The Coalition for Community Schools is dedicated to advancing a shared vision of “schools as centers for creating communities where everyone belongs, works together, and thrives”, and is grounded through a shared set of principles: build on community strengths, invest in trusting relationships, and commit to continuous improvement. This document outlines our shared policy goals to advance Community Schools.

This 3-pager lifts up 8 key talking points to help support Bipartisan Community Schools advocacy.

Building a Community Schools System is written for diverse audiences engaged in Community School efforts, from planning to integration of the Community Schools strategy in their community and/or district to existing systems of schools looking to further sustain, deepen, and expand this strategy.

The Stages of Development serve as a guide for states as they build or scale their state coalitions for Community Schools. The four stages are: EXPLORING There is talk of developing a coalition, but only informal communications or plans have been made. Someone convenes a group of people to move the plans forward. EMERGING Commitment to developing a coalition by actively convening partners and putting in place a governance structure with initial goals and benchmarks outlined. EVOLVING There is an official coalition in place, a wide range of partners are involved, regular communications to local practitioners, and a leadership team and professional learning convenings occurring. EXPANDING The coalition has added key committees, is regularly tracking impact and stories, and is widening sphere of influence through new partnerships, expanded public communications, and ongoing capacity building.

The Biden-Harris Administration recognizes the critical role community schools play in providing comprehensive services to students that promote their academic achievement and overall well-being. In the most recent bipartisan funding bill, the President secured $150 million for the Full-Service Community Schools program. This means the program is twice as large as last year and five times as large as when President Biden came into office. This toolkit is designed primarily to help community school leaders, coordinators, advocates, and other stakeholders understand the current scope of federal funding that can be used to support community schools. This toolkit identifies federal resources that can support one or more of the four pillars of an evidence-based community school and bolster community schools’ success: 1) integrated student supports; 2) active family and community engagement; 3) expanded and enriched learning time and opportunities; and 4) collaborative leadership practices.

Scaling Up School and Community Partnerships: The Community Schools Strategy builds on both practice and research to describe the what, why, and how of system-wide expansion of community schools. The guide is written for a wide audience and for communities at different points in planning for, implementing, and sustaining a community schools strategy. It targets grass-roots advocates, including parents, students, teachers, and community partners; school district, civic, business, and government leaders; and funders at the local, state, and national levels.

A growing number of states are launching community school initiatives to ensure family and community engagement, provide enriched and expanded learning, and offer integrated supports for students. Several states are providing technical assistance to support the high-quality implementation of community schools, either through the state education agency or regional and local partners. This brief offers examples from the National Center for Community Schools and from New York, New Mexico, and California showing how technical assistance can build capacity through consultation, training, coaching, and knowledge building. These examples indicate the ways that states are designing technical assistance (TA) systems to support practitioners, the value of providing differentiated TA supports, and the impact of cross-sector partnerships on TA provision.

As federal, state, and local governments marshal unprecedented resources to support the recovery from the disruption and harm inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a significant and growing interest in the community school strategy. Community schools are an opportunity for educational renewal and reimagining and are only possible through having the necessary technical assistance resources. This report summarizes the findings of a national study exploring community school technical assistance needs and assets. 

Community Science Teaching at Mann UCLA Community School

Removing Barriers to Success in U.S. Public Schools