1. Using the Community School Strategy to Develop Effective Collaboration Amongst Stakeholders
First some background on the Federation – the Federation for Community Schools is a state-wide organization dedicated to changing public policy to support community schools, identifying funding to support community schools, and providing resources and supports to develop highest-quality community schools across Illinois.

2. Overview Community Schools 101 Community school strategy
Developing shared leadership
Engaging Families
Community Engagement
Shared Leadership Structures
Transitions
HAVILAH

3. The federation for Community Schools
A statewide collaborative that advocates for policies that develop and sustain community schools, which support children, youth, families, and communities.

4. Community Schools: Historical Perspective
Nationally
Full Service Community Schools (Dryfoos)
Beacons
Children’s Aid Society
National Coalition
In Illinois
Polk Bros FSS
ISBE Full Service Schools
Chicago Public Schools Community School Initiative
Chicago Coalition for Community Schools
Federation for Community Schools
Initiatives across the state
A lot of the work has been “grassroots” – this work hasn’t developed out of “funder mandates” but from people wanting to do this work because it makes “good sense.”
A recognition that schools can’t do it alone – that children and families need access to supports and services

5. Starting the Transformation: Different Points of Entry
Community school transformation starts in a variety of different ways:
Grassroots – parents
Funding requirement – Full-Service Community School grant
As a result of partnerships that meet priority needs, i.e., mental health
From a stand-alone afterschool program
Stakeholders working to build off of existing funding stream – Teen REACH, 21st CCLC
GREG –
Did you see elements of your work? Did you see places that you could use your existing work to expand into implementing the community school model?
Different points of entry – self-assessment tool, growing from where you are

6. What is a Community School?
A community school is one that actively and intentionally engages a broad range of resources to strengthen the learning and development of its students. Community schools foster shared responsibility for children and youth, see the school as an anchor for community-based learning, and coordinate access to services that support students both during the school day and during out-of-school time. The vision of a community school is that effective and aligned use of external resources supports children, parents, and families.
One key element is the resource coordinator/community school manager – person responsible for undertaking the activities necessary for this transformation to occur.
Another key element is shared leadership

7. Part of a National Movement
The Coalition for Community Schools defines community schools as:
“both a place and a set of partnerships between the school and other community resources. Its integrated focus on academics, health and social services, youth and community development and community engagement leads to improved student learning, stronger families and healthier communities.”
Coalition for Community Schools, 2013
The Coalition for Community Schools is a national alliance of community schools– brings together initiatives all over the country.

8. What are the goals? Partners work to achieve these results:
children are ready to enter school;
students attend school consistently;
students are actively involved in learning and their community;
families are increasingly involved with their children's education;
schools are engaged with families and communities; students succeed academically;
students are healthy - physically, socially, and emotionally;
students live and learn in a safe, supportive, and stable environment,
and communities are desirable places to live.
Coalition for Community Schools, 2013
Why is this all important?
Pressure is on teachers and leaders – is that the right place to put the onus? Joan Devlin/AFT – kids are coming into the classroom with barriers. There are resources available to meet needs, but they are disconnected from children and families. How do we make those linakges?
Wrap-around services
Also, school improvement – how can we expect different outcomes from the same strategies? What happens when the voices and expertise of parents, community partners, and others are NOT at the table?
Key role that community schools play – distributed leadership, shared leadership, no “jack of all trades”

9. A Rose by Any Other Name…
Community learning centers
Community schools
Full-service community schools
Community service education schools
MELISSA
Both because the work is “organic” and funded in many different ways ranging from Teen REACH, private grants, school district funds, 21st CCLC dollars, afterschool tuition dollars, other Federal money, etc., community school work is called a lot of different things.
Oftentimes I speak with people about the model, and at first they’re pretty clear they aren’t going that work, but once we get into the “meat” of it, they identify the elements of their work that hook into the model.
Basically, I don’t particularly care what it’s called – I care that the work is getting done, and that schools, community partners and families are working to support student and adult development.
What we AREN’T talking about when we talk about community schools are neighborhood schools—those that serve the students in a particular area.

10. ABCS of Community Schools
A school makes the transformation into a community school by implementing the ABCs:
Aligning school programming
Bringing together all stakeholders
Coordinating community resources
How does this work look?
At a basic level, community schools work because they implement the ABCs –
Align OST programming with classroom learning
Bring together all stakeholders, working towards common goals
Coordinate resources to meet identified needs and maximize existing investments in community-based resources

11. Aligning Programming
In a community school, out-of-school-time programming aligns and complements—but does not replicate--school-day learning
A community school provides a full range of programs that support the development of the whole child by aligning these programs to in-school day curriculum.
Out-of-school time programs that are linked to classroom learning provide additional opportunities to master necessary skills or gain new experiences that make students lifelong learners.
Provide opportunities for students to practice skills in ways that are not provided during the day.

12. Bringing Together Stakeholders
Community schools bring together stakeholders to work towards a common goal and shared vision of student success
school administrators and staff
parents and family members
community-based organizations and
community members
local business leaders
local political leaders/elected officials,
students
LIZ –
A community school brings together all of the stakeholders who play pivotal roles in students’ success in school and life.
By working together towards one common goal (or shared vision)– the success of children – stakeholders drive the transition from a school into a community school.
One example of how these stakeholders are organized to work together is through the community school advisory board.
Broad representation from the school, community, and families.

13. Coordinating Resources
Community schools have a dedicated person responsible for building and managing community resources in the school building.
There are many resources available to support the successful growth and development of children – but these resources are often scattered, and go either under-utilized or un-utilized.
The community school’s director serves the function as a resource coordinator, identifying needs and linking the resources in the community to the students, parents, and community members that need them most.
Community schools coordinate the access to necessary resources by creating meaningful partnerships and linkages between the school and community-based organizations and resources.
This coordination means that previously un-or-under-utilized resources are brought to bear on student and adult needs, thereby maximizing existing investments in community-based supports.
I also look at this part of the work as being critical to ensuring strong transitions for students and families – how are community schools creating intentional connections to early learning? Ensuring that the youngest members of families are connecting to early learning opportunities?

14. Community School Parthenon
So, we’ve given you a brief background/overview of the model and now we’re going to go into a little more detail.
This is the Community School Parthenon. We’re going to use this to structure our conversation around how you might use 21st CCLC funding to move closer to implementing the community school model and how you can see where you’re work first in with the model.
One way to both move closer to the community school model and to see where you’re work “fits” is to look at whether or not your programs are meeting identifying needs in each of the community school pillars.

15. Foundation Blocks
Shared Leadership – stakeholders each offer their expertise. They plan & implement together and are mutually accountable for success.
Collaboration – community school staff, administration, stakeholders, and partners integrate their resources so that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Shared Vision – all stakeholders work towards an agreed-upon set of goals and definition of student and family success.
Shared leadership – lead partners, parents, schools, and other community stakeholders take responsibility for ongoing community school development and outcomes, decision making is shared by all stakeholders.
Integrated learning – out-of-school time activities link to but do not replicate classroom learning, enrichment opportunities are geared towards learning.
Shared vision – all of the community stakeholders work together to develop and work towards an agreed-upon set of goals and definition of student and family success.
Collaboration – community school staff, administration, stakeholders, and partners integrate their resources so that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

16. The Pillars
An integrated focus on health, family support, community engagement, and academics.
HAVILAH
This is the community school Parthenon, which is the depiction that we developed with our members who are doing this work, to describe how their work is organized and the key elements of strong community schools.
We will go into these elements in more detail, but the community school model’s integrated focus on academics, health and social services, youth and community development and family and community engagement leads to improved student learning, stronger families and healthier communities.

17. Academics
Out-of-school time activities are linked to but do not replicate classroom learning:
Remediation (ie. tutoring)
Support (ie. homework help)
Enrichment (arts, music, cultural programs, etc.)
Adult Education (GED, ELL, job skills,
ACADEMICS
The first one we’re going to discuss is academics –
In a community school, out of school time focuses on intentional, coordinated programs that enable students to master and build on the skills they learn during the school day – afterschool academic session may focus on fractions but the activities are different than the activities undertaken during the school day.
This integration with classroom learning is important because research tells us that this is what works to bolster and strengthen student academic achievement.
This is important especially as the country moves towards common core standards.
Academic programs in a community school offer:
Remediation, enrichment, homework help
Includes arts education, cultural programs, clubs and experiential learning opportunities
Also includes adult/life-long learning opportunities – GED classes, ELL classes, writing groups, job skill development, shared learning opportunities

18. Health & Wellness
Resources to support the physical and emotional well-being of students and families:
Healthy snacks
Organized sports teams and physical education
Social emotional learning
Nutrition education programs and & cooking classes
School-based mental health services for students and families
School-based physical health services for students and families
H E A L T H
Health & Wellness focuses on programs, services, and supports that meet the physical and mental health needs of students and adults.
Ranging from –
Bringing community-based mental health resources into schools
Using out-of-school time to provide mental health services and physical activity (for students and adults)
School-based health clinics
Partnerships to bring health services to students and families
Provision of snacks
Nutrition education programs
“Create a grocery list” activities
Organized sports teams and physical education
Creating partnerships to provide vision screenings and immunizations
As you can see, the focus is on identifying the needs in your school, and coordinating resources and supports to meet those needs.
A great example is in Vermilion County. The 21st CCLC team in Vermilion identified a need for students to be more active, and saw that out-of-school time provided a great opportunity to integrate more physical activity into students’ routines. They use have been using the Wii Just Dance as well as several others physical activity and “get up and move” programs. The goal is to make the activity as accessible to as many students as possible, and in Vermilion County they found that more kids can participate at one time with Just Dance.  They’ve also incorporated Zumba classes into the out of school time programming.
The University of Illinois’ Extension offers several different programs that also work to address physical needs, including nutrition classes and programs that teach students about “where food comes from.”
Vision screenings, immunizations, sports physicals

19. Family engagement Potential barriers to parent engagement: FAMILIES
Parents had a negative experience of school as students
Parents feel ashamed because they have limited educations or believe they have limited capacity to support their children’s educations
The school is not welcoming to parents
Parents are only contacted when their child is in trouble
It is difficult for the parent to get to the school
There are many stressors in a parent’s life that prohibit priority on school engagement
And the whole family – youngest and oldest members
FAMILIES

20. POTENTIAL BARRIERS
Research is starting to demonstrate that children and young people are not as effective as learners if they haven’t hit the upper levels – the “self-actualization” area, let alone without basic needs being met.
How reasonable is it to expect that schools will meet all of these needs alone, in isolation? That teachers, principals, school staff are experts on every piece of this hierarchy?

21. Comprehensive services
Why….?
What are we asking of schools?
What are we asking of students?
Why is it important?
What are we asking schools, teachers, students to do?
Think it through – how effective would any of us be as teachers? As learners? What if YOU were expected to know how to do absolutely everything that any job in your organization requires….? Without any support?

22. What kinds of supports? Depends on what’s needed…
Health/wellness (immunizations, mental health, vision screenings, medical home)
Access to benefits
Crisis intervention
Leadership development
Adult education
Weekend backpacks
Tutoring
…and the list goes on.
Needs assessments and data-driven decision making are key – it’s not adding supports for the sake of seeming comprehensive but for BEING uniquely comprehensive.
CRISIS – GARFIELD/TREWYN
Focus is on comprehensiveness of services – not one-off (usually), not “plug and play,” but a coordinated effort to weave together the supports necessary to address the complex challenges that students and families face.

23. Programs and Services FOR PARENTS
Support parents’ capacity to advocate for their children
Help them understand what their kids are learning – Common Core is great opportunity
Support their own development – not just as parents, but as individuals
Job training and skill development for adults
Sports and recreation for adults and families
Invite parents to observe their children throughout the year
Other parents are essential to garnering support for parent events
There are two main components to parent engagement in a community school – one is working to meet parents’ needs and provide resources that enable them to be full partners in students’ educations, and the other is tapping into parents’ assets and capacities to develop shared leadership and support students.
This involves meeting parents where they are, providing what they need, and relying on their expertise.
Real partnerships with parents – recognizing and utilizing what parents bring to the table vis-à-vis understanding children’s needs, how to meet them
Meaningful opportunities for shared leadership
Dedicated parent coordinator or parent liaison – might be part-time, volunteer, as part of school’s use of Title I funds
PIRC (Parent Information Resource Center) – Federal grant providing for dedicated space and resources in schools for parents

24. Community Engagement
Everyone has a role to play in student success and child development
Sharing accountability for outcomes for children and young people
Organizing resources in support of students and families
Creating mutually beneficial partnerships
Community members know the school as a place to access resources & support
Access to health and education services
COMMUNITY
Role the community can play in school leadership – it’s “OUR” school.
Community engagement is also a “two way street.” It’s about the school reaching into the community to identify supports and resources, but it’s also about the school being an asset to the community.
Are there any examples of these pillars that you see in your work? Integrated learning, health and wellness, etc.?
How are we ensuring that communities are organizing resources in support of children and families? Why is this even important?

25. Mutually beneficial partnerships
Identify your school’s needs
Identify a partner who could support these needs
Anticipate needs of potential partners
Plan how to communicate to potential partner how a partnership can be mutually beneficial
Tools: Community Needs Assessment and Community Asset Mapping

26. Shared Leadership: The Advisory Board
Infrastructure for shared leadership and community ownership
Made up of key school and community stakeholders
Vary in size
Most obvious example of shared leadership is the CS Advisory Board. Parents and community members play a key role.
By establishing a consistent structure through which parents and community members can become actively involved with leadership and the school, you can encourage and maintain parent and community engagement—this can benefit both the school AND the members of your advisory board
The advisory board is made up of key stakeholders within the school and community, and this can include a lot of different people--parents, local school council, PTA members, local business representatives, school staff, and several others.
While advisory boards vary in size depending on the needs of the school, the size of the school, and general interest in becoming involved, most are generally made up of between 5 to 20 people.

27. Advisory board Meet on an ongoing basis to:
Inform each other’s knowledge of student and family needs
Determine areas of need
Review data to evaluate services being offered at the school
Coordinate community resources to address areas of need
This work supports the ABCs of community schools.
Earlier we talked about the ABCs of community school work. The work that takes place in an Advisory Board supports these ABCs—again, these are Aligning programs, Bringing together stakeholders, and Coordinating community resources.

28. Benefits oF shared leadership structures
The work of leading and managing schools is most effective when it involves multiple individuals and voices.
Community schools ccreate a culture of shared leadership, valuing voices, and accountability
Key ambassadors of your community school-can help communicate your message to community members not directly involved with the school, and share the work that has been going on.
Improvement-The Advisory Board brings together a group of people who are interested in ensuring that the programs and services offered at the school are beneficial to students and families. This group of people provides a source for the collective review of program and student outcomes. Based on this review, Advisory Board members can identify resources that the school needs, as well as how they can bring these resources into the school using the knowledge and connections they already have.
Sustainability-
Advisory board members-particularly those involved with local agencies and businesses-can help generate in-kind or financial support from both agencies and individual community members.
Using the connections they have with the community, they can also help to facilitate and maintain new partnerships that support student and family needs on an ongoing basis.
Collective review process can help ensure program quality and improvement of services
Members knowledge and connections can support your community school’s sustainability

29. transitions Role the community schools play in transitions Examples –
Connections to families, bridges between schools and families
Addressing underlying barriers to positive transitions – absenteeism, information gaps, wellness
Connecting schools to each other
Examples –
Early Childhood Community School Linkages Project
Elev8
Creating a network of community schools in the Midway Network
Pre-K through 3rd grade approach; coordination leads to smoother transitions – collaborate to create consistency in learning environments and teaching practices, and to create structures of support for children and families (Educare and Tulsa example).
Not just child’s readiness but school and family readiness (walking the child to the classroom example)
Parent knowledge, orientation for students prior to K starting (including summer programs – role for OST)
Preparing the adults (HSRC conversation).
Elev8 – focus on middle school to high school transition, academic and social-emotional
Midway Network – connecting the elementary schools and high schools together using the CS framework

30. Resources Federation for Community Schools tools and resources
Illinois Community Schools Forum:
November 14-15, 2013
Hilton of Lisle/Naperville, IL
The Coalition for Community Schools
National Community Schools Forum:
April 9-11, 2014
Cincinnati, OH
MELISSA
There are a lot of other resources available to provide you with more information, tools, and resources around what we talked about today. These are a few Web sites that might be useful.
We are also always happy to talk about the model, work with schools and partners to develop their work, and share best practices around community school transformation.

31. Federation for Community Schools
Contact Information
Federation for Community Schools
33 W. Grand, Suite 300
Chicago, IL
Havilah Darnieder
Liz Mullen