A key resource for the Coalition for Community School Leadership Network

On February 11th, we hosted a webinar on racial justice and equity. To understand how community schools are interpreting and reaching racial equity and justice, this webinar illuminated a community school study from New York that speaks to the transformative practices through a liberatory education for Black and Brown youth. Panelists: Dr. Hui-Ling Malone, Assistant Professor of English Secondary Education, Michigan State University Dariella Rodriguez, Director of Community Development, The Point Dalyla Santiago, Recent High School Alum Dr. Jessica Shiller, IEL Coalition for Community Schools ResearchPractice Network Researcher Co-Chair, Associate Professor, Towson University (facilitator)

The Coalition for Community Schools is a national alliance of more than 170 organizations that advocate for community schools. A founding member of the Coalition, Children’s Aid, started its first community school in New York City in 1992. Widespread interest in the initiative has led to more than 7,500 community schools nationwide.

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.