A new paper from the Coalition for Community Schools demonstrates the importance of community schools. It explores the relationship between community schools, Promise Neighborhoods, and other cradle-to-career, place-based strategies. The Role of Community Schools in Place-Based Initiatives: Collaborating for Student Success looks at various place-based strategy and their effectiveness. Across the country, there are many “place-based” efforts to reform schools, strengthen communities, and make educational, health, housing, and other systems more responsive to young people and their families and their assets and needs.
The community school concept positions the school as the hub of resources for the community. The paper is based on the experiences and lessons of efforts in the three communities involved in the West Coast Collaborative. This research finds that community schools and their partnerships with local organizations bring the following assets to the table:
- A clear vision of a community where learning can happen
- Community partners with deeply rooted relationships and the trust of the
- community
- Demonstrated and sustained success in integrating multi-sector partnerships
- Flexibility for responding quickly to new opportunities
- On-the-ground action in communities gives direct support and opportunities
- Mobilization of a different set of organizations and leaders
- Opportunity to establish shared indicators and accountability frameworks
- Connection to comprehensive issue frameworks
Transform Consulting Group worked with IUPUI to create a Full Service Community School partnership in the Martindale Brightwood neighborhood of Indianapolis and can help your organization align with other school-community and partnership efforts. Contact Transform today!
