Yale University and Yale Elementary

The Yale partnership was featured in an article, "Alumni partner with public education in Chicago," for the May 2007 issue of the Venture Catalyst, the newsletter for The Alumni Network, which is a consortium of organizations that engage alumni in the public interest.

In the Spring of 1997 one of the Directors of the Yale Club of Chicago was made aware of the existence of the Elihu Yale Elementary School in the Englewood neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. He contacted the school and received an enthusiastic response to the idea of the Yale Club "adopting" the school as a Club project. Yale Club volunteers are now very much a part of the fabric of the school.

2006-2007 Activities:

• Yale University alumni raised funds to help 20 students from Yale Elementary's Leadership Club get to Washington, D.C. for a three-day trip during spring break, the first week of April. One Yale alum joined the students on the trip, during which club members saw the sights of the capital and learned about leadership in government. Students visited several museums, including the Air and Space Museum, the Holocaust Museum and the African American Civil War Monument and Museum.
• Leadership Club: volunteers meet with the Leadership Club every Wednesday after school to discuss topics related to leadership and do community service projects in the neighborhood. During one such community service project, students went to a local Head Start center and did crafts with younger children there.
• Tutoring: Yale alumni are paired with individual teachers and tutor students in reading and math one-on-one and in small groups. Volunteers typically tutor once a week for 2 hours.

Past Activities:

• Tutoring
• Mentoring
• Volunteers helped secure a grant from the 21st Century Fund through the assistance of Youth Guidance Chicago, which now has two staff members at Yale school running programs such as the Leadership Club.
• Secret Santa program for kindergarteners
• Donated winter clothing, athletic equipment, and books
• Sponsored field trips
• Brought in a music educator
• Repaired and upgraded computers
• Several alumni have served as Principals for a Day

Page updated 11 May 2007