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

Community schools (CS), also referred to as full-service community schools and community hub schools, represent an increasingly prominent strategy to create more equitable and effective learning environments for underserved students and families. CSs are characterized by four pillars of practice: integrated service provision, extended learning opportunities, family and community partnerships, and collaborative leadership and decision-making. Through these four pillars, CSs implement a variety of practices that build on students’ and families’ assets and respond to their needs. Given the breadth of services and programs provided by CSs, implementation of this strategy requires a combination of diverse sources of funding, both public (e.g., federal, state, school district, and city) and private (e.g., local businesses and private foundations). Successful implementation of CSs also requires strategies that build public awareness of these schools, the professional capacity of their staff—especially the community school coordinator (CSC)—and the quality of their practices. To identify funding sources and strategies that can support the expanded implementation of CSs, Child Trends conducted qualitative interviews with CS leaders in four local education agencies (LEAs). The four focal LEAs were purposively selected to represent a range of district sizes, settings, and geographical areas in order to provide insights into different approaches to CS funding and implementation.

A publication of the UCLA Center for Community Schooling, featuring multimedia public scholarship to inform the collective struggle for democracy, justice and public education.

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.