Harvard Invests $1 Million in Cambridge Summer School

Harvard has committed $1 million over the next five years to a summer school program in Cambridge, which will offer classes to local high school students and train student-teachers from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education (GSE), University and city officials announced Wednesday.

“A comprehensive summer school is something we’ve talked about for a long time,” said Cambridge Mayor Anthony D. Galluccio at the announcement Wednesday. “We know we need to go beyond the traditional school hours to serve our students.”

The announcement comes after controversy earlier this spring over Harvard’s $5 million investment in Boston afterschool programs. Cambridge officials were upset that the University did not offer a comparable investment in Cambridge schools.

In its first summer this year, the Cambridge-Harvard Summer Academy will receive $100,000 from the University.

Experienced Cambridge Public School teachers will work with teams of students enrolled in the GSE’s Teacher Education Program to teach English, history and math classes students at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS) who failed those courses during the school year or were recommended by their guidance counselors to receive extra academic help. Instructors will split their time between teaching high school students in the morning and the GSE student-teachers in the afternoon.

The academy will lengthen the CRLS summer program from its current four weeks to five weeks and will increase the teacher-to-student ratio for most classes.

This year the academy will serve about 350 students. But officials say in future years the University will commit additional funds to add science and other course offerings and will increase the number of students who attend the summer school.

Plans for the academy have been in the works for months. An announcement was expected in March when Harvard had planned to make a one-time $100,000 commitment to the academy—with only vague assurances of funding in future years.

But the announcement was put off indefinitely and relations between the city and the University plummeted when—just days before the Cambridge venture was to be announced—Harvard unveiled a $5 million commitment over five years to afterschool programs in Boston. The Boston deal took Cambridge officials by surprise and left them feeling snubbed, according to city council members.

At the time, city councillors blasted the University and said relations between Harvard and its long-time host city had deteriorated to a new low.

Galluccio sent a letter to University president Neil L. Rudenstine saying he felt “very unclear” about the state of relations between the University and the city. He warned that Harvard’s much larger initiative with Boston could do “great harm” to relations with the city.

In discussions with Harvard officials after the Boston announcement, Galluccio says he made “very clear” that he wanted a multi-year commitment from the University.

“I didn’t expect Harvard to come back the next week and hand us a $5 million check,” Galluccio said in an interview yesterday. “That’s not an effective way to impact our schools.”

The program announced Wednesday ups the total money to $1 million and expands the commitment to five years, which Galluccio said reflected “sincere partnering” between Cambridge and Harvard.

He said he felt Wednesday’s event, which was held in his office, helped to “get people talking” again and give the University credit for its involvement in local education issues.

“I could spend the rest of my life figuring out how Harvard could announce $5 million for Boston and not know how damaging that would be to our relations,” he said. “You have to put that behind you.”

“Cynics at Harvard need to know we can say thank you,” he added. “Cynics on our side need to know that Harvard can give.”

City officials have praised the summer academy as a specific program where the University can share accountability over improving students’ learning.

At the event yesterday, Superintendent of Schools Bobbie J. D’Alessandro said the summer academy was “a dream become a reality.”

“Isn’t it so much better when we’re partners?” said City Manager Robert W. Healy at the announcement.

University officials attributed the bad feelings of earlier this spring to Cambridge officials who compared the Boston afterschool program to the Cambridge summer school venture.

“I think the reaction was not to this program,” said Mary H. Power, senior director of community relations for Harvard.

She said the Cambridge initiative was not meant to balance out Harvard’s commitment to Boston and said the timing of the Boston announcement that had angered the Cambridge city councillors was “coincidental.”

—Staff writer Imtiyaz H. Delawala contributed to the reporting of this article.

—Staff Writer Andrew S. Holbrook can be reached at holbr@fas.harvard.edu.