Community School Leadership Network

About the Network

To serve as an active network of Community School Initiative leaders that provides a home for professional learning and the innovative and courageous advancement of the field.

The Community School Leadership Network (CSLN) is composed of Community School Initiative leaders dedicated to providing mutual support, collective learning, and advancing the field of Community Schools. We serve as an active network of Community School Initiative leaders that provides a home for professional learning and the innovative and courageous advancement of the field.

Our Goal

• Mutual Support: Build supportive and responsive relationships among initiative leaders in order to improve skills and share best practices designed to strengthen local, regional, and statewide implementation.
• Collective Learning: Create shared learning opportunities that are responsive to the needs of local initiative leaders.
• Advancing the Field:
  • Create a forum for collective deliberation and action directed towards advancing the community schools field in practice, policy, and research.
  • Play a leadership role in connecting and informing the other networks with the voice of the field.

Joining the Network

Membership is reserved for leaders recognized by cross sector system-level leadership and are responsible and accountable for the system level development, management, and advocacy of the Community School Initiative on a day to day basis. We define Community School Initiatives as having the following elements:

1. A strategic plan in place for growth and scaling up;
2. led by cross sector system level leadership outside of a school site; and
3. active resource development and advocacy for all schools within the initiative.

The CSLN meets in-person twice per calendar year and, if possible, in conjunction with another convening (CCS national conference, CCS partners meeting, NCCS Practicum, CCS Awards/Advocacy Day).

Click here to apply and join the network.

Resources

• Community Schools Collaborative Leadership Framework
• Community Schools Fact Sheet
• Community Schools Results Framework – This document outlines a rationale for the community school as a primary vehicle for increasing student success and strengthening families and community; and it defines specific results that community schools seek—both in terms of how they function and in relationship to the well being of students, families and communities.
• Community Schools Evaluation Toolkit – This toolkit is designed to help community schools evaluate their efforts so that they learn from their successes, identify current challenges, and plan future efforts. It is a practical, hands-on guide that makes it possible for you to improve your community school’s effectiveness and to tell your story. Equally important, it offers a menu of data collection tools (i.e. surveys, public databases) for evaluating whether and how your school is achieving results.
• Community Schools PowerPoints – breaks down the community school strategy. This is a great tool for getting stakeholders on board!

To learn more, please contact ccs@iel.org.