Our Community Engagement work is goal-driven and results-oriented in order to provide the best service to Minneapolis Public Schools students and the broader community.  We set goals and measure our success in terms of both participation and outcomes.

Participation

In the 2010-11 school year, 97 AchieveMpls community partners and 207 individual volunteers logged over 4,036 hours working with 1,643 students.  Volunteers came from the business community, higher education, local nonprofits, neighborhood organizations and the MPS student body.  They participated in Career Fairs, Real Life Connections, Goalshops and other activities. 

Student surveys revealed a high level of satisfaction with our programming.  Ninety-three percent of students gave our speakers an “A” or a “B” rating and 76% said our speakers were “highly interesting” and “significantly increased” their knowledge on the presentation topic.

Volunteers also appreciated the chance to get involved, leaving feedback such as “This has been one of the most organized and beneficial volunteer opportunities I have ever been a part of.”  A Success Coach from Wells Fargo said, “It has been such a joy partnering with the volunteer team at Washburn these last few years – I can’t imagine doing it without your enthusiasm, patience and support.”

In 2012, we will have many more opportunities for community members to help all MPS students be ready for college and careers.  Find out how you can become an AchieveMpls volunteer.

Outcomes

Our ultimate goal is that all MPS students will be career and college-ready.  We will know we are successful when

• MPS students have the necessary skills, knowledge, preparation, and motivation for careers and college
• MPS parents and care givers have the necessary skills, knowledge, preparation, and motivation to support their students

We believe it will take an engaged community to meet the objectives above, so we also hold ourselves accountable for creating a community of advocates for public education.  We’ll know we are successful when

• The community feels greater responsibility for the success of MPS
• The community has easy and accessible ways to engage with MPS
• The community feels good about its engagement with MPS

We use a variety of evaluations, including pre- and post-tests, student and teacher surveys, and community feedback forums to determine our progress toward these objectives.  We look forward to publishing our results from the 2011-12 school year on this page.