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This report outlines six essential strategies for Community Schools and the key mechanisms used to implement these strategies. Next, it profiles Community Schools across the country where these model strategies are being used to achieve transformational results. A close look at these model Community Schools and districts shows that across racial, economic, and geographic diversities in this country, Community Schools work. As the new federal education legislation gives states greater power to implement Community Schools, we recommend learning from the strategies and mechanisms we provide in this report—both from research and from practice—to achieve transformational and sustainable Community Schools across the country.

For the current 117th Congressional session, the Coalition co-developed with our partners a federal policy agenda that guides our federal advocacy.

This policy agenda is the Institute for Educational Leadership’s inaugural Policy by the People agenda, which reflects the direct input via surveys and focus groups of hundreds of leaders across IEL’s networks that we engaged in 2020. These leaders span the roles of parents/family, youth age 18 and under, district leaders, nonprofit leaders, state and local government representatives, people with disabilities, and elected officials across dozens of communities in the United States.

60 Community Schools across Six Districts

The Schools Uniting Neighborhoods Initiative is a collaboration of city, county, state and school districts in Portland/Multnomah County, Oregon.

Walter T. Helms Middle School, San Pablo’s first FSCS initiative, is now the hub and model for the city’s FSCS initiative. The district presented a co-written district-wide full service community schools resolution covering five cities to the West Contra Costa Unified School District Board of Education in November 2012. The board unanimously passed a resolution to implement community schools beginning with its high schools that have school based health centers and two elementary schools, one with a dental clinic in operation.

Alignment in Purpose from the School to the Statehouse Around a Commitment to Community Schools

The goals of the CLC are to support student achievement, revitalize neighborhoods and maximize the community’s return on their financial investments. CLCs act as hubs for community services, providing access for students, families and community to health, safety and social services, as well as recreational, educational and cultural opportunities.

Full Service Community Schools Framework

Hayward’s framework for its community schools seeks to fulfill a common set of conditions for learning that ensures that students are engaged, safe, and healthy.