Using, as an example, a case study of Futures Academy, a K-8th grade public school in the Fruit Belt, an inner city neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, this essay will demonstrate that universities can play a leading role in remediating the problems of public schooling, youth development and inner city distress. Through the development of authentic, democratically-based partnerships among universities, schools, and communities, young people in distressed neighborhoods can become successful students and engaged citizens who work to improve conditions in their neighborhoods, city and nation. The first section of the paper will provide an overview of the history of university community partnerships and then a review of pedagogical theories will be presented, and in the final segment, we will discuss the pedagogical model used in our work at Futures Academy.