Center for Universal Education at Brookings/February 2021
Today community schools represent up to 8 percent of all the country’s schools. Following the pathbreaking examples of Cincinnati, Florida, Kentucky, New York City, and Oakland, additional cities and states are just beginning to adopt community schools as a preferred reform strategy to promote whole child well-being, student success, and educational equity..
Case studies indicate that where school districts and communities co-create and jointly develop the vision, design, and implementation of community schools, student outcomes improve and the
strategy is more sustainable. In the 18 years since its inception, the Cincinnati Community Learning Centers initiative—which now involves all 65 Cincinnati Public Schools—has continually convened neighborhood-based consultations with families and other residents in order to root its school-change efforts in the community’s strengths and unmet needs. Through a board policy, Cincinnati also established Local School Decision Making Committees (LSDMCs) that include families and community members and that have authority over a wide range of decisions, including budgeting,
hiring, and partner selection. The slow, steady growth of the Community Learning Center strategy and the continued community commitment have led to demonstrable results… By engaging in extensive
community organizing, planning processes, and collaborative leadership, a next generation of community school leaders and districts can connect top-down (“treetops”) with bottom-up (“grass-roots”) reform, build community strength and resilience, and ensure that the design and implementation of their community schools reflects the vision, needs, and interests of students and families.