Maxine Clark got to know the Debaliviere Place and West End neighborhoods, sometimes called the East Loop, when she was looking for a spot to open KIPP’s first charter school.

Build-A-Bear Workshop founder Maxine Clark is broadening her website devoted to connecting local children to summer activities with the addition of a college prep database that features programs from universities around the country. Blueprint4Summer College Prep launched in January and has about 1,700 summer programs that feature STEM, test prep and arts, among other subjects. The college prep programs are open to all U.S. students, not just those in St. Louis.

Two major donations by the founder of Build-A-Bear Workshop and her husband, has prompted Washington University to change the name of its policy institute based in the Brown School of Social Work. The think-tank will now be called the Maxine Clark and Bob Fox Policy Institute in honor of the couple’s $7.5 million donation to the university announced Monday.

The Brown School policy institute at Washington University will now be known as the Maxine Clark and Bob Fox Policy Institute after a $7.5 million donation. The university announced the donation Tuesday and said the funds would help promote community engagement for policy issues such as education, public health, immigration, economic development, child well-being and others.

An online app, founded by Maxine Clark along with Build-A-Bear Workshop, is connecting St. Louis area children to summer activities has become a popular way for parents to find local camps. The Blueprint4Summer tool launched in February and was developed by Technology Partners in St. Louis.