Brown and Providence Schools
Engaging with Elementary and Middle Schools
Brown partnerships aim to instill a love of learning in Providence schoolchildren, paving the way for students to find success and fulfillment throughout their educational journey.
Engaging with Elementary and Middle Schools
Brown partnerships aim to instill a love of learning in Providence schoolchildren, paving the way for students to find success and fulfillment throughout their educational journey.
Brown’s many elementary school programs and initiatives aim to develop a love for learning and an intellectual curiosity in Providence children.
Whether they’re contributing to daytime elementary and middle school curricula, enriching literacy and math lessons after school, or bringing stimulating fun to young students’ summer months, students, faculty and staff at Brown are committed to supporting a successful and fulfilling educational experience for K-8 students in Providence schools.
Program and Initiative Highlights
Since 2000, after-school activities led by student volunteers and staff at Brown’s Swearer Center have enriched learning at William D’Abate Elementary School in Olneyville — while also providing undergraduates with valuable experience and deeper connections to the city they call home.
As part of its broader Community Corps initiative, Brown is working with nonprofit Inspiring Minds to support the Providence Public School District by connecting trained college student volunteers to elementary students across 10 schools. Through tutoring and mentoring, volunteers help students gain skills and learn how to make a positive impact on the world around them.
Each year, students and faculty from the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Science (DEEPS) work in partnership with Providence Public School District to bring innovative and interactive Earth science curricula into local elementary school classrooms.
For more than a decade, Brown Pre-College has offered eighth graders the chance to dive in to a summer of STEM before heading to high school. Each course includes rigorous academic content, lab or field work and a research project or design challenge. Eligible PPSD students receive need-based scholarship funding to attend.
Explore more programs and initiatives
The Annenberg Institute offers a comprehensive list of Brown-led tutoring, enrichment and classroom activities.
News about Brown in K-8 schools
News from Brown
Photos: Classroom visits at the D'Abate Elementary School
A visit to the William D'Abate Elementary School offered Brown President Christina Paxson the opportunity to meet with both D'Abate students and the Brown students who teach chess, crafts and more as part of an after-school partnership run by the University's Swearer Center.
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News from Annenberg
Stepping DEEP into Science
The DEEPS STEP program aims to develop high quality NGSS-aligned, inquiry-driven Earth Science lessons; assist PPSD teachers in bringing Earth Science lessons to their classrooms; help improve access to science education for Providence children, particularly for children from disadvantaged socio-economical backgrounds and offer a teaching and community-oriented experience to Brown students, postdocs and faculty.
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News From Brown
Athletes visit schools for Reading Week
Nearly 100 Brown student-athletes and coaches are taking part for the first time in Providence Public Schools' Reading Week activities, stopping by schools throughout the city this week to read books to elementary-age children. The annual event coincides with a nationwide initiative aimed at getting children more interested in reading.
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News From Brown
A partnership beyond the classroom
For 12 years, Brown University has partnered with William D’Abate Elementary School in Providence’s Olneyville neighborhood to bring after-school programming, in-class tutoring, and summer camps to students there. While the programs are a learning experience for everyone involved, the hope is that some lessons will have effects that last long after graduation.
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News from Brown
Kah-BOOM: VolCANo teaches kids geology
Fifth graders from Vartan Gregorian Elementary School in Fox Point were on campus on Halloween to explore geological sciences. The labs were fascinating, the scientists were great, but what really grabbed their attention was the controlled explosion of a watery volcano — an unforgettable demonstration of the powerful forces inside the Earth.
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