Near West Intergenerational School is now a participating school in Say Yes to Education Cleveland, the local chapter of a national nonprofit working since 2019 to revitalize communities by helping expand access to post-secondary education for public school students. Say Yes Cleveland announced its third cohort of schools to receive support services for the 2021-2022 school year back in May 2021.

“We’re proud of this designation, and more than that we’re excited for our students and families to have access to the resources this designation provides,” said April Maimone, Principal at Near West. Say Yes will provide a Family Support Specialist to work within the school, helping to identify student needs and connect them with community services and supports. Families will also have access to free legal and mental health services; in the future, Say Yes will also offer afterschool and summer programming.

“We’re proud of this designation, and more than that we’re excited for our students and families to have access to the resources this designation provides.”

April Maimone, Principal at Near West.

Say Yes and Near West will soon begin working with Near West families to conduct surveys to help assess what services are most needed.

As a public charter school, Near West applied to become a Say Yes school and was granted this designation, in large part due to the school’s large proportion (~80%) of students living in the city of Cleveland. Near West joins a total of 68 schools across Cleveland. Say Yes has committed to expanding across all Cleveland Metropolitan School District schools and eligible charter schools by 2023. For more information, please visit sayyescleveland.org.