Partnership Schools Annual Report 2023

Partnership Schools

As an independent 501(c)3 and private school management organization, Partnership Schools puts once-struggling urban Catholic schools on the path to long-term sustainability. We work to ensure that our schools have what they need to form students in knowledge and virtue so that they can live out our core values of integrity, humility, hard work, and service. Partnership Schools is a national network, serving students in Harlem, the South Bronx, and Cleveland, while also playing a leading role in education reform conversations nationwide.

Making ambitious choices is what Partnership Schools is all about—now, more than ever.

The Partnership Class of 2022—the first class to have known only a Partnership education from Kindergarten through 8th grade—is now halfway through their first year in high school. They are beating the odds, as you’ll see in the following pages—and our network, which began as a bold experiment a decade ago, is now a proven model. We have much to celebrate and much yet to achieve.

Partnership students’ progress is no happy accident. It is the consequence of academic, operational, and financial decisions we’ve made every year since the Partnership began. This report reflects the outcomes of decisions that include:

Selecting and implementing a knowledge-rich, academically rigorous curriculum for all students beginning in PreK—and maintaining that focus on grade-level rigor even amid the worst of the pandemic in 2020.

Always putting students first, even when that meant shutting our doors to protect our communities (in Spring 2020) and reopening our doors months before our charter and public school peers (in Fall 2020);

Eliminating barriers to enrollment and dramatically increasing the number of at-risk students served in both New York and Cleveland;

Answering the call to expand our impact by welcoming four schools in Cleveland—two in 2020 and two more in fall 2022;

Making bold asks of our most loyal supporters on behalf of the children and families we serve.

Today, the challenges our communities face are greater than they have been in decades. Our students need us to be bolder and more ambitious than ever before. Our experience has prepared us to help even the most struggling students in the communities we serve. Buoyed by your support of our work, we know we can rise to meet the moment and act with courage and conviction on behalf of the second generation of Partnership students.

We can’t say it enough: thank you for deciding to make a new day possible for thousands of children and the schools that serve them.

JILL KAFKA,EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR KATHLEEN PORTER-MAGEE, SUPERINTENDENT

What was once a bold experiment... 10 YEARS

Courage CHOOSING

In 2013, Catholic schools in Harlem and the Bronx faced an all-too-familiar cycle: strapped budgets, overstretched educators, languishing academics, and declining enrollments. It required courage—from philanthropists, school leaders, and the Archdiocese of New York—to try a new path; no other diocese had tried a school management organization when Partnership Schools took on complete responsibility for six schools in the summer of 2013.

Yet it worked. Students’ academic achievement accelerated and enrollment increased. And the impact has been timely; during Partnership Schools’ first ten years, one in every eight Catholic schools in the U.S. has closed permanently.

When the pandemic struck, our Partnership communities chose courage again—reopening safely in person long before others did. Our teachers and leaders faced their own apprehensions and some vociferous criticism but chose to put children’s needs first.

And even in the midst of a turbulent time, Partnership supporters in Cleveland also chose to move forward with expanding our work there—beginning with two schools in 2020 and expanding to four this year.

As we enter our second decade, Catholic schools have new opportunities, and students face new challenges. Yet we are facing them together now from a position of strength.

57% HISPANIC OF ANY RACE

40% BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN

1% WHITE

1% TWO OR MORE RACES

1% ASIAN

NYC STUDENTS 2022-23

47%

OF STUDENTS COME FROM HOUSEHOLDS WHO EARN LESS THAN $35,000

2,318 NYC

100% OF STUDENTS RECEIVE FINANCIAL AID

3,441 STUDENTS 2022-23

1+ 70 1+ 12+79 A

CLEVELAND STUDENTS 2022-23

1,123 CLEVELAND

70% BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN

12% HISPANIC OF ANY RACE

6733 A

9% WHITE

7% TWO OR MORE RACES

1% ASIAN

1% UNKNOWN RACE

52%

OF STUDENTS COME FROM HOUSEHOLDS WHO EARN LESS THAN $35,000

4-Year Aid Offered UNLOCKING OPPORTUNITIES

Since 2013, more than 1,250 New York Partnership graduates have gained admission to top-tier, selective high schools, being offered— in 2022 alone—a total of $3.34 million in scholarships and aid to attend.

77%

NY students accepted to top-tier high schools

SELECT ACCEPTANCES FOR CLASS OF 2022

Notre Dame High School

Fordham Preparatory School

Xavier High School

Middlesex School

Stuyvesant High School

LaGuardia High School

Dominican Academy

Convent of the Sacred Heart

Loyola High School

Regis High School

Avenues The World School

Bronx High School of Science

Riverdale Country School

South Bronx Preparatory

Brooklyn Technical High School

Cindy Williams

Diem Jennings CLASS OF ’22,

PRINCIPAL, BLAH BLAH

SACRED HEART

When Diem Jennings was just four years old, her parents saw a flyer for Sacred Heart School in a Bronx laundromat—and for the last ten years, she and her parents found at Sacred Heart an education that matched their aspirations. “They didn’t just want me to do well in school,” Diem explains of her parents, “they want me to have multiple dimensions that define me.” The school’s valedictorian in 2022, Diem explains what she thinks makes Sacred Heart special: “The teachers push you to be your best.”

For 107 years, since striving immigrants first began moving to the South Bronx hoping for a better life, St. Athanasius School has anchored the Hunts Point community and fueled its aspirations. Even through the devastation of the 1970s, when the neighborhood lost 70 percent of its housing stock to fires and demolition, and as the population collapsed by more than 70 percent in just one decade, tenacious educators like former principal and community legend Marianne Kraft ensured the school remained a vibrant hub and beacon of hope for the community. Literally surrounded by rubble, the school had the audacity to declare that its students were “children of God and children of the earth”—and to provide them an education worthy of their dignity every day.

When it came time to look for a high school, the family wasn’t necessarily looking at private school options, but at the urging of Principal Abigail Akano and others, they explored a few. And after receiving multiple scholarship offers and outperforming all other applicants on Convent of the Sacred Heart’s math placement test, Diem is in her first year there. Why does she like math so much? “It always gets more challenging,” she explains simply.

Marianne also hand-selected and groomed a successor, Bronx native Jessica Aybar, who carries on a vibrant legacy of leadership. In her eight years as a St. Athanasius teacher, academic dean, and principal, Jessica has driven game-changing results. Under her leadership, the school has seen academic achievement results that rival some of the top-performing public and charter schools in the state, and she has grown enrollment and expanded the school by

Diem’s parents credit her Partnership educators with making a crucial difference for their daughter: “When you feel people are invested in your child—and they are knowledgeable—then she is invested. That makes all the difference.”

Community CHOOSING

Working together as a team of teachers across the schools makes all the difference.

BRIDGET CARTA

Bridget Carta

PRE-K TEACHER, IMMACULATE CONCEPTION SCHOOL

“The world has changed since I started teaching,” explains Bridget Carta. As a pre-K teacher, she has in-depth knowledge of what our newest Partnership students need. “They face new challenges; they’re going to have to be much more adaptive. And we’re going to have to teach them that.”

As a twenty-year teaching veteran who had a decade of experience at Immaculate Conception in the Bronx before it became part of the Partnership, she also has a keen sense of how she and her colleagues are equipped now to meet those challenges. “The resources we have in the Partnership are amazing. Just getting a set of classroom books used to be hard.”

The difference is more profound than even having the right curriculum and supplies. “There is more support now that I’m working as part of a Partnership team—and I felt that from Day 1. You feel that you are being listened to, that you are part of something bigger than your own classroom and school—and that comes from the top.”

Expansion CHOOSING

When the Partnership expanded to Cleveland in 2020, our two schools served 331 students. Now, Partnership Cleveland serves more than 1,100: St. Thomas Aquinas and Archbishop Lyke have grown, and two new schools—Metro Catholic and St. Francis—have joined our network.

This opportunity to expand our footprint in Cleveland comes at exactly the right time. Last year, fueled by the leadership Catholic schools showed throughout the pandemic, U.S. Catholic school enrollment grew for the first time in more than two decades and experienced the largest increase in more than 50 years.

Sustaining this growth requires intentional, strategic effort—precisely what the Partnership brings to schools. As Regional Superintendent Christian Dallavis explains, we have “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to revitalize Catholic schools that are beacons of hope and have been among Cleveland’s greatest engines of social mobility for over a century.”

Metro Catholic has a history of evolving to continue serving families on Cleveland’s west side, and St. Francis has been a mainstay of the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood since 1887. Both schools remain animated by the spirit of the Sisters of Notre Dame.

“We leverage the strength of each of our school communities,” Kathleen Porter-Magee explains, “and those individual strengths become a force multiplier.”

Wisely CHOOSING

Partnership Schools are committed to doing more with less. The choices we make, then, are crucial for achieving the outcomes we strive for.

When you walk into a Partnership school, you won’t see fancy decor or wall-to-wall technology. You will see thoughtful instruction by educators who receive ample professional development and sustained, personalized coaching. You’ll see research-backed curriculum.

You will see school cultures that cultivate joy and collaboration by focusing more on shared beliefs than on any elaborate rewards system. And you will see facilities constantly being improved with two simple aims: promoting student learning and honoring the dignity of every child who walks through our doors.

By choosing wisely in our first decade, we have achieved real results—and we maintained student achievement growth even amid the pandemic.

As we expand to serve more students and more schools, the guiding stars of focus, excellence, and support remain as important as ever for stewarding the resources that make our work possible.

The Ohio total operating costs were $4.2 million and have a similar distribution of cost to our New York schools. However, the Ohio schools’ income composition differs dramatically because of the Ohio state-funded student scholarship support.

80% OF OUR OPERATING BUDGET WENT DIRECTLY TO SUPPORTING STUDENTS

Our total operating expense for New York City schools was $26.7 million. We funded these costs with student tuition and fees, government support, and philanthropy. Philanthropic support is critical for our mission of providing students with a faith-based education to help them flourish beyond their time at Partnership Schools.

78% OF OUR OPERATING BUDGET WENT DIRECTLY TO SUPPORTING STUDENTS

$5,015 $9,155

Generosity CHOOSING

The Partnership’s steadfast supporters have believed deeply in our work from the beginning, and their ongoing investment in our work has paved the way for rigorous education and bright futures. We have sustained these core relationships in the last decade while also significantly increasing and diversifying our fundraising portfolio.

These existing and new supporters are with us for a reason: they are seeing a strong return on their investment in our results and organizational growth. Because of the ongoing impact they help generate, 78% of our donors over $10,000 continue to support us year after year, beating the national nonprofit retention average of 40%.

As our fundraising needs increase, we know our track record shows that we will continue to do more with less. These funds will be invested wisely, and results from our schools will continue to impress.

Last year we raised more money than ever before—a 23% increase to $16.1M— for the game-changing work our schools do. And we know, with our diverse and committed donor base, we will continue to step up for our families in the years to come.

AVERAGE GIFT FROM DONORS OVER $10K $107K

AVERAGE GIFT FROM DONORS OVER $10K $70K

100 INCREASED CONTRIBUTIONS OR WERE NEW BETWEEN 2021 AND 2022

69%

257 DONORS

100 INCREASED CONTRIBUTIONS OR WERE NEW BETWEEN 2021 AND 2022

76% 98 DONORS

Thank you so much to our generous supporters in 2021-22.

+10 Signifies Annual Contribution since 2013

+5 Signifies Annual Contribution since 2017

TRUSTEES

Russell L. Carson, Board Chairman

Amy M. Stevens, Board President

Donald J. Herdrich, Board Treasurer

Jane B. O’Connell, Board Secretary

John Cahill

Patricia Chadwick

Elizabeth Cogan Fascitelli

Michael Deegan

Most Reverend

Timothy Cardinal Dolan

Charles Durkin Jr.

William Flaherty

Amandine Freidheim

Brendan Gallagher

William Goodloe

Peter Grauer

Cecilia Greene

Karen Hamilton

Alicia Hammarskjold

Janine Hill

Bonnie Himmelman

Fr. Joseph LaMorte

Helen Lowe

Jane Martínez-Dowling

Peter Maulik

Frank O’Linn

Fr. Don Oleksiak

Frank Porcelli

Thomas Quick

Brian Regan

William Sales

Clémence von Mueffling

Nancy Wall

Anne Williams-Isom

SUPPORTERS

$1,000,000 +

Anonymous +5

The Carson Family Charitable Trust

$250,000-$999,999

Anonymous (3) +10

Beth and Ravenel Curry Foundation

Children’s Scholarship Fund

Charles P. Durkin Jr. +10

Edward & Joan Steiniger

Charitable Foundation +10

Heckscher Foundation for Children

Donald and Frances Herdrich +10

Janine and J. Tomilson Hill +10

Inner-City Scholarship Fund +10

Lozick Family Foundation

The Buckley Foundation

The Drexel Fund

The Wilson Sheehan Foundation

William E. Simon Foundation, Inc.

$100,000 - $249,999

Catholic Diocese of Cleveland

Center for Education Reform

Charles Hayden Foundation

Elizabeth Cogan Fascitelli and Michael Fascitelli +10

Anthony de Nicola +10

Amandine and Stephen Freidheim +10

Mark Gallogly and Lise Strickler +5

Peter and Laurie Grauer +10

Hyde and Watson Foundation

Thomas and Paula McInerney

Norma Pace Foundation

Thomas C. Quick +10

Brian and Lindsay Regan

Riversville Foundation

Robin Hood Foundation

James Rowen

Paul Shiverick

The Clark Foundation

The Finneran Family

The Francesco & Mary Giambelli Foundation, Inc.

John van Rens and Sarah Lutz +10

Clémence and William von Mueffling

Nancy and Thomas Wall +5

John and Jeanette Walton

$25,000-$99,999

Altman Foundation +10

Arthur and Carol Anton

Mark and Melanie Biche

Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg

James and Nancy Buckman +5

Joseph Cassin

Michael Castillo

Charina Endowment Fund, Inc.

Hélène and Stuyvesant Comfort

Mary Deatherage

William Flaherty and Carol Kimbark

Fred A. Lennon Charitable Trust

Brendan and Kate Gallagher

J. Patrick Gallagher Jr. and Anne M. Gallagher

GoldenTree Asset Management

Amy and Sidney Goodfriend

John and Kiendl Gordon

Gray Foundation

Cecilia Greene and Paul Verbinnen

Alicia and Philip Hammarskjold

Gregory and Sarita Hanley +10

Thomas Healey

Roger and Susan Hertog

Laurie and David Hodgson +5

Bruce and Debbie Jarosz

Scott Jeckering

Tom Jeckering

Mrs. Susan B. Karches

Angela and Madeleine Kissane

Ray and Patty Laubenthal

Daniel and Bonnie Leonard

Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel

Family Foundation

Peter Smith and Linda Mahoney +10

Margaret and Robert Walter Foundation

Raymond and Katie Murphy

New York Catholic Foundation, Inc.

Frank Nickell and Carol Hertling +5

Laura and John Overdeck

Andrew and Susan Passen

Joseph and Susan Plumeri

Joseph Reich/Pumpkin Trust +10

Robert and Perri Bishop Foundation

Chuck and Deborah Royce

William and Suzanne Sales +10

Christopher and Francesca Santomero

Lois Severini and Enrique Gittes +5

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Smith

Pat and Nancy Sullivan

The Margaret and Daniel Loeb Foundation

The Richard and Susan Braddock

Family Foundation, Inc.

The Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation

The Shubert Organization +10

Uncle Larry’s Fund

$10,000-$24,999

Anonymous (2)

Amb. Daniele Bodini +5

Patricia W. Chadwick

Church of the Resurrection

Kee Colen and Laura Picard +10

Daniel and Kathleen Denihan +5

Daniels Family Foundation

Patrick and Mary Donaghy

J.W. Sean Dorsey

Umberto Fedeli

Brigid Flanagan +5

Robert and Linda Foran +5

Daniel and Dede Geib

George M. and Pamela S. Humphrey Fund

J. Kevin and Mary Ellen Gilgan +5

Carla Harris +10

Harris Mathews Charitable Foundation

Bonnie Himmelman +10

HG Real Estate Solutions

Michael and Jane Horvitz

Inherent Foundation

Jack and Lillian Poses Foundation

Patrick and Diane Kelly

Bill and Pat Kurzenberger

Paul and Danielle Klyap

John Lindenthal and Mary Orechovsky +5

Bill and Joyce Litzler

Helen T. Lowe +10

Meredith and Joseph Manning

John P. McCormick

Charles Moore

Peter Murphy and Rose Haggerty

Jack and Marsha Myslenski

Margo and James L. Nederlander

John and Margaret O’Brien

Nancy Zink O’Connor

Ohio Boys Town

Mike and Trina Overlock +10

Peter B. and Adeline W. Ruffin Foundation

Frank and Madeline Porcelli

Michael Quilty +5

Bill Reilly and Dianne Brock

Richman Brothers Foundation

Robert Mize and Isa White Trimble Family Foundation

Stephen Ross

Ximena Sandell

Priscilla Schmeelk +10

Cynthia and Thomas Sculco

Melanie and Joseph Shugart

Sisters of Reparation Charitable Trust

The Nock Family

The Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation

Edward Welsh

$2,000-$9,999

Amica Companies Foundation

Judy Hart Angelo +10

Scott Baranowski +5

Michael Baumann

Constance Birkelund +10

James Breen

Mary Jane Breen

Kelly Bookmyer +5

Joseph and Hilary Califano +5

Nicole and Andrew Cardone

Carl and Suzanne Chiappa

Mario C. Ciano

Rosemary Conlon +5

Daniel and Eorann Conway

Corpus Christi School

Edward Crawford

Bobby Cremins +5

John Curran

Esther DeDeo

Daniel Denihan, Jr.

Sean Denihan

William and Tara Dougherty

John D. Draghi

Richard Ellison

William Goodloe

Peter M. Gottsegen

Robert Griffin +10

Hanna Family

Michael Hegarty

Paul Hilal

Kate Howe

Timothy Hyland

Denise Kelly

Maureen Sherry Klinsky

Steve Kusik

Eric Lee

Jun Makihara and Mimi Oka

(Makioka Foundation)

David Mancato

Michelle Manolis

Joseph Melone

Mary Kate and Ryan Miller

Timothy Moran

Morgan Stanley

Sarah Nash

Nelnet Sales Co.

NYAC Athlete’s Fund +10

Robert O’Brien

Jane O’Connell +10

Robert and Claire Patterson

Kim Parker

Thomas and Ann Piper +10

Mike Pontano

Mr. and Mrs. William B. Porter

Thomas Pretlow

Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Quick III

Rao’s Specialty Foods

Anthony and Mary Rego

David S. Richards

Mark and Cindy Ross

Andrew Schmeelk

Matthew Schmeelk

Michael and Molly Schroeder

Speedeon Data

Frank and Mary Stanley +10

Marnell and Richard Stover +5

James and Rita Sullivan

The Clarence Westbury Foundation

The Robertson Foundation

Donald Toumey +5

Dr. Frank Vecchio & Helen Williams

Vecchio Foundation

Lynn Freidheim Waunford-Brown

We Energies Foundation

Charles S. Whelan, Jr.

Andrew Wilshire

Margaret and Erwin Zeuschner +5

$1,000-$1,999

Alp Akbalshi

Thomas August

Steve Berger

Freddie and Annegret Botur

Bruno Casolari

Phillip and Amy Ciano

Stephen and Deborah Cooke

Kathryn Crimmins

Pasquale Cuomo +5

Gerard Daher

Meg DeGulis

Charles Durkin III +5

Mary Lou Durkin

Jose W. Fernandez

Tom Giordano

Thomas Hartfield

Lars and Gay Henriksen

Irvin Saltzman Family Foundation

J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Foundation

Tom and Ann Johnson

Jason and Maria Jurgens

Diana Jacobs Kalman

Kevin Kavanagh

Dan Kiernan

Marianne Kraft

Bobby Kreusler

Erica Kulhmann

Lake Family Foundation

Lisa Lawler +5

Pamela Lund, in remembrance of Connie and Lavere Lund

Richard and Melissa Martin

William McNamara +5

Mary Jeanne and Matthew Miller

Mary Barrett Moran–

1954 Graduate, St. Athanasius

Ann Zoller and John Mueller

PK Murphy

Kenneth Nolan

Loretta and Kevin O’Reilly

Petri Family Foundation

Mr. and Mrs. Felix Petrillo

Craig Pisani

Thomas Richards and Ashley Magargee +5

Mr. Patrick Rooney Jr. and Mr. Patrick Rooney Sr.

Jayne Schmeelk

Sisters of Christian Charity

Janet Rosel Smith and Mark Smith

Zachary Smith

George Soos

Brian Spear

Pauline St. John

Ryan & Molly Stefan

Amy Stevens +10

The Raymond L Golden Family Foundation Inc.

The Scully Family Foundation

Bob Vilsack

Cecilia and Mark Vonderheide

William Weisberg

Matt and Kelly Whipple

Mr. and Mrs. Don M. Wilson, III

Michael J. Yorio +5

Roy Zuckerberg and Tara Kelleher

Chris Wilson and Lorraine Sheehan Wilson

Seeing great leadership and great ideas impresses us to invest, and in its first decade, the Partnership have proved themselves to be a team of great leaders with great ideas we believe should be expanded and replicated.

We’re in favor of all sorts of educational choice, so the work that the Partnership does aligns with our mission. We celebrate whenever a school succeeds, and a Partnership education succeeds on more than one level. Beyond excellent academics, they provide faith, morals, and spirituality that help instill in students that their lives are meaningful and have so much purpose. It is also wonderful to see how they encourage family involvement and buy-in.

We are in full support of their strategy to continue expanding their impact in Cleveland and New York, along with their plan to spread their methods nationally and help other schools do better. There is much work still to do to ensure that urban schools provide students the whole education they need to flourish. We know Partnership Schools have proved that they can do just that.

I don’t need any more evidence that Partnership Schools are doing a good job, but if I did, all I have to do is look around today.

CARDINAL TIMOTHY DOLAN

Rich Clark

1951-2022

Rich Clark, Founding Director of Partnership Schools in Cleveland, has left a remarkable legacy to us: the schools and thousands of students we will serve for decades to come thanks to his efforts. But he has given us far more. Rich believed that God is good, and that we know God when we spread goodness. His infectious faith and zeal inspire us every day.

May almighty God receive Rich joyfully and inspire us with Rich’s hope and strength.

“Why I think I fit in with Partnership is that we have a culture of abundance. God loves us. He wants us to be happy and successful and have a school that’s running great…If God is for us, who can be against us?”

RUSS CARSON, BOARD CHAIR

For more information about what’s to come or ways to support our schools, please contact: Jill Kafka,

Executive

Director at 646.794.3338 or jill.kafka@thepartnershipschools.org