The Wheelock College Aspire Institute launched a first-of-its-kind mobile-accessible web application to engage parents and students in grades 3, 4, and 5 in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) learning. The application, funded by the Wheelock Sylvia Earl Innovation Award, was piloted on April 1, 2013 at the Sarah Greenwood School in Dorchester, MA. Click here for the full release. 

Due to its deep experience in advancing knowledge and innovative solutions in response to social and educational challenges, the Wheelock College Aspire Institute was named by the Boston Compact as fiscal sponsor for a $3.25 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Compact, which Mayor Thomas M. Menino launched in late 2011, formally links district public schools, public charter schools, and private Catholic schools around common goals and shared visions. The shared goal is to improve teaching and learning for all Boston children. Click here for the full release or here for an exclusive interview with the sector leaders.

The Aspire Institute recently received $725,000 of funding for innovative and education research and training programs. Funded by the DEEC and the Barr Foundation is the development of Pre-K science, technology and engineering standards and Pathways, a program to advance the professional knowledge and skills of English Language Learners in the early childhood field. Funded by the Lynch Foundation and the Barr Foundation is the Boston Family Engagement Partnership, an initiative to significantly advance family-school collaboration in Boston's public, charter and parochial schools. Additional funds will also be used to enroll seven Boston-area Catholic school PreK-2 teachers in a Masters in Education program at Wheelock. Click here for the full release.

Check us out! The Aspire Institute was recently featured in the Spring 2012 edition of Wheelock College's Magazine. It features Aspire's Director, Jake Murray, information about all of our programs, a highlight on our blog, the Aspire Wire and some great photos! Check out the story here. Happy reading!

 

 

 

The Aspire Institute recently received an AmeriCorps grant to help expand our Educator Mentor Corps program. With this support, we will be able to more than double the size of our program, giving mentors to newer teachers all over the Greater Boston Area. Click here for the press release. 

 

Click here for the press release on our Together For Quality initiative. The Aspire Institute works in collaboration with the Department of Early Education and Care, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley (UWMBMV), and the Community Advocates for Young Learners (CAYL) Institute to advance Massachusetts' Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS) by providing training, grants, and experienced field coaches.

Click here to read about our partnership with Boston Public Schools in our plan to advance student health and wellness, with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Department of Education. The plan involves increasing the number of physical education teachers, a tobacco prevention policy, and, of course, recess!

 

Aspire Newsletters

 The Aspire Institute's newsletter, highlighting projects, partners, research, and events.

Aspire Newsletter: February 2013 [pdf]
Aspire Newsletter: October 2012 [pdf]
Aspire Newsletter: April 2011 [pdf]
Aspire Newsletter: November 2010 [pdf]
Aspire Newsletter: February 2010 [pdf]
Aspire Newsletter: November 2009 [pdf]

Aspire Videos

Aspire is celebrating five years of connection, innovation and optimism. Watch this video to learn more about what we do, meet our talented staff and see some amazing results.

In this series of interviews, Senior Director, Jake Murray talks with Sherri Killins, the Commissioner of the MA Department of Early Education and Care, about recent policy developments.

Connection. Innovation. Optimism