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School Volunteer Program Starts!
Under the umbrella organization known as the Council for Public Schools, 28 women enter the schools as the first of thousands of volunteers. They serve as classroom assistants and ESL tutors. Under the guidance of director Edna Koretsky, the program expands dramatically. -
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Boston Partners: 50 Years of Connecting Community to Classroom
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Edna Koretsky's Tenure As Executive Director
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Library Program begins, staffed by SVB Volunteers
Under the leadership of Polly Kaufman and Margeret Brown, SVB Volunteers provide students with libraries, with books and materials funded by a Title II Grant. -
Quick Expansion
SVB places 1,200 volunteers in BPS in it's third year. -
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Isabelle Besecker's Tenure
Isabelle Besecker, our second executive director, founded many of the programs and ideals that have become traditions in Boston Partners. She created and preserved coorporate partnerships, creating a sustainable model of service. She focused on programs which gave students individual attention in the classroom, to address problems like ESL learning and providing role models for students. -
Hub Box Program
Students were given direct lessons on gardening and the science of plants using material s donated by the Massachussetts Horticultural Society, which also trained volunteers to give lessons. -
SVB Incorporates
School Volunteers for Boston, under the direction of Executive Director Isabelle Besecker, Incorporates into an independent organization with a mission to impact students' education by connecting them them to a wide and diverse range of organizations and volunteers. -
Intergenerational Program Begins
One of SVB's longest and most adored program, the Intergenerational program connected students to seniors in a variety of fascinating and enrichming experiences. With a focus on mentorship, the intergenerational program was one of the very first of it's kind not only in Boston, but in the country. -
MFA Volunteers
In partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, SVB volunteers are extensively trained to give museum tours to students throughout the city. Over 7000 students gain access to the museum in 1972. -
100 School Libraries in Boston Public Schools
Schools affected by the library program donate patches towards a quilt in order to celebrate the 100th library in Boston Public Schools, all of which are created and staffed by SVB volunteers. -
Two Way Tutoring
Two-Way Tutoring matches high school students who are struggling academically with elementray school students who require some tutoring. The idea is that by focusing on the basics, the high school student can catch up to his peers, while forming an emotional connection with education. -
Birds go to School/Plants go to School
In partnership with the Audobon Society and the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, these programs allow inner city students to encounter up close the animals and plants indiginous to Massachusetts. -
STARS Program
"Everybody is a Star!" SVB renames it's programs to fall in line with a decade long branding effort, pouring funds into billboards and advertisements and volunteer recognition. The STARS program involves over 3000 volunteers. -
Fire on Arlington Street
The offices of School Volunteers for Boston at 16 Arlington Street burn down, destroying all volunteer records and critical information, and killing two firemen. The organization rebuilds, relying on the strong connections made in both the local businesses and the schools, quickly regaining footing by setting up in spare rooms at the John Hancock Building. -
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Betsy Nelson's Tenure
Betsy Nelson oversaw the transition of School Volunteers for Boston to Boston Partners in Education, reflecting the expanding mission of the organization at the time. She oversaw the creation of a great variety of programs that connected businesses, museums, and funders to the schools in a highly expirimental fashion. Creating a Boston that was united around improving education was her goal. -
Boston Compact in 1983
SVB staff works on committees for Boston Financial's Boston Compact. The members of the compact, all local businesses, agree to hire directly from Boston High schools, facilitating their internships with the use of their SVB mentors. One such pair, student Mark Owens and mentor Pat Fisher, are pictured here. -
Parent Education Resource Center
Reflecting the wider goals of the STARS program, School Volunteers for Boston developed the Parent Education Resource Center with the goals of including parents in more of their volunteer work. The campaign's signature event, Families That Play Together, was organized to demonstrate in a single fair the many opportunities to get involved available in the city. -
Helping One Student to Succeed
In partnership with the Junior League of Boston, HOSTS begins, pairing volunteers up in one on one mentoring relationships with other students. The program is driven by results based programming, and marks the beggining of a transition to one on one mentorin which is the basis of our programs today. -
Barbara Bush Visits SVB
To support her literacy initiative, First Lady Barbara Bush visits SVB's offices, and is given an award for her focus on literacy, as part of the Salute to School Volunteers Day -
Books for Kids
Books for Kids, a precursor to Power Lunch, matches volunteers with students during school. The volunteers also donate books to the students, and read to classrooms as a whole. -
Masterminding Math and Science
In cooperation with Dynatech and the Boston Museum of Science, Boston Partners developes curriculum for an afterschool science program designed to supplement STEM goals set in the early nineties. For the next 10 years, Volunteers assited students and teachers in afterschool lab expiriments. -
AquaSmarts!
Aquasmarts begins it's first of three years. A program in partnership with the NE Aquarium and the Massachussetts Water Resource Authority, Aquasmart brought groups of volunteers into schools during class to give lessons on the freshwater ecosystem around Boston. They also acted as tour guides and chaperons on field trips around the city and to the Aquarium itself. -
Dorcester Gas Tanks Repainted, BPE Fundraiser
Cementing the connection with artist Corita Kent, the paint chips from the original Rainbow Swash on the the Dorcester Gas tank are preserved in lucite cubes, and sold as a fundraiser for Boston Partners. Boston Partners students paint the first symbolic colors on the new tank. -
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Ann Noble Kiley's Tenure
Ann Noble Kiley worked to modernize our programs to reflect the changing nature of the schools. Taking inspiration from programs in New York, Ann helped create Power Lunch, directly combining our corporate partnerships with our turoing model. -
Read Boston Team Up
Boston Partner in Education teams up with Read Boston, Mayor Menino's literacy campaign, pooling resources and volunteers to meet the challenges of literacy. Power Lunch begins its trial run as part of this program. -
Book Pals!
Book Pals, a program which matched students together in a tutoring relationship, continued the tradition of innovative student focused programming that Two-Way Tutoring began decades before. -
Big Cheese Reads
Big Cheese Reads, in which successful professionals read to school children in Boston and answer their questions, kicks off it's first year. -
Power Lunch Begins
Power Lunch comes to Boston! Based on a succesful program in New York called Everybody Wins, Power Lunch matches corporate partners with students for reading aloud sessions during lunchtime. This program was meant to provide the student a caring adult, as well as to help them gain some confidence in their abilities.
