The Associated Press State & Local Wire
March 2, 2004, Tuesday, BC cycle

Trend grows for creating schools as community centers for adults and kids
By LISA CORNWELL, Associated Press Writer

CINCINNATI -- Betty Zink and all four of her children dropped out of school
by the 10th grade. She was worried the same thing might happen to her
9-year-old grandson.

She sees hope, however, in the growing trend around the country of
establishing schools as centers for medical care, social services and
academic aid for adults and children. The concept is being embraced by the
Cincinnati Public Schools, which some educational experts see as a pioneer
in trying to make all of its schools the hubs of their neighborhoods.

"Being able to go to a neighborhood school for tutoring, psychological
counseling, health services, parenting classes - all the things that we
needed but couldn't always get to - will be wonderful," Zink said.

"It will be like a one-stop center. Parents won't have to take off work to
take their child to an impersonal health clinic or some counselor miles away
from their neighborhood."

Zink, 50, grew up in an abusive home in a low-income neighborhood and
struggled to help her children through similar difficulties. She earned a
high school degree as an adult.

The city school district plans by 2012 to build 35 schools and renovate the
remaining 31, all to include space for community learning centers geared to
individual neighborhoods.

"We provide the space and agencies provide the service," said deputy
Superintendent Rosa Blackwell. "Some agencies that receive money to serve
our children can't always get children or adults to come to them. This way
everyone benefits."

Most school districts that developed community learning centers have had to
find space in existing buildings or work out arrangements at outside
locations.

"By and large, that hasn't yet become the normal way we design and build our
schools," Mary Filardo, executive director of the 21st Century School Fund,
said of Cincinnati's master plan. The organization, based in Washington,
D.C., works for urban school improvements.

"There are real barriers to providing these services if schools are not
designed to accommodate them," she said.

The idea behind the centers - also known as community schools or
neighborhood schools - dates to the late 19th century when settlement houses
offered social services for urban neighborhoods. Educators later began
looking at ways to bring services such as dental and health clinics and
after-school arts and cultural programs into public schools.

In the past 10 to 15 years, the number of community schools has increased
dramatically as school systems work more with community agencies that can
pay for additional services or help secure grants, said Martin Blank, staff
director for the Coalition for Community Schools in Washington.

"Communities are realizing that partnerships among educators, health and
social service agencies and others can turn traditional schools offering
only the standard curriculum into facilities that serve everyone in the
community and better support the academic, social, physical and emotional
needs of urban children," he said.

The exact number of community schools isn't tracked, in part because the
concept varies among districts. Blank said a coalition survey showed at
least 3,000 community schools five years ago. He estimates there are more
than 4,000 today.

"Conversations with educators and articles in major educational publications
show it definitely is a growing trend," he said.

A few schools in the Chicago system began offering after-school enrichment
programs and social services for children and adults as early as the 1990s.
In 2002, the district started a campaign to transform 100 of its 600 schools
into community schools, said Beth Swanson, director of the after-school and
community school programs.

Linda Charles, mother of four, took parenting classes and computer training
at Herzl Elementary School.

"I am a school bus driver now, but I may be able to use my computer
certificate down the road if I ever change jobs," said Charles, 39.

The main concern is that the extra programs don't interfere with educators'
focus on academics, Blank said. That's why schools get help providing and
coordinating the services.

School districts still are faced with budget realities, however.
Blackwell said the Cincinnati district must stay within its $985 million
capital improvements budget in designing buildings but can add space if
community partners secure the funding.

It costs about $80,000 to build the community learning center space into
each school. School officials say the services typically provided at each
cost between $100,000 to $300,000 and usually come from grants. In most
cases, families are not charged.

Indianapolis, with the help of the United Way, finds agencies to provide
physical and mental health services, adult education classes and
after-school programs in at least 42 of its 86 schools. The United Way of
Central Indiana and the Indianapolis Public Schools each pay about $300,000
annually.

Some schools have been renovated, at a cost of up to $20,000, with the money
coming from outside agencies, said Mary Jo Dare, director of student
services.

At the Winton Hills Academy elementary school in Cincinnati, officials
aren't waiting for their new building before offering medical services and
after-school tutoring and workshops.

The Winton Hills Medical and Health Center provides a full-time health clerk
who transports students from school and handles the paperwork.
"We believe that a healthy child is more likely to learn than one who is
not, and if we can capture residents at an early age we can ward off later
problems and create a healthier community," said Miriam Crenshaw, the health
center's executive director.

Unlike latchkey programs - which basically keep children supervised and
occupied until their parents get off work - the after-school activities in
Indianapolis align tutoring, recreation and cultural programs with classroom
work, said Eric Williams, interim director of the Bridges to Success
Indianapolis collaborative.

Because of space limitations, some children are taken elsewhere for
services. Williams said the key is to get the services as close as possible
to the people who need them.

Shoni Potter said her four sons, who attend George Washington Community
School in Indianapolis, benefit from after-school sports and tutoring. They
also have received dental exams at the school.

"It makes it so much easier when you don't have to get off work to take them
all over town for some of these things," she said.

In Zink's neighborhood, a parent who helped plan the prekindergarten to
12th-grade school now being built has definite ideas about the role schools
should play in the community.

"They belong to the public, and they should be able to serve everyone from
the cradle to the grave," said Dee Fricker, 42.

*_

On the Net:
Coalition for Community Schools: http://www.communityschools.org

Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press

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