Extended Services School Initiative

John F. Kennedy Middle School is located in the Atlanta Empowerment Zone and serves a predominately African American population of 22,524. Located in Atlanta Westside within one mile of Clark Atlanta University and the Atlanta University Center, Kennedy Middle represents a classic example of an urban, inner-city school. Current enrollment is 562 in grades 6 through 8.

Kennedy was opened in 1971 as a comprehensive community service center with an extensive extended services program. A directory of the center published in 1975 listed 14 agencies located in the facility. Though highly publicized, this concept of integrated service delivery may have been ahead of its times. Eventually, the community service agencies were relocated and an elementary school was housed in the space while its facility was under construction.

Since 1992, Clark Atlanta University (CAU) has participated in academically - based service and has placed students in neighborhood schools and other agencies. In 1998 the School of Education initiated a university-community school partnership with Kennedy Middle and the partners were invited to join the Extended-Service Schools Initiative of the DeWitt Wallace-Readers Digest Fund in a project led by the University of Pennsylvania. The partnership intends to reconstruct the initial Kennedy vision of extended day programs and school-based services supplemented by new perspectives on university and community involvement.

Goals of the Partnership

• To develop an action-oriented, community-based curriculum of high quality utilizing service learning as a preferred pedagogy of instruction.
• To offer school-linked health and social services through collaborative relationships with community agencies.
• To provide extended programs and educational services to students, families and other community residents.
• To empower parents and community through involvement in program planning, implementation and evaluation.
• To further expand and institutionalize academically-based service at Clark Atlanta University.