Partnership 4 Kids was recently named the first No Excuses University Certified non-profit in the U.S.
Sue Lipsey, Director of Curriculum and Assessment for Partnership 4 Kids, says No Excuses University is a philosophy, not a set model. She says it was started by a group of former principals.
The philosophy says all students have a right to be educated and prepared for college. Lipsey says they teach students from an early age that their educational plan includes: elementary, middle and high school and then college.
She says the two organizations’ missions are perfectly aligned since P4K believes in mentoring students for college today and careers tomorrow and NEU’s end goal is success and careers for the students.
"We work with kids from preschool through 12th grade. Now we can take the No Excuses philosophy and start our students out in those earliest grades where our volunteers go in and work with the students on setting goals. And along with that, they start teaching the kids about their pathway to get to college.”
Lipsey says Partnership 4 Kids works with approximately 4300 students within Omaha Public Schools. She says the kids’ college goals are broken down into one of four options as students get older: 4-year University, 2-year College, trade school or military.
For more information the website is P4K.org.