Newport This Week: Partnership in Learning

Newport Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong (right) was the first municipal leader in the state to sign onto Gov. Dan McKee’s (left) “Learn 365 RI Compact,” an initiative to enhance educational opportunities for students outside of a traditional classroom setting. Calling on Newport to be a “model of success” for the new program, McKee announced the initiative and received the mayor’s endorsement on April 12 at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Newport County, where members and leaders of local and area school committees, school districts, businesses and nonprofit organizations joined the ceremony. About $4 million in federal funding is already dedicated to the program, with another $47 million to come that is included in last year’s approved state budget. McKee will be traveling throughout the state in the coming weeks to gain stamps of approval from other municipal leaders.

“It’s time for us to make a shift from thinking that learning happens only during a 180-day school year to embracing the [new] strategy,” McKee said.

Flanking McKee and Khamsyvoravong are: (from left to right) Newport City Councilor Jeanne-Marie Napolitano; Joe Pratt, Boys and Girls Clubs of Newport County Executive Director and CEO; Club “kids” Kyle S. and Nate P., Rhode Island Department of Education Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green and Newport School Committee Co-Chair Rebecca Bolan.

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