3rd Annual School-Community Partnerships Gathering

On December 17, 2025, more than 130 K-12 Cambridge OST providers, CPS Family Liaisons and faculty, DHSP staff, community outreach workers, nonprofit organizations and many other partnering providers,  gathered at The Foundry for the 3rd Annual School-Community Partnership Gathering.

Hosted by the Agenda for Children Out-of-School Time’s Elementary and Middle School-OST Networks, DHSP's Reaching All Youth Network and the CPS Family Engagement Team, this annual event brings together Cambridge providers to strengthen our networks in support of Cambridge children, youth and families.

Following introductions, including those by CPS Supt. David Murphy, and Michelle Farnum, Assistant Director for Children, Youth and Families at DHSP, the gathering kicked off with a panel discussion centered around how programs support students’ mental health and social-emotional well-being and the value and impact of successful program partnerships. 

Special thank you to our panel participants: Marsé Romero (East End House), Christina Ullman (Science Club for Girls), Katie Quizphe (Peabody Community School), Jordan Harvey (Tutoring Plus) for sharing your insights and experiences.  Also, thanks to CEA President Chris Montero for attending on behalf of all CPS educators; and our collective efforts to partner on behalf of supporting the growth and success of thousands of CPS students.

After the panel, participants had the opportunity to engage with each other through interactive breakout sessions, sharing stories of challenges, learning opportunities, program accessibility, partnering strategies, mental health resources and more. View the notes from each breakout group.

We encourage participants to continue their conversations from the gathering and have created a meeting directory to facilitate reaching out to each other.  Also, be sure to check out the community announcements from the meeting for program updates and upcoming events for the new year!

Finally, check out the wordcloud created from attendees responses to the following prompt on the event feedback form (click on image for a closer look)!