With strategic and financial support from the Ballmer Group, four national partners – the Center for Universal Education at Brookings Institution, the Coalition for Community Schools (CCS), the Learning Policy Institute (LPI), and the National Center for Community Schools at Children’s Aid (NCCS) – are collaborating with practitioners, researchers, and leaders across the country to elevate areas of alignment and consensus across various community school approaches to further align, build, and scale community schools.

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.

This report looks at how community schools finance their work. It describes the resources, partnerships, and activities community schools generate with the dollars they have; where monies come from; and the mechanisms community schools use to leverage additional funding and build their capacity to achieve agreed upon results. The report draws on survey results and case studies from a purposeful sample of experienced community schools—both individual sites as well as district-sponsored initiatives.

Since 2017, every 3rd full week of September has been dedicated to celebrating the unsung heroes of Community Schools—the Coordinator. This year, September 20 to September 24, 2021, let's celebrate Coordinators and advance our Community Schools movement together.

Letter to Chairwoman DeLauro, Chairwoman Murray, Ranking Member Cole, and Ranking Member Blunt to encourage them to significantly increase funding for the Full-Service Community Schools Program (Title IV Part F of the Every Student Succeeds Act) to match President Biden’s 2022 budget request of $443 million. Community schools is a critical strategy to help schools and communities recover and stabilize from the ongoing effects of the pandemic, and an effective strategy of a whole-child approach to public education that is necessary now more than ever.

Stages of Development for creating and growing your State Coalition.

Return on Investment of a Community School Coordinator: A Case Study

This blueprint provides examples of how Community Schools effectively responded to the pandemic, highlighting “how” Community Schools operate through collaborative leadership, and offers recommendations for state and local educators, community leaders, and others on how to leverage Community Schools as a core strategy for communities to efficiently and effectively recover while transforming education and accelerating economic mobility.

The Committee on Appropriations submits the following report in explanation of the accompanying bill making appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (except the Food and Drug Administration, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the Indian Health Service), and Education, and the Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, Corporation for National and Community Service, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, Institute of Museum and Library Services, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, National Council on Disability, National Labor Relations Board, National Mediation Board, Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, Railroad Retirement Board, and Social Security Administration for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2022, and for other purposes.