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Partnership with Clark University
The educational program at UPCS is deliberately planned to help students prepare for college. The school's partnership with Clark University allows them to develop an orientation as future college students. The sense of being part of a college community and their daily presence on the campus helps students gain the motivation and confidence they need to persevere in demanding academic courses.
In their Own Words | "The school made us inquire into our futures and reflect on the many opportunities and the myriad of possibilities that come with a college degree." -Alumnus
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As soon as they enter the school, students at UPCS are welcomed as junior member of the Clark community. Students take mini-seminars with college faculty in grades 7 to 10, and most enroll in college classes for credit during their junior and senior years. Upon graduation, students who meet the admission criteria may attend Clark tuition free.
The University Park Campus School is just one part of a larger, community-led neighborhood revitalization initiative called the University Park Partnership. During the mid-1980s, Worcester’s social and economic decline was lessening the attractiveness of Clark University to prospective students and their parents, who were concerned about the safety of its location.
Origins of the University Park Partnership: In 1985, motivated by a combination of altruism and “enlightened self-interest,” Clark University representatives met with residents and businesspeople to discuss how to start turning around the Main South neighborhood. Previously, relations between the university and the neighborhood had been characterized by distrust and suspicion, but the arrival of a new university president, Richard Traina, ushered in an era of cooperation and collaboration.
The Main South Community Development Corporation, a was formed to improve the quality of life and enhance the physical image of the neighborhood. From 1986 to 1995, the CDC focused on acquiring, renovating, and managing affordable high-quality rental property. In this partnership, power is truly shared between all stakeholders; the University holds just one of fifteen seats on the board of directors.
Enlightened Self-Interest: A Neighborhood Turnaround Program: In 1995, the community, Clark, and the CDC, sought greater breadth and impact from the partnership, unveiling the University Park Neighborhood Restoration Partnership, an ambitious and comprehensive plan to significantly improve the quality of life in the neighborhood for the residents and university, alike. The new plan targeted five key areas: physical rehabilitation, public safety, education, economic development, and social/recreational development.
Education Corridor: In an effort to make Main South a desirable neighborhood for families, the partnership aims to create a vertical education corridor offering the best K-16 educational opportunities in the country to the young people of Main South. The university created a summer camp and other enrichment opportunities for elementary aged students. Together, Clark and the Worcester Public Schools opened the University Park Campus School to ensure that students in the neighborhood would have access to a strong college-preparatory high school program. (Clark also invests in other schools in the neighborhood; each is a "professional development school," a clinical training site in Clark's collaborative teacher education program.) And Clark offers free tuition to any student who has lived in the neighborhood for five years and is accepted through the regular admission process.
Successes to Date: To date, Clark has invested $9 million in its neighborhood restoration efforts and leveraged $90 million in outside funding. The partnership's successes include UPCS and its associated educational initiatives and the myriad of accomplishments of the Main South CDC. The CDC has the renovated over 200 affordable rental housing units and sold homes to over thirty low-income families. It is currently in the midst of a $40 million dollar project with Clark to transform 30 blighted acres into new athletic fields for the University, a new Boys and Girls Club for children and youth, and 60 units of affordable housing for families. In 2004, the University Park Partnership was awarded the Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter Partnership Award. Click here for more on the accomplishments of the University Park Partnership.
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