Taveras taps Boxx as CYC director

REBECCA BOXX has been named the first full-time director of Providence's Children and Youth Cabinet. / COURTESY PROVIDENCE CHILDREN AND YOUTH CABINET
REBECCA BOXX has been named the first full-time director of Providence's Children and Youth Cabinet. / COURTESY PROVIDENCE CHILDREN AND YOUTH CABINET

PROVIDENCE – At a presentation at Hope High School on Wednesday, Mayor Angel Taveras and Providence Schools Superintendent Susan Lusi officially introduced Rebecca Boxx as the first full-time director of the Children and Youth Cabinet.
The CYC, formed in 2009, is a collaboration of community leaders designed to “improve coordination of services across agencies, increase collaboration, and foster better social, economic, behavioral and health outcomes for Providence’s young people,” according to a release.
Boxx is a 10-year public education veteran and the former full-service community school director for the Providence Public Schools. The director position will be funded by grants from several local and national foundations.
“I am thrilled and honored to serve as the first director of the Mayor’s Children and Youth Cabinet. Each day I am inspired by the level of commitment of this community to improve outcomes for Providence’s children and families,” said Boxx in a statement.
During the presentation, the group also released a report – “Action for Change” – which establishes baselines to track progress in the city’s schools.
“The Children and Youth Cabinet, under the new leadership of Rebecca Boxx, is a valuable partner in our efforts to improve educational outcomes in Providence,” said Taveras in prepared remarks. “The ‘Action for Change’ report is our roadmap for progress and shows us where we have built a strong foundation and where we must work harder to achieve our goal of making Providence the best urban school district in America.”
The CYC report identified 11 indicators to track progress toward improvement in the city’s school system, including the percentage of 3- and 4-year-olds attending preschool programs and the percentage of fourth graders who start the year reading on grade level, among others.
“The CYC contributes enormous strength to our schools and city by facilitating cross-sector collaboration on behalf of our schools,” said Lusi in a statement. “We know schools alone cannot be successful in providing everything our children need. We welcome this collaborative approach to supporting the whole child in and out of school, and having these measurable goals will help us all to focus our efforts for the good of children.”

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