Since 1998, Ithaca College has been involved in a special relationship with our neighborhood school, South Hill Elementary. Over the years, students and faculty from Ithaca College have volunteered hundreds of hours of their time to enrich the curriculum at South Hill, which has in turn offered Ithaca College students and faculty countless opportunities to work with, and learn from, their teachers and students.
Some of the partnership activities have included:
- offering an "instrument petting zoo" where the children get to hold musical instruments and learn about them
- establishing a school vegetable garden
- supporting a sound system that enhances IC teacher candidates' knowledge of technology and South Hill students' special events
- hosting a "science day" project for students and parents
- developing a "farm to table" curriculum
- piloting new reading curriculum materials for the primary grades
- purchasing math curriculum materials that encourage children to use their whole bodies with math mats
- contributing to a variety of field trips to the IC campus to meet and work with IC faculty and students
- holding faculty, student, and staff celebrations of the last day of school.
Teachers at South Hill Elementary are eligible to apply for mini-grants to support special projects in their classrooms, for their grade levels, or for school-wide projects. Mini-grant applications for 2018-2019 may be accessed here. Proposals that are recommended by the South Hill principal will be forwarded to the IC Department of Education for review, and proposers will be contacted with a decision about their mini-grants within a week of Ithaca College's review. Grant recipients should use the "Request for Reimbursement" form to submit receipts for expenses and to be compensated for costs incurred.