Community schools: It's time

Efforts to create full-service community schools that serve the whole child with an array of services are gaining traction under California's new education funding formula, writes Jane Meredith Adams for Ed Source. The convergence of more money for low-income students and a new mandate to work with families under the Local Control Funding Formula has created an environment in which community schools can thrive. One in four California children lives in poverty. Community schools partner with community organizations to offer a range of enrichment, health, social, and other services for children and families, and leverage partnerships to remove barriers to learning posed by hunger, sickness, and disadvantage. State Sen. Carol Liu is a champion of the concept, and is exploring legislative actions to help districts adopt it. Oakland Unified announced in 2009 it would convert all schools to the full-service community model, and now has 27 of 87 schools operating as such. Vallejo City Unified has introduced the full-service model at 15 elementary, middle, and high schools, and plans to convert all schools by 2014-15. Dozens of individual school sites from Sacramento to Fresno to the San Fernando Valley have embraced the model, and the United Way is working to triple their number in the Bay Area in the next six years. More

Source:  Public Education News Blast

Published by LEAP

Los Angeles Education Partnership (LAEP) is an education support organization that works as a collaborative partner in high-poverty communities.