Welcome
Welcome to the Community School Student Partnerships (CSSP) website! CSSP is a student organization that provides academic and cultural enrichment to children and families in the West and Southwest Philadelphia communities. As part of Penn’s overall university-assisted community network through the Netter Center for Community Partnerships (www.upenn.edu/ccp), CSSP operates after school and evening programs across six public schools in West Philadelphia by recruiting, training, and coordinating over 150 Penn student tutors/mentors. In addition, CSSP coordinators mobilize various student groups and organizations who are interested in doing service in schools. Please note: CSSP Provides transportation to and from all programs. Pay rate for work-study students is $9.50/hour. If you work 10 or more hours per week, you will be paid $10/hour.
Our Mission
Welcome to the Community School Student Partnerships (CSSP) website! CSSP is a student organization that provides academic and cultural enrichment to children and families in the West and Southwest Philadelphia communities. As part of Penn’s overall university-assisted community network through the Netter Center for Community Partnerships (www.upenn.edu/ccp), CSSP operates after school and evening programs across six public schools in West Philadelphia by recruiting, training, and coordinating over 150 Penn student tutors/mentors. In addition, CSSP coordinators mobilize various student groups and organizations who are interested in doing service in schools. Please note: CSSP Provides transportation to and from all programs. Pay rate for work-study students is $9.50/hour. If you work 10 or more hours per week, you will be paid $10/hour.
Our Mission
It is the mission of CSSP to enrich the educational and cultural experience of all children in West Philadelphia. University-Assisted Community Schools provide a safe environment where children can improve their academic and extracurricular skills with the help of staff and college-age mentors. We affect change by providing academic and cultural enrichment for grades K-12, such as high school academic support, college access mentoring, in school tutoring, daily K- 8 after school programs, and Let's Get Ready SAT tutoring.
Thank you for visiting our site. Please email Penncssp@gmail.com if interested.
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Program Descriptions
Please note that it is possible to work with more than one of CSSP's Programs if that works best for your schedule. Also, all programs offer work-study and volunteer positions.
Program Descriptions
Please note that it is possible to work with more than one of CSSP's Programs if that works best for your schedule. Also, all programs offer work-study and volunteer positions.
K-8 After-School Programs
This is our most popular partnership. Alongside Penn staff, Penn undergraduate and graduate students work as tutors and mentors for K-8 grade students in after-school programs in West Philadelphia. Penn students can participate by providing homework help, one-on-one literacy tutoring, or facilitating their own extra-curricular activities! Program hours are 3-6, Monday through Friday. Programs attend monthly field trips and also operate Freedom Schools during the summer.
High School Programming
High School programs take place at West Philadelphia and Sayre High Schools. This is our fastest growing partnership with a lot of new exciting opportunities! Opportunities include (but are not limited to): individual subject tutoring, SAT & college access mentoring, extracurricular activities, and more. Penn students can also work within classrooms on a project related to their specific academic interests. Activities occur both during the school day and after-school hours.
Recess Initiative
The Recess Initiative is an exciting new program devoted to promoting fun and fitness at the Lea and Wilson Schools in West Philadelphia. Co-sponsored by the Fox Leadership Program and the Netter Center for Community Partnerships, the Recess Initiative employs undergraduate students to work with GSE graduate students and school staff to promote a more pleasant lunchroom environment and encourage interactive play and fitness opportunities for children during recess. A time commitment of one day per week for volunteers and two days per week for recess-only work study students is required. Work-study, volunteer, and independent study options are available.
Penn Reading Initiative (School Day K-8)K-8 School Day Tutoring
During
the school day tutors are needed to enter classrooms and facilitate small
group tutoring for math and reading, assist classroom teachers, and perform one-on-one tutoring sessions. This will take place within classrooms at Lea and Wilson elementary schools, sporadically from the hours of 9am-3pm. Students can sign up for a time slot whenever they are free during the day. Recess Initiative
The Recess Initiative is an exciting new program devoted to promoting fun and fitness at the Lea and Wilson Schools in West Philadelphia. Co-sponsored by the Fox Leadership Program and the Netter Center for Community Partnerships, the Recess Initiative employs undergraduate students to work with GSE graduate students and school staff to promote a more pleasant lunchroom environment and encourage interactive play and fitness opportunities for children during recess. A time commitment of one day per week for volunteers and two days per week for recess-only work study students is required. Work-study, volunteer, and independent study options are available.
The Penn Reading Initiative’s mission is to raise literacy levels in local West Philadelphia elementary schools through targeted tutoring. The fundamental concept of PRI is that the alphabet is a tool, not a puzzle. In a short series of training sessions, tutors learn rules and strategies that beginning readers can use to tackle new words and stories. Tutors work two or more times a week in one hour sessions using PRI’s specialized curriculum.
