Stritch partnering with MPS on "GEAR UP" college readiness program
Assistance to include new literacy center, college visits
posted Nov. 11, 2011
Cardinal Stritch University has announced a new partnership with Milwaukee Public Schools to help implement its $30 million federally-funded GEAR UP college preparation program.
The goal of the GEAR UP program is to increase the number of MPS students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education through academic preparation, family preparedness and student motivation. Stritch's College of Education and Leadership will contribute by launching a new literacy center at an MPS school and organizing yearly campus visits.
Stritch's new literacy center will operate during after-school hours and provide the following services:
- One-on-one tutoring for students with the most significant literacy or math needs
- Small group tutoring for students with improving, but still fragile literacy or math needs
- Guided book clubs for small groups of interested students
- Professional development for teachers
- Offerings to equip families with strategies to support reading and language difficulties
Stritch presently operates three literacy centers in locations throughout Milwaukee, offering comprehensive literacy assessment and intervention services for students in grades K-12. A pioneer in such efforts, Stritch has offered these services since 1943.
“Cardinal Stritch University has successfully trained MPS teachers and supported MPS students at our existing urban literacy centers,” said Dr. Freda Russell, dean of the College of Education and Leadership. “We propose to expand those services to add another literacy center at one of the GEAR UP schools and then move that center to a feeder high school as the 6th grade students move to high school.”
As part of the GEAR UP grant, Stritch will unite its four colleges in a collaborative effort to focus on 21st century learning and skills. Visits to the University will address global awareness and communication technology, core competencies in math and the sciences, health literacy, leadership and responsibility, and life and career skills. Teon Austin, the new director of the Lifetime Learners program in the College of Education and Leadership, will coordinate the logistics.
Stritch is one of 18 area organizations that is partnering with MPS. Over the course of seven years, GEAR UP learning activities will serve more than 2,700 students in 13 schools. Students in the designated schools will be able to visit college campuses such as Stritch, receive tutoring and financial literacy counseling, and they will be encouraged to explore careers.
Wisconsin is one of 19 states nationwide receiving GEAR UP dollars.