City of Kingston/Kingston City School District Partnering Together to Make a Difference (2018 LGAA)

City of Kingston (Winner)
County: Ulster County
Population: 10,001 to 50,000
City Hall: (845) 331-0080

In 2017, the City of Kingston and the Kingston City School District significant expanded their partnership to improve the life of the City’s most at-risk youth through a series of innovative, collaborative programming. Each component of the program utilized existing resources and/or donations. No additional taxpayer funds were necessary to support these initiatives.

Summer Camp Meal Program: The City of Kingston partnered with the Kingston City School District to offer free summer meals at all four of its Summer Parks Programs. By offering the summer meals program at the four camps to all participants, the stigma of eating free meals was considerably lessened, enabling hundreds of children to access high quality nutritious meals and alleviating the stress and anxiety many parents face during those summer months when they lack the resources to provide these meals to their children.

Attendance Mentors: Staff of the City of Kingston and the Kingston City School District collaborated to create a campaign to raise awareness of the impact that school truancy and absence has on academic performance, health and wellness, and student success. The partnership resulted in the placement of “Attendance Mentors” at the City’s two youth centers. Each Attendance Mentor builds relationships with the students at the youth centers and works to identify and address issues impacting the student’s attendance at school. The Attendance Mentors work directly with City staff and social workers at the School District to follow up on issues. Finally, students who improve their attendance are acknowledged for their hard work and dedication by the school principal and Mayor Noble.

Walking School Bus: In the Spring of 2017, the school social worker of the George Washington Elementary School contacted City staff to express concern that many of the school’s most at-risk students were in need of safe and supervised after school programming, but lacked transportation to access the free after school program offered by the City. Recognizing this barrier, the City and School District partnered to launch the “Walking School Bus,” a supervised walking route from the elementary school to the community center every school day. City staff arrive at dismissal time and discuss with School District staff any students who are struggling academically or with family or social issues that need to be addressed after school. This daily open communication and soft “hand-off” allows students to transition from the school environment to the youth center in a safe and seamless manner.

Many of the components of this project focus on reducing barriers to academic success and increasing opportunities to access healthy food, supervised recreation and social supports. The direct impact is that children and families are able to access free support services at a time when they need it most. One of the most exciting outcomes from this partnership has been the launch of the Franklin St. Revitalization Project. This project has been launched in response to the increased use of Franklin St. as a walking route from the George Washington Elementary School to the City’s Everette Hodge Community Center. Recognizing the momentum growing in the community (neighbors can often be found waving and cheering the students on most afternoons), the City has outreached to other community partners to develop a comprehensive approach to improving and enhancing one of the City’s poorest neighborhood blocks. In addition to securing $750,000 through the NYS Consolidated Funding Application to replace an entire mile of sidewalk on Franklin St. which hosts the Walking School Bus, the project includes: exterior renovations at the Kingston Library, located at the corner of Franklin St. and Prospect St.; an upgrade to a commercial kitchen at the Everette Hodge Community Center to accommodate for all of the meals now being prepared for youth; renovation and sale to first-time homebuyers of three city-owned single family homes along Franklin St.; lead service line replacement lines to all residential properties along Franklin St. and surrounding neighborhoods; and the establishment of a community radio station near the corner of Franklin St. and Broadway.

This cooperative model can and should be replicated in communities across the state. The foundation of this work is a shared principle between the City of Kingston and Kingston City School District that caring for their youth does not begin and does not end at the doors to each of their schools. By tearing down these silos, they have been able to create an environment where young people are supported at every turn. This collaboration has also enabled the City to develop a comprehensive approach to addressing the root causes of poverty in one of the City’s poorest neighborhoods.