Contact: Wendy L. Seiffert Community School Director South Mountain Middle School 484-765-4364 June 30, 2011 Communities In Schools of the Lehigh Valley and South Mountain Middle School, a Community School, are hosting the T-Mobile Corporation and City Year for a “Day of Service.” Over 150 T-Mobile employees and volunteers will engage in and complete many small beautification projects around the school including: painting murals, constructing picnic benches, creating a “T-Mobile Huddle-Up Zone” for after-school program use, and many more. The day will conclude at 3:00pm with a Closing Ceremony in front of the school with a reveal and site tour of the completed projects. Representatives from the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley COMPASS Community School Initiative will be on hand to thank the volunteers.
Since its inception as a Community School, Allentown School District and the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley with Communities In Schools of the Lehigh Valley as its Lead partner have strived to transform South Mountain Middle School into the hub of the community. Using the public school as a hub, the Community School Model brings together many partners to offer a range of supports and opportunities to children, youth, families, and community members. Partners work to achieve increased student learning, stronger families and healthier communities.
About South Mountain Middle School, Allentown School District, COMPASS, and Communities in Schools of the Lehigh Valley
South Mountain Middle School is one of four middle schools in the Allentown School District. South Mountain Middle School has an enrollment of approximately 1,125 students. South Mountain has just completed its third full calendar year as a community school, and is the only middle school in the Allentown School District implementing this model. Last academic year the school boasted a 92 percent attendance rate, and made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) on many of its PSSA scores.
To learn more about South Mountain, please visit www.allentownsd.org/SouthMtn/, and to learn more about the Allentown School District, please visit www.allentownsd.org/.
COMPASS is a community building partnership of the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley with a focus on Increasing the graduation rate in the Lehigh Valley through a focus on Education Investments. COMPASS includes government officials from two counties, parents, representatives from three school districts, corporate, foundation, and business partners and institutes of higher education. As the leader of the Lehigh Valley’s Community School initiative, COMPASS provides funding, convenes partners to identify systems-level strategies to support youth to succeed in school, assists with on-site coaching and training and implements rigorous data evaluation through the Results Based Accountability framework.
For more information, go to www.unitedwayglv.org.
Communities In Schools role is as the Lead Partner and fiscal agent of the Community School model at South Mountain, as well as the employer of the Community School Director and resource broker for South Mountain. A Lead Partner’s role is critical in the sustainability and strategic direction of a COMPASS Community School.
The Community School Director serves as a leader in the school and helps build a solid team of parents, community members, educators, and business partners who will assist in implementing the model. The Director is responsible for creating an environment of quality education, positive youth development and effective collaboration while meeting basic student needs within a safe and supportive school. As a way to achieve this end, Community School Directors create after school programs, provide adult mentors, coordinate access to health and behavioral services and connect students and families to other enhancing opportunities on-site at South Mountain.
For more information, go to www.cislv.org.
