The San Mateo City, County and Schools Partnership Forum spread the message that during this time of financial hardship, implementing a collective approach to share limited resources could address community needs by providing innovative educational solutions.
 

About 150 school board trustees, school superintendents, city council members, county supervisors, county employees and nonprofit managers attended the Forum.
 

 San Mateo County Supervisor Dave Pine challenged participants to work together to come up with ways that schools, cities, and the county can work together to build healthy, safe communities. Within small groups, participants discussed three different areas where a shared approach could make significant impacts. A panel of community experts started the discussion by explaining the needs in each area and the collaborative initiatives currently in place. Groups came up with goals that the community as a whole could achieve in each of these areas over the next three years.
 

In the "Integrative Services to Improve Outcomes for Children" group, Shelly Masur, Redwood City Elementary School Board Trustee, spoke about the full service community schools initiative where schools have become the center of the community and partnerships with local agencies bring health, counseling, family engagement and after-school services directly to the schools to improve outcomes for children. "When children receive services according to their needs, they are more apt to be ready to learn and become actively involved in their communities," Masur said.