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This report shows how community schools offer a practical and effective strategy for educating all children to their full potential. Outlines and reviews advantages of community schools and conditions for learning that these advantages create based on research.

As national attention increasingly focuses on the importance of children’s development in their early years, we have the responsibility—as community members, parents, educators, leaders, and policy makers—to do our part to ensure that young children have the opportunity to thrive. While there are a number of efforts in place to support young children and their families, many focus on one of two domains: either improving early childhood care or education or improving elementary education. Research suggests, however, that there is an essential third domain to attend to in our work to support young children: improving the quality and continuity of a child’s experience and her access to essential supports and services as she transitions from early childhood care or education into the elementary grades.

This case study calculates the return-on-investment for a Community School Coordinator, the person who oversees implementation of the Community Schools strategy, and shares responsibility for the outcomes.

With the launch of the New York City Community Schools Initiative (NYC-CS) in 2014, the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) increased its focus on implementing a holistic strategy of education reform to address the social consequences of poverty as a way to improve student outcomes. The strategy of the NYC-CS is to organize resources in schools and share leadership among stakeholders so that academics, health and wellness, youth development, and family engagement are integrated into the fabric of each school. Although community schools are expanding across the country, New York City is implementing the strategy at a scale unmatched nationally.

This toolkit is designed to help you learn more about planning and conducting an evaluation of your community school or community school initiative.