Alumni Connect

Alumni connect was created to ensure that K-16 youth maintain consistent engagement in school and in out-of-school-time programs in West Philadelphia. Alumni Connect is a UACS Alumni Engagement project that will build the capacity of the Netter Center to stay connected with University-Assisted Community Schools alumni. This will ensure that youth have consistent and reliable access to valuable resources including academic and social supports, professional development opportunities, and enrichment programming that will bolster their K-12 and post-secondary success.

UACS

A major component of the Netter Center’s work is mobilizing the vast resources of the University to help traditional public schools become innovative University-Assisted Community Schools (UACS) that educate, engage, empower, and serve public school students, families, and community members. UACS focus on schools as core institutions for community engagement and democratic development, as well as link school day and after school curricula to solve locally identified, real-world, community problems.

The Netter Center’s UACS programs in West Philadelphia include children and families at Comegys School (grades K-8), Hamilton School (K-8), Lea School (K-8), Mitchell School (K-8), Mastery Charter School – Shoemaker Campus (7-12), Robeson High School, Sayre High School, and West Philadelphia High School. Additional partner schools (with more select programming) include Global Leadership Academy Southwest, West Catholic High School, School of the Future, and John Bartram High School.

UACS programs and initiatives include:

Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative
Arts, Culture, & Humanities Partnerships
Bridges to Wealth
College Access and Career Readiness
Community School Student Partnerships
Extended Learning: After School and Summer Programs
High School Voter Project
Moelis Access Science
OurSpace
Penn Reading Initiative
Rebel Ventures
Social, Emotional and Mental Wellness
UACS Sports
Young Quakers Community Athletics

The Netter Center

Founded in 1992, the Netter Center for Community Partnerships is the University of Pennsylvania’s primary vehicle for bringing to bear the broad range of human knowledge needed to solve the complex, comprehensive, and interconnected problems so that West Philadelphia, the University itself, and society benefit.

A major component of the Netter Center’s work is mobilizing the vast resources of Penn to help transform traditional neighborhood schools into innovative University-Assisted Community Schools (UACS). UACS educate, engage, empower, and serve all members of the community in which the school is located. At the same time, working with the community to create and sustain UACS provides a powerful means for universities to advance teaching, research, learning and service.