On September 17th, we unveiled our very first Progress Report at our Cradle to Career Convening. The report described preliminary findings relating to our partners' pilot programs from January - June 2014, along with best practices and recommendations for new programs launching this fall. Additionally, Zone 126 sought feedback on our role as a backbone organization from partners, school leadership, and other key stakeholders. We are proud to report the following: 

• 94 percent of Implementation Partners are satisfied with the progress being made to meet the Zone 126 Cradle to Career project objectives.
• 94 percent of Implementation Partners believe parents and children are benefiting from the Zone 126 Cradle to Career project.
• 88 percent of Implementation Partners believe the Zone 126 Cradle to Career project helps leverage new resources.

Says Maritza: "I am deeply grateful to Presidio Institute for the opportunity to be immersed among lifelong learners; from the faculty, to Presidio staff, to guests, and especially my co-fellows. I continue to be in awe of the power of peer learning. Being amongst such accomplished individuals with broad yet deep cross-sector experience helped me learn how the private and public sectors operate, giving me new insights and perspective on how to approach our partnership development work at Zone 126.

It was clear to me that, in the end, regardless of size or type of organization, it is the individuals with passion and vision that mobilize change. Each one of my co-fellows is deeply passionate about their work, and about the projects they are working on. It was truly an eye-opening and inspiring experience."

The Presidio Institute has now opened the nomination and application process for the 2015 Cross Sector Leadership Fellows Program. 

• NYU ParentCorps will be returning to PS 17Q this October to serve 36 pre-K students and 36 parents. ParentCorps is a parent-child, school-based preventive intervention that fosters healthy development and school success among pre-K children. The group sessions will be provided in both English and Spanish.
• Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement House will be kicking off year one of five of the OCFS Advantage After-School Program to serve 120 students at PS 171Q. Zone 126 is extremely excited to be working with Riis and providing evaluation services. 
• Socrates Sculpture Park has been hosting groups of students from LIC High School in collaboration with the English Language Learners department so that students can grow their linguistic skills while also learning to express themselves in a creative capacity. Socio-emotional development will also be measured. Stay tuned for further details on the Socrates/Long Island City High School/Zone 126 student art exhibition in our next issue. 
• NYC DOE Office of Adult and Continuing Education will be hosting ESL and TASC (Test Assessing Secondary Completion) classes for more than 200 parents at several of our schools throughout the Zone during this school year. Families will have an opportunity to enhance their education while their children are learning during the school day.
• Child Center of New York will be providing school-based mental health clinics for 20 students at two schools, PS 17Q and PS 171Q. The school-based mental health clinicians are LMSW (Licensed Master Social Workers) who are multi-lingual and have the ability to screen, assess, and conduct sensitive outreach to parents concerning child counseling and mental health needs.