defines “school partners” as organizations, programs, or individuals that provide coordinated supports or services to the school for the benefit of those who participate in the supports or services. 

Our approach to partnership is grounded in our belief that every partnership must place the development, goals, and well-being of Lea students at the forefront of every element of partner programming as well as the underlying relationship between the school and its partner.

Partner Organizations

The types of organizations, institutions, and/or initiatives that comprise Lea’s partner organizations vary across the following categories: 

• Community-based organizations

• Faith-based institutions

• Nonprofit organizations

• Local universities, including various schools, departments, centers, organizations, programs, and courses affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania

• Organizations affiliated with the School District of Philadelphia

Partner Programs

The categories of programming that comprise Lea’s partner programs vary far more considerably, as demonstrated in the following list: 

• Academic programming: Academic tutoring, instructional coaching (literacy and math), project-based learning, science lab lesson support

• Academically-based community service (ABCS) courses: Music in Urban Spaces (MUSC/URBS 018-402), Nursing in the Community (NURS 380), Tutoring in Urban Public Elementary Schools (URBS 326), Air Pollution: Sources & Effects in Urban Environments (ENVS-411-301); Urban Environments: Speaking about Lead in West Philadelphia (ENVS/HSOC-404-401)

• Arts programming: Creative writing, dance, drama/theatre, film-making, instrumental music, visual arts, vocal music

• Athletics and play programming: Basketball, facilitated recess programming, junior coaches programming, lacrosse, physical education class support, soccer, track

• Career exploration and career readiness programming: Career apprenticeships, career exposure activities and field trips, career mentoring

• Educator and social service provider interns: Nursing interns, reading specialist interns, school counselor interns, social worker interns, teacher apprentices (student teachers)

• Episodic programming: Partner programming that operates on an intermittent basis

• Extended learning opportunities (i.e., extracurricular activities, enrichment programming, etc.): Creative writing, computer programming, dance, drama, first aid, media-/film-making, foreign language tutoring (French, Spanish), instrumental music, social entrepreneurship, STEM lessons

• Family and community engagement: Cooperative committees (Home and School Association, School Advisory Council, Student Council), family events and programs (Academic Parent Teacher Teams, Back to School Night, English learner family meetings, FamiLEA Fun Night, FamiLEA Parent Café, Kindergarten Open House), family surveys, mutual aid programs (donations, scholarships), report card conferences, school events (Black History Month Showcase, Career Day, concerts, Field Day, mock interviews, talent shows, theatre productions, World Heritage Day), social services case management, volunteer opportunities (Lea Volunteer Corps), and various workshops and learning opportunities (adult ESOL classes, FamiLEA Cooking Club, parent information sessions).

• Field trip programming: Academics-focused field trips, arts-focused field trips, career exposure field trips, Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS) field trips

• Health and nutrition programming: Dental care, family culinary programming, fruit stand programming, nutrition education lessons and activities, personal and public health lessons, sexual health lessons

• Instructional coaching and support: Art instructional support (teaching artists), literacy instructional consultants, math instructional consultant, social studies instructional support

• Library programming: Author & illustrator visits, library programming, library volunteers, library database and technology, library maintenance, physical & digital book access, volunteer librarian(s)

• Mentoring and/or tutoring programming: Early literacy tutoring, ELL student mentoring, math tutoring

• Ongoing programming: Partner programming that operates on a consistent basis

• Out-of-school-time programming: After-school programming, summer programming, weekend programming

• Partnerships development and coordination: Community Partnerships Coordinator/Lea-Penn Liaison

• Professional learning and development: School stakeholder training consultation

• School climate support: Climate Support Liaison/Restorative Practices Specialist

• School events: Back to School Night, Black History Month Showcase, Career Day, concerts, Field Day, Kindergarten Open House, mock interviews, talent shows, theatre productions, World Heritage Day

• Undergraduate and/or graduate student organizations: After-school program aides, athletics coaches, EL support, foreign language support, mentoring programs, science lesson support

Partner Focus Areas

Lea’s network of partner programming addresses a variety of school-defined focus areas. For the purposes of strategically aligning partner programming and resources, the focus areas reflect the following school goals and priorities: 

• • Reading, writing, and literacy

  • Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)

  • Project-based learning (PBL)

  • Human development: social, emotional, physical, and civic development

  • Family and community engagement (FACE)

  • Out-of-school-time (OST) and extended learning opportunities

  • Educator capacity-building: programming that supports the growth and development of Lea stakeholders, with a focus on their ability to facilitate and support learning

While many of Lea partnerships are connected to the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) through the Lea-Penn Partnership, Lea partners with a wide variety of community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, and faith-based institutions, as well as programs affiliated with the School District of Philadelphia. 

Of Lea’s 37 partner organizations, 21 of them (57%) fall into this category, and of Lea’s 54 partner programs, 16 of them (30%) fall into this category. Among the community-based and non-profit organizations that partner with Lea, some collaborate with and/or are supported by Penn institutions in providing programming for the school, while others operate their partner programming independent of the Lea-Penn Partnership. 

Go to our Lea-Penn Partnership page to learn more about one of our school's oldest and most wide-ranging partnerships.

Partnerships depend on consistent, open, and honest collaboration between stakeholders. The school’s Principal and Community Partnerships Coordinator have developed the following framework to guide the collaboration between the school and its partners in relation to the development, coordination, and sustainability of partnerships at Lea.

1. The school’s Community Partnerships Coordinator (CPC) is responsible for supervising and supporting school-partner coordination, collaboration, and communication at Lea, and thus serves as the primary liaison and point of contact for all school partners.  

2. School-partner collaboration relies on two primary types of liaisons: school-based collaborators and community-based collaborators.

2. 1. 1. A school-based collaborator (SBC) is a school faculty or staff member who is responsible for collaborating with a community-based collaborator to coordinate and/or facilitate partner programming. 

2. 1. 2. A community-based collaborator (CBC) is a partner coordinator and/or partner facilitator who is responsible for collaborating with a school-based collaborator to coordinate and/or facilitate partner programming.

3. The Community Partnerships Coordinator works with each partner to designate and support school-based collaborators (SBCs) and community-based collaborators (CBCs) for each partnership. 

3. 1. 1. The school must designate a primary SBC responsible for collaborating and communicating with a CBC designated by the partner. 

3. 1. 2. Each partner must designate a primary CBC responsible for collaborating and communicating with a SBC designated by the school.

3. 1. 3. If secondary SBCs and CBCs are deemed necessary by the school and/or the partner (in addition to primary SBCs and CBCs, and usually in instances where programming is especially extensive in scope or complex in nature), the Community Partnerships Coordinator will work with the primary SBC and CBC to identify and designate secondary SBCs and/or CBCs.

4. School-based collaborators (SBCs) and community-based collaborators (CBCs) are responsible for working together to coordinate their respective partner programming with the support of the Community Partnerships Coordinator. 

4. 1. 1. SBCs and CBCs are required to maintain open and consistent lines of communication and information-sharing with the Community Partnerships Coordinator, including (but not limited to) the following: consulting the Community Partnerships Coordinator regarding major decisions related to partner programming, inviting the Community Partnerships Coordinator to relevant meetings, and sharing meeting notes with the Community Partnerships Coordinator.

5. Community-based collaborators (CBCs) can be divided into two categories: partner coordinators and partner facilitators. 

5. 1. 1. A partner coordinator is an individual affiliated with a partner organization and/or program who is responsible for coordinating partner programming and supervising the partner facilitators who deliver that programming. 

5. 1. 2. A partner facilitator is an individual affiliated with a partner organization and/or program who is responsible for facilitating partner programming with program participants. Facilitators can include any number of categories, including (but not limited to): program staff, educators, teachers, instructors, interns, mentors, tutors, coaches, and volunteers.

By providing both a vocabulary for describing partnerships, as well as a framework for how collaboration between the school and its stakeholders is conducted, we hope to foster a mutual understanding of how partnerships work at Lea, as well as the roles and responsibilities of both school-based collaborators and community-based collaborators. In doing so, we aim to foster partnerships that are beneficial to all school stakeholders — a challenging task that requires ongoing commitment on behalf of the school and those with whom we partner.

Over the past few years, Henry C. Lea Elementary School has gradually developed and implemented a Partner Registration Process in order to ensure that every partner organization, partner program, and partner staff member has completed mandatory processes required by the school’s Principal and Community Partnerships Coordinator, as well as the School District of Philadelphia. 

Every partner staff member is required to complete every step of the Partner Registration Process by the deadline before they will be permitted to facilitate any programming with Lea students, families, and/or staff. 

Click on the link for detailed information and step-by-step instructions regarding how to complete the Partner Registration Process.

The Lea Partner Directory provides basic information about each of Lea's partner programs and organizations. 

Click on the link to access the Partner Directory.