Aligning student-centered systems and structures through community schools

As communities have attempted to navigate an ever-evolving “new normal” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, school leaders across California continue to wrestle with a series of major challenges. Even before school buildings closed in March 2020, there were persistent disparities in students’ experiences and outcomes.

The pandemic, along with heightened attention to racial injustices, helped to shine a spotlight on how fragmented systems and structures within schools hinder our ability to equitably provide whole-child growth and learning.

Recognizing the urgency of these challenges, state leaders have allocated billions of dollars to various “whole child” strategies, including funding to expand universal transitional kindergarten, expanded learning, dual enrollment and community schools. Since the passage of the California Community Schools Partnership Act in 2021, state legislators have allocated a total of $4.1 billion to the California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP). This groundbreaking infusion of resources has been billed as an opportunity for districts and their communities to collaboratively design and implement community schools strategies.

While the CCSPP offers an unprecedented opportunity for districts, schools and county offices of education to invest in community schools development, it’s important to note that a community school grant is not necessary to become one. In fact, there are urban, suburban and rural districts throughout California who have been doing at least some aspects of community schools work (with or without a grant) for decades. Building on this foundation, we encourage educational leaders to meet this historic moment in California by aligning and strengthening student-centered systems and structures through community schools.

But first, some background on community schools.

What are community schools and why are we hearing more about them now?

Although community schools have recently attracted a lot of attention, community school strategies have been around in some shape or form for more than a century. In early iterations of community schooling, schools played a central role as neighborhood hubs for social services and other student and family supports. These models typically linked outside-of-school resources, such as before- and after-school programs and community health services, to students and families in hopes of disrupting external barriers to student learning. A more recent definition by the Community Schools Forward National Taskforce reflects the consensus of decades of community school practitioners that community schools are a strategy (not “just another grant program”). This definition explains that “the community schools strategy transforms a school into a place where educators, local community members, families and students work together to strengthen conditions for student learning and healthy development.”

Given this history, it’s not surprising that educational leaders hoping to address pandemic-exacerbated challenges might see community schools as a promising solution to alleviate learning loss. However, insights from decades of community school implementation efforts underscore the obvious — there are no silver bullets to complex challenges, and a grant program is not a sustainable strategy. Without attending to the necessary organizational changes, well-meaning programs and interventions can function as programmatic silos, unlikely to bring about systemwide transformation.

How can community schools bring cohesion to fragmented systems and structures

At its core, the community schools strategy exists to accomplish a straightforward goal: for all students to flourish in thriving school communities. In order to realize this goal, the Community Schools Forward National Task Force identified enabling conditions, key practices and supportive infrastructures that are essential to transformative community school development.

Each of the components of this framework, what we affectionately refer to as “The Wheel,” work in tandem to support the heart of the community schools strategy: ensuring all students are prepared to thrive in school, and ultimately, in their future lives.

Many newcomers to community schools prematurely zero in on the light blue portion of the presented graphic, programmatic pieces, or pillars, as they are referred to in the California framework. However, those puzzle pieces alone do not ensure strategic alignment — in many local educational agencies, those programs already exist as disconnected and siloed efforts. Instead, we encourage community school leaders to pay close attention to the outermost, dark blue ring of The Wheel. This ring outlines six components of supportive community schools systems: (1) shared governance structures, (2) continuous improvement, (3) data systems, (4) professional learning opportunities, (5) strategic partnerships and (6) sustainable resources. These intentional, integrated, district-level components are key to providing schools with the necessary structures and resources (e.g., time, coordinated partnerships and dedicated staffing) to do their work of developing and sustaining high-quality, nurturing and equitable learning environments.

How are community school aligned with local control?

Over the last few years, countless media reports have described contentious school board meetings where community members, students and families have clashed with board members over district policies, programs and decisions. While there is ample evidence to suggest that at least some of these conflicts are directly tied to national debates about race, gender and civil rights in schools, the broader context also suggests an underlying desire for increased family, student and community voice in schools. In many ways, that desire is a large part of what community schools have always been about.

Inclusive decision making and shared power and voice are more than just buzzwords in community schools. They are key conditions and practices that guide how these schools operate. Rather than schools making decisions for students and communicating at families, the community schools strategy offers an opportunity for meaningful partnership between educators, families, students and community partners to collectively determine a shared vision for their school communities.

Whether through School Site Councils or English Learner Advisory Committees, we know that schools and districts across California are already working to elevate student and family voice in educational decision making. A community schools strategy isn’t about throwing all of that away and starting from scratch. Instead, this strategy allows school communities to build on the good work that is already being done through encouraging a more seamless alignment of systems and resources.

Meeting the moment

In the wake of the pandemic, there were many calls to “reimagine” school. But the rubber band snap of business-as-usual is disappointingly apparent. In order to realize a new way of doing schools, we must build “community school muscles,” which consist of collaborative leadership, cultures of belonging, expanded learning opportunities, empowered family and student engagement, community-connected classroom instruction and integrated systems of support.

This takes time, resources and dedication. In short, community schools do not happen overnight.

While the California Community Schools Partnership Program offers the chance to deeply invest in building and expanding the community schools strategy, the work of community schools is bigger than any one grant or program. This work continues to be about engaging and empowering students and families, building trusting relationships across communities, and developing sustainable structures and systems to support all students moving forward. Educational leaders should use this opportunity as a way to build and strengthen coherent systems of trusting relationships and sustainable supports in service of advancing equitable learning conditions and opportunities for all children to thrive.