Education: Joining Forces

Six years ago, Public School 190 in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York City found itself in a quandary. "The school was small, the parent body was ambitious, and we didn't have any money," recalls Debrah Pearson Feinn, whose daughter Lily was a second-grader at the time. The arts budget had been cut, and in this neighborhood, thick with artists, a school without art was hardly a school at all. Brainstorming at a back-to-school party, parents came up with the solution: since the area was gaining a reputation not only as an artists' colony but also as a dining destination, P.S. 190 parents joined those in P.S. 234, another local elementary school, and formed a partnership with upscale neighborhood restaurateurs and caterers to launch Taste of Tribeca. The outdoor fancy-food festival now draws 3,000 people, who buy tickets to sample the signature dishes of more than three dozen local eateries. By showcasing the talents of neighborhood chefs, the annual one-day event raises some $50,000 a year for arts programs at the two schools. "It's a wonderful model for everyone, including the kids, for how to do things in life," says Taste of Tribeca co-founder Feinn. "Everybody is motivated by self-interest and also by the greater good. When you give this way, what you're getting from the giving is much greater."

That sentiment echoes throughout the country these days as businesses and schools scramble to forge alliances to raise student performance and enhance school curriculums eviscerated by budget cuts. Typically, businesses have as much to gain from the alliances as schools do. "Good schools benefit businesses because they attract good potential employees to move into the community," says Carole Kennedy, principal in residence at the U.S. Department of Education. "Schools are one of the first things people check when they're considering a move." Notes Vincent Ferrandino, executive director of the National Association of Elementary School Principals: "When a company reaches out and makes an effort to help young people, that sends a message to its employees that it is a good place to work." No wonder, then, that the number of such relationships has surged--from 125,000 in 1991 to an estimated 400,000 today, according to Daniel Merenda, president and CEO of the National Association of Partners in Education.

As the number of partnerships has proliferated, so has the variety. Corporate giants may get the press coverage, but it's small businesses that are leading the charge. In San Jose, Calif., the Graystone Elementary School has joined with Hicklebee's, a local children's bookstore, to hold readings by authors from Lynne Reid Banks (Indian in the Cupboard) to J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter). Graystone students display school projects in Hicklebee's windows, which draw their families to the bookstore. In Toms River, N.J., the staff of Silver Bay Elementary School gets behind the counter of the Yellow Brick Road ice-cream store one evening every spring and fall to serve up an ice-cream social for the students and their parents. The semiannual event raises money for the school, boosts morale and polishes the ice-cream parlor's public image.