Community and school





A community school is both a set of partnerships and a place where services, supports and opportunities lead to improved student learning, stronger families and healthier communities. Using public schools as a hub, inventive, enduring relationships among educators, families, community volunteers, business, health and social service agencies, youth development organizations, and others committed to children are changing the educational landscape - permanently - by transforming traditional schools into partnerships for excellence.

There is a role for all members of a community to play in making community schools a reality. School superintendents, principals, local elected officials, public and private human services agencies, youth development organizations, community organizations and community development groups, business, and civic and religious organizations all can bring leadership and resources to bear’s hope you will be excited by what's happening in these growing experiments and find some way to encourage similar efforts where you live. Why? Because now more than ever, they just make sense. and students, businesspeople, neighbors, and family members come to support and bolster what schools are working hard to accomplish - ensuring young people's academic, interpersonal and career success. Their presence turns schools into places that crackle with the excitement of doing, experiencing and discovering unknown talents and strengths. Community schools open up new channels for learning and self expression. Students come early and stay late - because they want to.Ideally, a full-time community school coordinator oversees the delivery of an array of supports provided by local agency partners and participates on the management team for the school. To achieve their desired results, most community schools over time consciously link activities in the following areas: quality education; positive youth development; family support; family and community engagement in decision-making; and community development.

The school is oriented toward the community, encouraging student learning through community service and service learning. A before- and after-school learning component allows students to build on their classroom experiences, expand their horizons, contribute to their communities and have fun. A family support center helps families with child-rearing, employment, housing and other services. Medical, dental and mental health services are readily accessible.Artists, lawyers, psychologists, college faculty