The Worcester Education Collaborative
is an independent organization working to ensure that students in the Worcester Public Schools are given the opportunity to succeed at the highest possible level and to acquire the skills and knowledge to master the challenges
of the 21st century.
WEC is committed to supporting, facilitating, and developing a wide variety of partnerships among families, schools, organizations, and businesses that will both enhance the quality of public education in Worcester and the quality of our common life. As a non-profit education fund, WEC's independent voice speaks for the children and for the community to create a system of effective schools in which every child is prepared for success in college, career, and life.
As an independent advocacy and action organization founded in 2010, The Worcester Education Collaborative (WEC) works to ensure that students in the Worcester’s public schools are given the opportunity to succeed at the highest possible level and to acquire the skills and knowledge to master the challenges of the 21st century.
We are committed to developing and supporting a wide variety of partnerships among families, schools, organizations, and businesses that will both enhance the quality of public education in Worcester and the quality of our common life.
WEC is the brain child of John Bassett, then-president of Clark University. President Basset believed that in order to effect meaningful and sustained improvement in the Worcester public schools, the city required an organization to focus exclusively on the needs of our students and our schools.
our Mission
The mission of the Worcester Education Collaborative is to advance excellence and equity in education for all Worcester Public School students.
our VISION
WEC envisions a transformation education community that enables all Worcester Public School students to achieve their full potential. We believe that:
Equitable access to resources, programs, and supports is the first step toward ensuring equitable opportunities and outcomes.
Focused, evidence-based educational opportunities drive engagement, achievement, and later success in life.
21st century education requires a new model that takes an inclusive, holistic approach to teaching and learning.
Engaging the community means it is our collective responsibility to educate our children, to ensure holistic support, and to deepen and broaden our impact.
Visionary, transformational, collaborative and community-engaged leadership that operates within a culture of accountability is critical to achieving excellence and equity in education.
Sustained, meaningful change to understand and dismantle the root causes of inequities must come at the systems and institutional level.
WEC Celebrates 10 Years of Impact
we demand excellence in education for our children
WEC is a small but nimble organization and a collaborative both by design and necessity. Our local thought and practice partners include the Worcester Regional Research Bureau, Greater Worcester Community Foundation, the Health Foundation, Edward Street Child Services, Office of the City Manager, WPI, Clark University, Worcester State University and UMass Medical School. Our sound relationships with our local colleges also allow us to tap the enthusiasm of undergraduates through our intern program.
Through strategic collaborations with other organizations, the Worcester Public Schools, and the city, WEC has made significant strides in focusing our community on key issues in education. We have seen changes in the high school graduation requirements, dramatic reduction in study halls, a change in the policy of tardiness as grounds for school suspension, a renewed focus on the work to improve attendance, increased focus on social and emotional learning, school-based leadership, and literacy. Our reputation for not only spurring discussion but for spurring action and lending meaningful expertise assures us a seat at the table and allows us to keep a city-wide focus on our children and schools.
In addition, a significant part of WEC’s portfolio focuses on catalyzing collective impact in support of the Worcester Public Schools and the district’s students. We firmly believe that, as noted in the Stanford Social Innovation Review in 2011, “Large scale social change requires broad cross-sector coordination…Collective impact initiatives are long term commitments by a group of important actors from different sectors to a common agenda for solving specific social problems.”
WEC serves as a catalyst by bringing people, organizations, and resources together in new ways to better educate our children.
WEC serves as a united friend to both the district and the community with respect to the work of teaching and learning.
