One indicator of an excellent school system is the level of support and amount of interaction with business and industry, community groups and other organizations. Glendale Schools are fortunate to have strong and long-lasting partnerships with many segments of the community. These partnerships manifest themselves in many ways. Here are a few examples:

• The City of Glendale, the Crescenta Valley Town Council and the Foothills and Glendale Boards of Realtors help to ensure a safe community in order to achieve the highest standards of education in the District.
• Edison Pacific is a model joint use project combining school and city facilities to benefit the entire community. The school and the park each have their own domain, but share the gymnasium, library and the outdoor areas.
• Over the last 10 years, a number of community-wide projects have focused attention on youth and family issues.
  These have included:
  • The Youth Coalition, focusing on the needs of youth in the community,
  • The Seeds of Peace, promoting understanding and respect,
  • The design of a joint use school/community center project at Pacific Park, and the
  • The Character and Ethics Project, which stresses basic traits such as integrity and compassion as monthly themes to schools, the city and the business community alike.
• Leaders from business and industry offer their expertise by serving on district task forces, Board and Superintendent advisory committees.
• Law enforcement provides School Resource Officers and special event security, coordinates school crossing guards, and advises on school and traffic safety. Glendale Fire Department supports schools to stress safety at school and at home. Glendale Police and Fire Departments are partnering with the School District to establish a new Public Safety Academy for students at Hoover High School.
• The Glendale, Crescenta Valley and Montrose/Verdugo City Chambers of Commerce help coordinate awards to outstanding teachers and district programs, education-business partnerships, and with the Verdugo Workforce Investment Board, provide continuing support to the District with various opportunities for students and staff to experience and learn about the modern workplace.
• Glendale Community College not only receives a large number of graduates each year, but affords students the opportunity to take college courses while in high school, and shares in career path planning for a number of career initiatives.
• Service, philanthropic and fraternal organizations such as PTA, Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions, Altrusa, Soroptimists, Masons, Oakmont League, Elks, AAUW, Assistance League, YMCA, YWCA, and others contribute a wealth of volunteers, materials and funding in support of a wide variety of projects from tutoring first-graders to providing scholarships to high school graduates.
• Long a partner to the District, the Glendale Community Foundation assists with many projects at the schools. The Gwendolyn Sexton Foundation has greatly expanded the music and library capabilities over the last couple of years. The newly revitalized Glendale Educational Foundation is raising funds to support the Visual and Performing Arts in the 2006-07 school year.
• Glendale Healthy Kids, a partnership of the community´s three medical centers, the district and a host of medical providers, offers medical and dental services to students whose families have no health insurance.

Education-Business Partnerships have occupied a recognized niche in the district´s outreach program for nearly 20 years. The roster is long and distinguished, and includes such notables as the Walt Disney Co., Nestlé USA, Glendale Memorial Hospital, Smith Barney, Washington Mutual, Verdugo Hills Hospital, Keeler Dilbeck Realty, Office Depot, The Gas Company, HP, Intel, Shakey´s Pizza, Ralphs Grocery Co., Glendale Adventist Medical Center, Bank of America, Glendale Area Schools Federal Credit Union, California Credit Union and JCPenney — more than 100 in all. These partnerships allow students and staff members to form a special bond with companies and employees while developing activities tailored to their interests and needs.

Principal for a Day is an opportunity for local business and community leaders to spend time on a school campus observing the district´s talented leaders in action and sharing management techniques.

The sharing of time, skills and friendships is the hallmark of education-business partnerships. Helping students by reading to them, inviting them to “shadow” for a few hours on-the-job, visiting a classroom and making a history lesson come alive — these and other activities with a “personal touch” — are often just as rewarding for the givers as the receivers.

Contribution of resources such as equipment, materials and funding may be involved in a partnership, but this is usually not the initial focus. Partnerships are two-way relationships. Students and staff understand the need to “give back” to their partners. Students often become very creative in expressing their appreciation to their partners — through personal notes and letters, banners, artwork, singing for employees on special occasions, and a host of other ideas.

• “Inviting the children from our partner school to sing at our employee holiday party was the best program we’ve ever had,” a corporate vice president said. “At the end, everyone was in tears.”