The new role seeks to deepen the University’s commitment to the city and the region.
Shaun Nelms ’04W (MS), ’13W (EdD), the current superintendent of the East Educational Partnership Organization (EPO) with the University of Rochester, has been named vice president for community partnerships at the University effective July 1.
The new leadership role, established by President Sarah Mangelsdorf, seeks to give new structure to the University’s wide-ranging work with local and national partners. Nelms will be responsible for developing an actionable plan for cultivating and stewarding productive collaborations in support of the University’s new strategic plan.
“Shaun is a visionary leader who for the past eight years has led a revolutionary partnership that could be a model for K–12 transformation,” says Mangelsdorf. “His extraordinary work at East High School and the Warner School of Education has inspired us to think more broadly about the role innovative partnerships can play at the University level. If we are to have the greatest impact we can—in Rochester and around the world—we must work together with other academic institutions, with community organizations, and the corporate sector in a more strategic and organized way.”
As East EPO superintendent, Nelms has led a distinctive educational partnership model between East High School—a Rochester City School District (RCSD) school—and the University of Rochester. The partnership has demonstrated great success, serving as a model for academic and cultural transformation in urban K–12 education and the partnership will continue with new leadership. Succeeding Nelms as East EPO superintendent will be longtime RCSD teacher and administrator and current East EPO principal Marlene Blocker. Blocker’s appointment is also effective July 1.
Nelms will report directly to Mangelsdorf and partner with the provost for community-based learning opportunities and research, including those at the Center for Urban Education Success (CUES). Based in the University’s Warner School of Education and Human Development and borne out of the East EPO, CUES aims to support the success of K–12 urban schools in Rochester and beyond by sharing findings among researchers and practitioners in urban education and creating models that can be adapted in other school districts across the country. Nelms will continue to serve as the William & Sheila Konar Director of CUES and as a clinical professor of educational leadership at the Warner School.
“The University remains firmly committed to the East EPO and CUES and we’re thrilled with the continued success of both models,” says Warner School Dean Sarah Peyre. “Shaun is one of Rochester’s most respected and thoughtful community leaders because of this leadership and it’s natural that in his new role as vice president for community partnerships he will be able to continue advocating for East while establishing and promoting greater community engagement between the University and Rochester.”
In 2015, Nelms was named the first ever superintendent of the East EPO. Prior to the partnership’s founding, East High, one of Rochester’s oldest city schools, was in disarray and slated to close for failing to meet state standards for several years. With agreement among the RCSD, New York State, the East High School community, and the University, the EPO was launched. Under Nelms’s leadership, the model has shown great success in addressing disparities in urban education to change student outcomes, while surpassing the goal to double the graduation rate of East students. Since 2015, the four-year graduation rate increased from 33 to 85 percent, the attendance rate grew from 77 to 90 percent, and the drop-out rate declined from 41 to 15 percent. As superintendent of East Upper and Lower schools, Nelms also expanded its Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs to include pathways in culinary arts, information technology, computer technology, biomedical health sciences, business and computer essentials, precision optics, teaching and learning, and vision care.
In 2021, the New York State Education Department extended the EPO through 2025.
“It has been a true privilege to work alongside East EPO educators, parents, and community members for the past eight years to rebuild the foundation of a great school,” says Nelms. “In working with the University of Rochester and its Warner School, we have been able to provide scholars at East real opportunities to succeed, a safe environment to grow, and we’ve been given the support and resources to innovate in spaces where despair was more often greater than hope. And as the University continues to put their full support behind this model, I am most proud that these public school students have been given what they deserve, which are equitable opportunities that allow them to reach their full potential. It is my goal now in joining the University of Rochester to establish the University as a leader in community partnership and engagement; to cultivate greater and stronger meaningful relationships in the City of Rochester, across Monroe County, and beyond. I’m thrilled to support the University’s strategic commitment to furthering the economic, educational, social, and cultural partnerships that build sustained and mutually beneficial engagement and a thriving community for all.”
Marlene Blocker named second superintendent
When the East EPO launched in 2015, Marlene Blocker, then a founding principal of the Rochester Early College International High School, was named principal for East’s Lower School (grades 6–9). As part of the EPO leadership team from the beginning, Blocker has been instrumental in making the school’s transformative change a reality. She currently serves as East’s Upper School principal.
“Marlene has served this community for over 30 years and has a proven track record of success,” says Nelms. “She is integral in leading and supporting the school transformation process at East. Under her leadership, East has become a beacon of hope in Rochester, and this work would not have been done without Marlene’s focus on obtaining results through systems of collaboration and results-driven accountability. Marlene’s appointment creates consistency for families, scholars, and staff.”
Blocker’s experience in the RCSD began as a teacher and lead teacher/mentor at General Elwell S. Otis School No. 30 from 1988 to 2001. She served as assistant principal of John Walton Spencer School No. 16 from 2001 to 2002, and principal of Francis Parker School No. 23 from 2002 to 2010. In 2013, she received the James E. Allen Award from the School Administrators Association of New York State and the 2014 Distinguished Educational Leadership Award from St. John Fisher College, where she earned her master’s in educational leadership. Blocker holds a master’s in elementary education from SUNY Brockport and a bachelor’s in early childhood education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
