Serving Children from Germantown on the campus of Greene Street Friends School

Community Impact

A NEIGHBORHOOD CONNECTION: Community Connections & Partnerships

Our program thrived on the immediate and broader Germantown/Mt. Airy community for so many of the experiences that our students had this summer.  We are committed to continuing to build these local community partnerships in meaningful ways.  This summer we were lucky to receive programming support from the following local organizations:

 

  • Fresh Grocer at La Salle: They provided all of our snack foods throughout the duration of the summer.
  • Los Bombers de la Calle: This strong program provided 1 assembly that performed traditional and contemporary styles of Bomba & Plena music from Puerto Rico.  Their mission seeks to “give a piece of Puerto Rican culture to Philly and the surrounding areas.”
  • Karen Smith and the Drummers: Karen and her drummers provided one assembly for our students performing traditional rhythms for our students.
  • Philadelphia Museum of Art: Our field trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art was a very fun field trip for our oldest students. Our students were able to take a curated gallery walk through a section of the museum learning about the history of art. 
  • Briar Bush Nature Center: Briar Bush provided a hands-on assembly where students were able to learn about the night sky by sitting in a planetarium and being able to learn by seeing outer space .
  • Quiver Farms: this group visited us on campus, bringing animals for our students to learn more about including cows, pigs, and chickens. Our students were able to learn about these animals by feeding and petting them, while a knowledgeable guide explained more about the different animals. 
  • Joseph E. Coleman Northwest Philadelphia Regional Library: Our local library allowed our teachers to deepen the pool of book choices for our students by giving us a school library card for us to check out student books on walking trips we would take to check out books as a class.  Their summer programming also included read alouds and access to a children’s library on specific days each week.  It was great to be able to have students connect with their local library to model early literacy habits for our students, as well.
  • Germantown Life Enrichment Center (GLEC): This resource is a fundamental partner in the successful implementation of the Horizons mission to provide swimming instruction to all students.  4 days each week, our students received their swimming instruction and practice here.  They were always super warm and welcoming to our young students when we would arrive each day and provided a safe and consistent schedule for our swimming program.
  • Germantown Cricket Club (GCC): This resource is a fundamental partner in the successful implementation of the Horizons mission to provide swimming instruction to all students.  3 days each week, our students in our older grades received their swimming instruction and practice here.  They were always super warm and welcoming to our young students when we would arrive each day and provided a safe and consistent schedule for our swimming program.