Dean Stanton Wortham
Beyond the walls of Campion Hall, the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, through programs such as City Connects, is making a difference in the lives of over 300,000 students. With a large presence in Massachusetts—and six other states since its creation in 2001—City Connects, a Boston College-created program, is expanding internationally, and since 2020, has had a presence in Ireland.
City Connects is an evidence-based and school-based practice for school counselors and school social workers that integrates education with existing social services, youth development, health, and mental health resources.
On a recent visit to Dublin, Lynch School Dean Stanton Wortham visited schools implementing City Connects.
“City Connects gives [students] an opportunity to thrive by figuring out their needs and interests such that the school can match services to them in a way that allows them to develop to their fullest potential.”
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In total, City Connects is in ten schools across Dublin, serving students from 67 different countries of origin. The program is in its third year of implementation in Ireland and is supported by a research-practice partnership with Mary Immaculate College and Tusla, the Irish Child and Family Agency, which is comprised of HSE Children and Family Services, the Family Support Agency and the National Educational Welfare Board.
On visits to two schools implementing City Connects in Dublin—St. Vincent’s Infant Boys’ School and St. Vincent’s Girls National School—he was joined by Professor Emer Ring, Dean of Education, Mary Immaculate College; Professor Eugene Wall, President, Mary Immaculate College; Professor Eucharia McCarthy, Director of Curriculum Unit, and Lecturer in Special Education, Mary Immaculate College; Gerry Cullen, Program Manager for City Connects in the North East Inner City, Dublin; Gráinne Egan, Principal Officer, Department of Education; and Maria Tobin, National Manager, Tusla Education Support Service.
Students signing at St. Vincent’s Infant Boys’ School in Dublin, Ireland.
Gerry Cullen, Eugene Wall, Stanton Wortham, Eucharia McCarthy, Ann Higgins, and Emer Ring watch students at St. Vincent’s Infant Boys’ School in Dublin, Ireland.
Student playground at St. Vincent’s Girls NS in Dublin, Ireland.