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A weekly update of Federation news and events

 
March 28, 2012
In This Issue
Small community, big vision
Leveraging agency resources
Education Week highlights community schools
Upcoming Events
 
Tuesday, March 27
Webinar: Bringing the Community to Schools
Hosted by edweek.org
1:00 p.m. CST / 2:00 p.m. EST

 

April 19, 2012 
Illinois 21st CCLC 2012 Spring Conference
Innovative Practices for Expanded Learning
Hosted by ISBE and AIR
Tinley Park Convention Center
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
 
May 9-12, 2012
Community Schools National Forum
Join community school and education reform practitioners and advocates at the 2012 Community Schools National Forum on May 9-12 in San Francisco.  Watch this short video for a glimpse of what you can expect at the conference.
 Join the 2012 Illinois Community Schools Forum Planning Committee

 

The Federation has assembled a committee of stakeholder members to help plan the 2012 annual Illinois Community Schools.  We are currently looking for additional members to ensure the Forum is a valuable experience for our broad membership.   We are especially interested in adding a resource coordinator and parent / parent leader to the committee.  If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity to shape the Forum, please contact Havilah Darnieder
Community schools movement
loses a legend

 

Last week the community schools movement lost a longtime proponent and friend. Joy (Gidding) Dryfoos, passed away on Sunday, March 18 at the age of 86. Dryfoos was a steadfast advocate for students and families and was instrumental in launching the national community schools movement through her writings, teachings, and advocacy work. Read more about Dryfoos and the lasting impact she has had on the community schools movement here.

Quick Links

 

 

 

Small community, big vision for students and families
 

The Federation for Community Schools has been working with the Illinois State Board of Education to provide trainings to 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) grantees around the state that are interested in community schools.  As one coordinator learned about community schools, she began recognizing the model as what was already happening in her own community. After three meetings, Sherry Greier from Olney, IL finally asked if the Federation would visit her community. 

 

Olney, IL is a rural community (population: 8500) in downstate Richland County that illustrates that, when it comes to schools and communities working in partnership, persistence and intentionality really pay off.   In late March, Federation staff Greg Hall and Melissa Mitchell spent a day touring the community schools in Olney.  While there, they learned from East Richland County CUSD #1 Superintendent Marilyn Holt, Grants Coordinator Sherry Geier, and Principals Suzanne Hahn, Andy Thomann, and Chris Simpson (from East Richland's Elementary, Middle, and High Schools, respectively) about the ways in which resources are coordinated in schools to be entirely child-centered - right down to the building design and architecture. 

 

School and district leadership talked at length about the ways in which the schools and community partners shift their focus, adjust their work, and engage other systems to accommodate students' developmental needs and to address changes in student demographics (i.e., increases in the numbers of students who qualify for free-or-reduced lunch).  Community stakeholders continually demonstrated a shared responsibility for student success and positive youth development, and intentionality around organizing supports and services to help students succeed.

 

In addition to how their resources are coordinated, the schools are designed to be child-centered and to engage families and community members. For example, the East Richland Middle School has gym facilities and meeting spaces that are open to the public and  are used to host meetings for community organizations and other schools alike. Both the Elementary School and the Middle School have walking paths and open space for community use, as well. The High School engages community partners in a range of ways, including working with Olney Central College to offer dual credit classes and to prepare students for college and beyond. The Elementary School partners with Big Brothers/Big Sisters to bring 130 mentors into the building weekly, and has a cadre of 45 consistent volunteers providing a range of services, including literacy programs in the school library.

 

While in Olney, the Federation also presented to a meeting of the region's Community Council. This Council, which grew out of Project Success work started in the early 1990s, brings together community partners, faith-based organizations, schools, school districts, and government agencies to develop a strategy for supporting children and families in the community. Through this group and its work, the community works towards a shared vision of student success and maximizes access to supports necessary to remove barriers to student success in the classroom and beyond. The Council also creates a web of quality, readily accessible resources around families in their community. In Richland County, this Council functions much as a school-based advisory board functions -- stakeholders in student success working together to assess and address student and family needs.  

 

Much can be learned from the way in which the school and district leadership, community partners, families and community members in Olney, IL all view their children as the center of their community and take pride in organizing their schools around the needs of their children.  We are excited that the Olney school district has joined the Federation and will be able to connect with other community schools across the state.

Leveraging agency resources

  

At March's Resource Coordinator Luncheon, hosted by Antwon Mallory from the YMCA at Morton Academy of Excellence, resource coordinators explored the possibilities for expanding the range of supports and services offered at their schools by tapping into the resources of their own agencies.  Antwon shared the YMCA's new strategy of pairing the Adult Education teams with the community school teams. Coordinating access to an existing YMCA resource through the community schools enabled Morton and other schools to offer adult education and job support services directly to parents and community members. Antwon encouraged other resource coordinators to look at the "internal resources" their lead partner agencies have and to think about how those resources can be linked to community schools. The discussion about the YMCA's strategy of linking the Adult Education group and their community schools also touched on the ways in which partners -- especially lead partner agencies -- can adjust their operations, processes, and internal strategies to best support full implementation of the community school model.

Education Week highlights power of community schools

 

In a recent edition of Education Week (March 14, 2012) the cover story is devoted to expounding the power of the community school strategy.  The article explores the factors that have contributed to the sustainment and growth of community schools across the country, included renewed attention from policymakers at the national level and shared responsibility for sustaining the work amongst community school partners at the local level.  The national Coalition for Community Schools estimates that there are over 5000 community schools nationally with as many as 1000 forming in the past five years or so. 

 

Much attention is given to the SUN (Schools Uniting Neighborhoods) Community Schools program in Multnomah County, OR - which includes Portland - which have grown to serve more than 19,000 children and youth across six school districts.  Leaders of the SUN Community Schools program identify the development of the SUN program "as an anti-poverty initiative and strategy for providing services" as critical to developing shared leadership and sustainability for the program.  At the school level, SUN community school principals acknowledge the essential role that their dedicated resource coordinators play in sustaining programs on the ground.  

 

Read the full article Ore. Community Schools Show Staying Power.