Netter Center for Community Partnerships

robeson docent gives a tour to a student, holding a music record

A new generation reinterprets Paul Robeson, singer, actor, advocate, and all-American icon

In collaboration with The Netter Center for Community Partnerships, ninth-grade students from Paul Robeson High School trained to become youth docents at the Paul Robeson House and Museum through a program funded by The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation.

Two high school students at a table looking at a laptop.

To spread important messages about teen mental health, make community connections

After creating memes and TikToks with Philly high schoolers, Jeffrey Fishman’s honors thesis explores how those messages can effectively reach their audience.

A student pedals a bike to provide energy to power a blender.

Netter Center marks 30 years of community partnerships

With science experiments, garden plantings, and twirling flags, the Netter Center for Community Partnerships celebrated its 30th anniversary at West Philadelphia High School.

Zhanar Beketova, Krista L. Cortes, Nesha Subramaniam, and Sharon Smith hold hands at the podium

2023 Women of Color at Penn Awards

The 36th annual Women of Color at Penn award ceremony celebrated the achievements of women of color at Penn and in the broader community, highlighting this year’s theme of self-care and healing.

Four students dig a hole in a garden at Hamilton School in Philadelphia.

Green solutions are transforming a West Philadelphia grade school

With support from grants and the Netter Center, the Andrew Hamilton School in Cobbs Creek is now home to a food forest and a thriving garden, providing healthy produce, green space, stormwater management, and educational opportunities.

Billy Penn

A real art project at Quinta Brunson’s former school in West Philly mirrors the ‘Abbott Elementary’ Mural Arts episode

Thanks to the Netter Center for Community Partnerships, Shira Walinsky of the Weitzman School of Design designed and created a mural at West Philly’s Andrew Hamilton Elementary with help from volunteers and Penn students.

Students at Robeson High School learning STEM with Penn students.

Science and service at Philly’s Paul Robeson High School

Penn students in the Academically Based Community Service course Everyday Neuroscience team up with 10th-graders from Paul Robeson High School.

A man speaks at a podium with a woman waiting behind him. The screen says "An Interfaith Commemoration of the Life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr."

‘Embodying love’ at the Martin Luther King Jr. Interfaith Commemoration

At the Interfaith Commemoration and award ceremony, student speakers and performers reflected on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., and six Penn community members were honored for working towards positive social change.

Students outside of Houston Hall at a table with drinks and signs for voting while another student looks at information on the table.

An ‘energetic’ Election Day at Penn

Student volunteers from Penn Leads the Vote greeted voters at Penn Commons, helping them determine their registration status and answering questions.

Chronicle of Higher Education

Cities and the urban university

Penn is lauded for organizing a University-Assisted Community Schools Network and for offering roughly 80 academically-based community service courses through the Netter Center for Community Partnerships, with a quote from the Center’s founding director Ira Harkavy.

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