Phil Humann ’16: EA has recently joined the National Partnership for Educational Access (NPEA), an association of schools and other educational institutions that helps to fund and enhance establishments that provide underprivileged students with educational access. The NPEA has over 300 member organizations collectively helping more than 150,000 students nationwide from more than 30 states. According to its website, the NPEA uses “professional development, information sharing, research and data analysis, and the dissemination of best practices, NPEA is working towards a day when all students have equal access to high-quality education and opportunities for college and beyond.”
The NPEA is an initiative of the Steppingstone Foundation, with which EA has had a longstanding relationship, currently enrolling 13 Steppingstone scholars. According to EA’s Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Wallidah Justice, “Our commitment to Steppingstone students is a major reason why we wanted to be part of this organization.” The partnership will also assist the Office of Diversity and Inclusion by strengthening connections with student of color recruitment programs, and will help further support underprivileged colored students at Episcopal. Justice continued, “NPEA, as an organization, is an opportunity for Episcopal to demonstrate our commitment to diversity and inclusion. As we strive to be more inclusive, this organization allows [us] the opportunity to connect, create, and build relationships with other inclusive communities, locally and nationally.”
Photo Courtesy of NPEA website
The Episcopal Academy student body has been very supportive of this recent partnership. Laura Zecca ’16 said, “It’s promising that partnerships like this exist so we can try to help the next generation.” Jonathan Grizos ’16 added, “It’s really good that the school is supporting underprivileged youths since education is the backbone of [one’s] future.” Episcopal’s faculty has also been showing support of the NPEA. James Farrell, member of the Math Department and Cross Country coach at the Episcopal Academy, commented, “It’s great that EA will be able to look past more underprivileged students’ economic background and instead decide whether to enroll them or not based off their academic prospects.”
The NPEA will be holding their seventh annual conference in Philadelphia in April and Episcopal is committed to be an educational champion for this coming conference. According to the NPEA’s website, the conference “presents a unique opportunity for committed professionals and [thoughtful] leaders from a range of settings across the K-16 pipelines to discuss and share best practices for supporting underrepresented students on their path to an through college.” Furthermore, NPEA’s goal for this conference is to gain “a robust understanding of all aspects of the field and [to be] well poised to positively impact student achievement and improve outcomes.”
This year, Justice will be serving on the conference planning committee, with EA as the first Philadelphia Education Champion to sponsor the conference. Justice described the significance of the partnership, saying, “I take great pride in this membership and appreciate Episcopal taking the lead locally to spread the importance and value of supporting underrepresented students on their paths to excelling in K-12 environments and beyond.”