MILESTONES:
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What It Takes to Be an Effective Community School Coordinator
Community school coordinators play a unique role. Ideally, they are by nature boundary-crossers. They are able to work in the school and the community and bridge the culture of each. They have the skills to reach in to teachers and other school staff and to reach out to families, residents, and community groups. They possess the planning and organizational ability to bring together school staff and partners to focus on results. No doubt, the job is challenging, but the emergence of community schools across the country suggests that the talent is out there. Here is the skill set to look for:
- Strong planning, coordination, and communication skills
- Political awareness
- Experience in several community sectors, including but not limited to schools
- Solid grounding in developmental theory and experiential learning
- The ability to see the "big picture" yet attend to details
- An ability to listen, connect people, and make things happen
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Pitfalls
- Underestimating the importance of using results and related indicators to drive the work of the community schools initiative at the community and site levels.
- Saying "we will get to evaluation later" when everyone is looking for early data, even though such a response may be inappropriate.
- Lacking a clear set of criteria for the selection of potential community schools for communication to all stakeholders.
- Overlooking the importance of determining whether a community partner or the school coordinates community and school resources at the site level.