This past Saturday, Futures Academy, a partner school of UB LPP, held its annual Fall Fest for students and their families. The entire Fruit Belt neighborhood was invited to participate in all of the activities and the event served as yet another example of the school's efforts to foster relationships as a designated Community School. UB LPP staff joined the festivities by setting up a crafts table, where kids of all ages were able to create their own bookmarks along with pa

It is easy to think of college as far off in the future, not worth thinking about in the present. But savvy middle school students and parents know that college is just around the corner, and worth preparing for now. Below are three ways middle school students and parents can work together to ensure they are on track for college and career readiness. Develop scholarly habits College students have to keep track of a large amount of work, read frequently, and manage their time.

"My son had a feel of what college was...however, this program opened him up a bit more," says one proud parent of a student that participated in the I Can! Summer Residential Program. "He has become more accountable for the things he's supposed to do. He was able to make new friends. He also gained more insight about the college experience." Parents of our I Can! students have been giving rave reviews of the program, describing it as a transformative experience and one th

Our I Can! Summer Residential Program is gaining recognition around our community. The University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences highlighted I Can! in an article on it's news page. "A group of 40 enthusiastic middle school students took mock computer science courses this summer as part of the University at Buffalo’s Liberty Partnership Program’s “I Can” residential summer program", the article begins. There are also quotes from the UB professors that

The 2017 I Can! program has ended and it was a resounding success. Students completed daily reflection activities, which is part of becoming a successful college scholar. We were able to capture some of these reflection moments and created a video for each of our 3 rotations. You can see them below or by visiting our Vimeo channel. #SummerResidentialProgram #UBLPP #BAVPA #Futures #Tapestry #ICan #MiddleSchool #UB #PrepareforCollege #leadership

In what has become one of the most unique Middle School summer experiences in Western New York, The I Can! Residential Program just completed it's 3rd year and it was definitely our best yet. I Can! was our primary focus in the month of July with one week of orientation and 3 weeks of programming for students from our 3 partner schools. Here's a list of the programming that we provided our future College Scholars: ​SEL skills workshops in leadership and goal setting Recreati