Our Story
Raising the Bar for Student Success
Mission
Partners in Education is a non-profit organization that develops programming for area K-12 schools and fosters partnerships with schools by engaging businesses, higher education institutions, nonprofit agencies and communities of faith in service to students. Funded by contributions from businesses, individuals and funding partners, we leverage our most important investment – the educational and personal success of our children.
- Partners in Education (PIE) engages the whole community in increasing the supports available to students in-school and out-of-school.
- PIE is an innovator of and incubator for new program models that improve pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade student academic achievement and personal well-being.
- PIE is Northwest Ohio’s liaison between businesses, communities of faith, nonprofit organizations and pre-K-12 schools.
- PIE serves parents and caregivers by connecting them with outstanding adult learning opportunities and resources.
- PIE serves nonprofit organizations with consulting, professional development and networking opportunities to ensure Northwest Ohio children have the best in-school enrichment and out-of-school time opportunities.
- PIE encourages volunteerism in K-12 schools by providing background checks, volunteer training and other resources.
We currently facilitate a number of programs and initiatives including TOPSS (Toledo Partners for Student Success, an AmeriCorps Project), Mentors in Toledo Schools (early literacy mentoring tutoring), College & Career Ready, Set, Go! (career readiness and career mentoring for youth), the Afterschool Alliance (nonprofit capacity building) and we collaborate on Summer Meal Partners, and TutorSmart (after school literacy and math tutoring). All of our partnership activities are focused on programming that makes a measurable impact on students’ long-term success.
History
Partners in Education of Toledo was founded in 1994 by the Rotary Club of Toledo, with support from the Toledo Area Chamber of Commerce, area banks and corporations. The first several years of Partners in Education were focused on connecting area businesses with schools to “adopt” for support and volunteering. As district and school funding and volunteer needs have changed, so has our business model. Through the years, Partners in Education’s partnerships with Toledo Public Schools and The Catholic Diocese of Greater Toledo’s schools have flourished. Our organization has now become an incubator of new program models that serve immediate needs in our local schools. It began with our career-readiness programming that taught parents and family members to mentor their students toward success. The program features career guest speakers, field trips to colleges and businesses and a curriculum focused on preparation for success in school and career. PIE also provided high-quality volunteer training programs for business people and faith partners seeking to volunteer in area schools.
Fast forward to 2012 and PIE began a professional development and technical assistance support network called the Afterschool Alliance (ASA). PIE leads the group and helps train some 325 afterschool programs in best practice standards set by Ohio Afterschool Network and Ohio Department of Education. In 2013, PIE developed Partners With Purpose, a successful training module for afterschool programs working specifically with Toledo Public Schools (TPS). After a two-year incubation period, Partners with Purpose was permanently adopted by TPS. In 2015, Partners in Education helped TPS launch Parent University. After a four-year incubation period, that program is transitioning to TPS. In 2016, we added a volunteer training program and data collection system to improve volunteerism in the school system. PIE also offers background check services for area nonprofits and school districts, seeking a fast, efficient way to onboard volunteers. And in 2021, we added an AmeriCorps Initiative to benefit PIE and area agencies working in tutoring and career readiness with us.
We celebrate all things pie-related with our new annual For the Love of Pie event. Local bakers compete for awards for the best pie at this community networking opportunity and fundraiser.
Partners in Education is always seeking ways to help area schools. Please contact us if you would like to bring one of our programs to your school, community center or agency. And let us know if we could develop and incubate a model program for you. If you are a business wanting to bring a program into schools, please contact us as well. We would love to work with businesses and other nonprofit organizations on partnership grant opportunities. After all, Partners is our first name. Just give us a call at 419-242-2122.
