Boston College
EN-10: Community Partnerships

In 2006, Boston College, the Archdiocese of Boston, and Saint Columbkille established the partnership school to prevent the closure of the last Catholic elementary school in Allston-Brighton. During the past 15 years, the school has flourished, with enrollment rising from 175 to 430, and its students—approximately 50 percent Black, Hispanic and Asian—consistently performing well above the national average on all testing measures. During this time BC has provided direct financial contributions of more than $1.7 million.

In March, 2021, Boston College's Lynch School of Education designated Brighton's Saint Columbkille Partnership School a laboratory school to enhance opportunities for teacher training, educational research, and professional development at the pre-K-8 school.

The laboratory school designation—the only such arrangement between a university and an elementary school in the City of Boston—will increase collaboration in teaching and research between Saint Columbkille’s teachers and BC faculty and students. The research—jointly designed by faculty from both institutions—will target the school’s specific needs.

https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/bcnews/nation-world-society/education/st--columbkille-laboratory-school.html

BC students worked with another local community partnership, Tree-Plenish, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 2020. The organization works with helping high schools reduce their environmental impact by planting the equivalent number of trees that the school has consumed through their paper consumption through the academic year.
“Tree-Plenish has three main principles that guide our mission,” Matthew Katz, CSOM ’23 and Director of Operations, said. “First, we believe in building a sustainable future by replacing whatever we take, second, we are committed to channeling the power of youth to emphasize change, and lastly, we value the strength of the local community. We have planted 450 trees, which [when fully grown] is the equivalent of 3.6 million sheets of paper,” Katz said.

The Corcoran Center for Real Estate and Urban Action has been building partnerships in Boston’s Mattapan neighborhood for more than a year. Rather than imposing a preconceived program, Corcoran Center Director Neil McCullagh is asking residents what Boston College can do to help.

Those efforts took another step in March 2019, when representatives from neighborhood schools, non-profit groups, and community-based organizations met at the Mattapan Teen Center with representatives from the Connell School of Nursing, Lynch School of Education and Human Development, and BC School of Social Work.
https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/schools/carroll-school/sites/corcoran-center.html
https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/bcnews/campus-community/boston/community-partnerships.html

Real Food Boston College launched a new partnership with Centre Street Food Pantry over the summer, donating produce from the BC garden to the pantry. Real Food BC is an organization dedicated to food justice and working towards more equitable and sustainable food systems at Boston College and beyond. This partnership with Centre Street Food Pantry, located in Newton Centre and providing groceries to more than 750 families per month, is an example of Real Food BC’s commitment to putting their mission into action.

Boston College Neighborhood Center
The Boston College Neighborhood Center (BCNC) is committed to supporting the Allston-Brighton community by sponsoring programs, connecting residents to resources on our campus, and providing funding to local nonprofits. During the academic year, BCNC offers English classes at the Neighborhood Center for advanced beginner and intermediate levels. Another community service provided by BCNC are volunteer tutors to assist children in various subjects for one to two hours per week after school. The newsletter also provides links to local farmers markets.

https://www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/sites/neighborhood-center/about/Newsletter.html

In addition, over the past 6 years financial assistance of $1.9 million has been provided to public and not-for-profit entities to complete property improvements in Allston-Brighton. Since 1995, another $1.6 has been awarded in grants to support programs and services of Allston-Brighton community organizations.

Environmental Eagle Newsletters, Nov 2020 and Sept. 2021
2021 Economic and Social Impact study conducted by Econsult Solutions.