$1M GRANT AWARDED TO FOUR STATES—GSP TO COORDINATE THE INTITIATIVE – Posted 12.15.08 On December 15, 2008, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation announced that it has committed $1 million—which includes a $500,000 partnership grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation— to support an ambitious multistate effort to transform the American high school for the 21st century: the New England Secondary School Consortium. Coordinated by the Great Schools Partnership, the Consortium is a pioneering educational partnership that will work to foster forward-thinking innovations in the design and delivery of secondary education across the New England region. The Consortium's bold goal is to ensure that by 2016 every public high school student in the four partner states will receive an education that will prepare them for college, career, and civic responsibility in our increasingly interconnected global community.

Nellie Mae Education Foundation Press Release
New England Secondary School Consortium Website

MATH AND SCIENCE PARTNERSHIP MAKES EVENING NEWS – Posted 03.24.09 On March 20, 2009, WAGM TV 8 ran a brief news story on the Southern Aroostook Math and Science Partnership, a collaborative grant program funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Mathematics and Science Parnterships Program. As the lead coordinator and support provider for the initiative, the Great Schools Partnership is working with four public schools and Northern Maine Community College over three years to increase student achievement, improve the content knowledge of teachers, strengthen and align curricula across schools, and enrich collegial and institutional relationships across the math and science programs of Southern Aroostook and Washington County.

Watch the Video
Read more about the Southern Aroostook Math and Science Partnership

150K GRANT TO SUPPORT BREAKTHROUGH INSTRUCTIONAL-IMPROVEMENT TOOL – Posted 03.05.09 We are happy to announce that the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, a $250 million philanthropy that supports "innovative professional development programs that strengthen teachers and their teaching in grades 9–12" has awarded the Partnership a $149,709 grant to support the ongoing development of iWalkthrough, a cutting-edge tool that is helping revolutionize instructional-improvement efforts in Maine and around the country. The Partnership will use the funding to strengthen its iWalkthrough training program and build new interactive, Web-based resources that can deliver low-cost, high-quality support to high-need schools and districts working to strengthen academic instruction and athletic coaching for the benefit of their students.

NEW REPORT ON THE ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT OF MAINE BOYS RELEASED – Posted 10.17.08 On October 17, 2008, the Maine Boys Network released The Gender Divide in Academic Egagement: Perspectives from Maine Boys and Young Men, a report on the findings from 72 focus groups conducted with 541 boys and young men across Maine. The report was announced during the group's third annual statewide conference, To A Higher Degree III: Effective Strategies for Promoting the Academic Success of Boys, which took place at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. To download a copy of the report, click HERE.