By John Lynds
Last week Excel Academy Charter School staff joined Teach for America and Fundación MAPFRE to distribute school supplies to students as part of a new partnership between the school and the two agencies.
Aside from the school supply distribution last week, the partnership between Excel, Fundación MAPFRE and Teach for America will include ongoing professional development and coaching from focused on increasing opportunities for Excel students and deepening faculty relationships with their students and families.
Teach For America works in partnership with urban and rural communities to expand educational opportunity for children. The non-profit recruits and develops a diverse corps of leaders that commit to a two-year program to teach in high-need schools in the effort to end educational inequity.
Teach For America–Massachusetts corps members and alumni make up one third of Excel’s faculty.
“We know that while opportunity still varies along lines of race and class, potential does not,” said Teach For America – Massachusetts Executive Director, Josh Biber. “We’re enormously grateful for MAPFRE’s partnership so that TFA can work alongside other great educators at Excel East Boston to create the opportunity for equitable and excellent education for local students.“
Through this partnership, Funación MAPFRE has invested $75,000 in Teach For America – Massachusetts. MAPFRE will welcome Excel Academy East Boston students to their North American headquarters in Webster, Massachusetts this school year for a career day.
MAPFRE also donated school supplies to Excel Academy East Boston’s students and classrooms, which MAPFRE executives distributed last week during a school visit. Every student received a new school bag containing pens, pencils, and highlighters, while their classrooms received paper, tissues, and other supplies that the school identified as items they most need to begin the school year successfully.
“Teach for America has made, and continues to make, a tremendous impact on our staff and students,” said Excel Academy’s Head of School, Jennifer Gallaspy. “It’s notable that our school’s administrative team is made up of 72% Teach For America alumni. And with respect to the classroom, we are fortunate to have Teach for America alumni and corps members in front of our students.”
By partnering with Teach for America–Massachusetts, Fundación MAPFRE is enabling a deep community impact through improved access to high quality education for students, and customized local engagement aligned to the needs of Excel East Boston.
“We are always looking for ways to support today’s youth and expand their access to high quality educational opportunities,” said Alfredo Castelo, representative of Fundación MAPFRE in the U.S. “This partnership allows Fundación MAPFRE the ability to directly impact students for years to come because their teachers will benefit from the increased training and education offered to them.”