The Gismondi Neighborhood Education Program, which is made possible by a generous gift from The Gismondi Foundation, is a collection of education programs and services provided to elementary-aged students in certain neighborhoods in the City of Pittsburgh where Pitt has made a long-term commitment to community engagement. Those neighborhoods are Homewood, the Hill District, Greater Hazelwood, and Oakland. The Gismondi Foundation was created by Pitt alumnus John Gismondi and his wife Lisa.
Each neighborhood’s education program has unique features that are based on the expressed community and University collaboration:
- Literacy and math tutoring and enrichment in Homewood,
- STEAM and digital equity in the Hill District,
- Life sciences education in Greater Hazelwood, and;
- Homework help and mentoring in Oakland.
Among the core services or programs provided by the Gismondi Neighborhood Education Program are in-school tutoring for math, reading, and other basic subjects, and after-school or weekend sessions that feature a variety of fun, yet educational, activities. For example, Pitt engineering students have taken students through the process of building a roller coaster, a fun and exciting exercise, but one that also teaches them about basic physics concepts like momentum, speed, and centrifugal force.
For weekend sessions, the Gismondi Neighborhood Education Program provides transportation to and from the University’s Community Engagement Centers, a meal or snacks, incentive prizes for attendance, and the opportunity for family involvement.
While the overall goal of the Gismondi Neighborhood Education Program is to stimulate student thinking and improve performance in core subjects such as reading, math, and science, each of the neighborhood programs is tailored to meet the unique interests, needs, and identity of that community.
