Elementary education
Many of us might have had that one special, talented teacher from elementary school who we’ll always remember — even throughout our high school and college years. Though elementary school seems like ages ago, it’s likely the type and quality of education we received there has heavily impacted our ability to obtain success in the higher education arena.
This university boasts academic rankings we should be proud of: It sits 20th among public universities in the 2015 U.S. News & World Report college rankings and 43rd overall in the 2014 Academic Ranking of World Universities.
For the city of College Park and Prince George’s County, the story isn’t quite the same. In 2012, only 50.4 percent of eighth-graders in this county are proficient in math, while the state average stands at 69.3 percent. In reading, 69.6 percent of eighth-graders in the county are proficient, while about 80.8 percent across the state are.
One strategy that seems to help areas lagging in academics are partnerships and contracts with local universities. This university is currently affiliated with an elementary school and pre-K program — the College Park Academy and the Center for Young Children — and it’s bringing a university-ingrained culture to most academic levels outside of the university.
The City Council unanimously voted to send a letter to state Sen. Jim Rosapepe (D-Prince George’s), College Park City-University Partnership chairman, to launch a new callaborative elementary school program between the City of College Park and this university.
Aiming to provide a diverse, experiential education for elementary schoolers, the program will follow the similar successful educational models used by the College Park Academy and the Center for Young Children.
With council members seeking to have the program started by next fall, this editorial board believes it couldn’t have come at a better time. A partnership between elementary schools and this university would successfully impact our community in two major ways: improving the educational reputation of students in this county and affirming how much this university values the importance of elementary education.
While we’re not the only university starting a university-elementary school relationship (Williams College, the University of Central Florida and the University of Chicago, among many others, have also participated in similar programs), it’s definitely a needed step forward in helping the College Park community become a stable support system for public schools throughout the city.
According to a 2008 article published by the American School Counselor Association, school-family-community partnerships shouldn’t be undervalued, as they are “conducive for building strengths-enhancing environments…those that promote protective factors, developmental assets, resources and supports that students need to succeed.”
The partnership boosts what this university strives to be: an educational institution that doesn’t just explicitly focus on college-aged students but aims to provide academic support for those who wish to go to college in the future — even if they are toddlers today.
At a time when more people are realizing that students learn better in applied, creative ways we urge Rosapepe to move forward with this proposal — this university and a large part of its community is relying on it.
