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The Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation

For the past decade, The Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation has been partnering with NYC Outward Bound Schools to help us bring out the best in New York City’s public school students, teachers and school leaders. Together, we are preparing students for success in college, careers, and citizenship while simultaneously redefining what educational excellence can look like in our city’s public schools.

Over the past few years, with The Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation’s support we have been able to launch and grow what has now become a multifaceted To & Through College program that is aimed at helping to ensure that our students graduate from high school ready for college, are accepted to good-fit colleges, and receive the support they need to enroll, persist in and graduate from college.

“Program innovation and growth requires multi-year partnerships such as the one we are fortunate to have with The Petrie Foundation,” says NYC Outward Bound Schools’ President Richard Stopol. “It is a partnership that goes well beyond financial support, one which also includes advocacy and thought partnership. And the Foundation’s unique contribution is that it has enabled us to forge deep and lasting relationships with other nonprofits in New York City doing similar work.”

In addition to the foundation’s generous philanthropic support, Beth Lief, the Foundation’s Executive Director, has drawn upon her deep expertise in schools to bring NYC Outward Bound Schools together with a core group of the Foundation’s grantees to learn from and mutually support each other. In September 2012, Beth began convening regular meetings which brought together the CEOs from: NYC Outward Bound Schools, New Visions for Public Schools, The Urban Assembly, and Internationals Network of Public Schools. The group started by sharing best practices and hosting visits at their schools. Each year the collaboration among these organizations has grown, and last year CUNY joined the group as well, bringing its expertise and experience to our conversation.

Reflecting on the work with this group, Richard affirms “It is tremendously valuable to have a group of colleagues who share our commitment to educational excellence and equity, whose work can inform ours, and whom we can turn to for advice.”

We look forward to and are grateful for our continued partnership with The Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation and the peer organizations with whom the Foundation has connected us.

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