Harvard officials gathered with civic, business and city leaders yesterday to formally announce the Boston After School for All Partnership, beginning a five-year, $23 million dollar commitment to improve and expand afterschool programs in the city of Boston.

Amidst a celebratory crowd of teachers, students and afterschool providers at the Jackson/Mann Elementary School in Allston, the partners for the program presented the new initiative to the community and media, praising their combined efforts.

"Today we partners call for out-of-school time to be a centerpiece of this city's civic agenda, and we believe that our actions back up our words," said Christopher F. O. Gabrieli '81, the chair of the partnership in his introductory remarks.

The 12 partners for the initiative are a mixture of public and private companies and institutions, including Harvard, the City of Boston, FleetBoston Financial, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Verizon, creating the largest public-private partnership focusing on children in the city's history.

As the auditorium filled, a video presentation offered statistics on the importance of afterschool programs, along with pictures of Boston children, on the streets and in afterschool programs. After the video, a student choir from Jackson/Mann performed for the gathering.

"This is all about them," Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said about the children after they left the stage. "This is so important, to make sure every kid has the opportunity for a better future."

Menino has made afterschool programming a major priority, creating the initiative and task force that ultimately led to the partnership announced yesterday.

The goal of the partnership is to expand afterschool programs to meet existing need, creating a productive outlet for time spent out of school.

"We know that kids that participate in afterschool programs do so much better in the classroom, that they do so much better in life," Menino said.

Harvard is investing $5 million over five years to the program, while also coordinating efforts through existing Faculty and programs in the Graduate School of Education.

Harvard President Neil L. Rudenstine entertained the crowd with his own history with afterschool programs as a child.

"Boy, did I have afterschool programs. Every day when I got home I had to take out the garbage, mow the lawn, do the dishes," Rudenstine quipped. "It was very rigorous, a very stimulating program."

Many who were at the kick-off are heavily involved in city afterschool programming, such as the Rev. Gregory Groover, Sr., who chairs the education committee of the Black Ministerial Alliance, a group whose 40 afterschool programs will likely benefit from the new funds.

"As someone who grew up in the projects of New York...I was always aware that I could make it, partly because there was a community center in my housing development that enriched me with afterschool activities," Groover said, moving the crowd with his sermon-like speech.

Ruth Jones, a single parent of three children who all attend afterschool programs at Jackson/Mann, thanked the partners for their efforts, saying she would not be able to hold a full-time job if her children were not in afterschool programs.

"I love that these programs keep [my children] off the streets," Jones said.

Many at the event also thanked Harvard for getting involved in the partnership, saying it will provide valuable educational tools and resources to help improve afterschool education.

"Through your commitment, President Rudenstine, our children will look across the Charles River to your institution and say 'I will study there one day,'" Groover said.

Rudenstine, in turn, emphasized Harvard's willingness to work with the community to create a joint effort.

But the speakers also said that yesterday's event was just the beginning of the partnership, and that they will work to gain financial commitments from more sources, including the state.

To end the event, all of the partners signed a large novelty check, as they were surrounded by on-looking children from Jackson/Mann.

"We come together to acknowledge the efforts currently in place, and we come together to tell you we want more, and we're going to have more," said Marian Heard, president and CEO of the United Way of Massachusetts Bay. "This is merely phase one."