The Hechinger Report/ December 2, 2020
When America’s schools shut down in mid-March as a result of Covid-19 and transitioned to some form of remote learning, the nation’s community schools responded rapidly. That’s because these schools already had strong existing relationships with providers of community resources, both public and private.
At least 8,000 American public schools identify as community schools, meaning that they work in well-planned partnerships with local organizations that offer resources like medical, dental and mental health services; before- and after-school programs; and housing and employment assistance to parents. These partners are integrated into the life of the school, both through formal mechanisms and through informal day-to-day contact, which means they can get the right services to the right students at the right time.
School leaders who might want to pursue this strategy in the wake of the pandemic should know that the shift to community schooling cannot happen overnight, but there are models to emulate and people who can help. For example, the nonprofit organization Children’s Aid partners with 19 local public schools in New York City and operates the National Center for Community Schools. Its seasoned staff assists schools and districts in other areas to adapt the community school strategy to their specific local contexts.
And researchers have reached consensus on the common features found in different types of successful community schools: integrated student supports; expanded learning time and opportunities; family and community engagement; and collaborative leadership and practice.
In Cincinnati, where the community school initiative now involves all 65 of the city’s public schools, many have created new ways to adapt their delivery systems to the needs of children and families during Covid. For example, Darlene Kamine, executive director of the Cincinnati Community Learning Center Institute — the lead agency in half a dozen of the Cincinnati sites — said, “Basically, we migrated our six Community Learning Center Institute schools to a virtual universe, with a website for each of our sites, to ensure ongoing access to all of the services, from teletherapy and telemedicine to critical legal services through our Immigrant and Refugee Law Center and ongoing early childhood education.”