“How can the Oakland Fund for Children & Youth (OFCY) best help young people succeed in school; graduate from high school; and not be engaged in violence, crime, and gang-involvement?”
(while staying within its financial capacity and building on the strengths and results of its
After-School Initiative)
The Oakland Community After-School Alliance (OCASA) believes that when schools are accountable for effective classroom instruction, maintaining safe and clean learning environments, and fostering the healthy development of the whole child, more young people will succeed in school; graduate from high school; and be free from a life of violence, crime, and gang-involvement.
OCASA recommends the development of a citywide “Community Schools Initiative” as a core strategy to achieve these outcomes. Building on the existing after-school infrastructure ensure that a Community School:
1) values, engages, and supports parents and students as strategic partners in school improvement;
2) opens its facilities to provide young people high-quality out-of-school time learning; and
3) facilitates the delivery of integrated family support services to help young people be safe and healthy.
A Community School engages parents, students, teachers, principals, services-providers, and community organizations to work together to transform relationships and resources in favor of serving the interests of young people.
A Community School is a public school that integrates the best educational practices with a wide range of vital in-house health and social services to ensure that children are physically, emotionally and socially prepared to learn. Community schools also strengthen families and communities so they are better able to support student success… A Community School is both a place and a set of partnerships between the school, a lead agency, and other community resources.
In an ideal community school:
- Before- and after-school programs build on classroom experiences and help students expand their horizons, contribute to their communities and have fun.
- Family support centers strengthen parent involvement, parent education and leadership development, and provide crisis assistance, child care and housing assistance;
- Medical, dental and mental health services are readily available
- Parents and community residents participate in adult education and job training programs.
- The school sees community as a resource for its curriculum, engages students in active learning and service, and helps them become problem solvers in their communities.
- The community uses the schools as a center for community problem solving.
- Volunteers support young people’s academic, interpersonal and career
–From “Overview: Healthy Start and the Community School Approach,”
By Hatchuel Tabernik & Associates
Build on the Existing Afterschool Infrastructure
After-school is an essential bridge between in- and out-of-school time activities. Assuming a strong relationship with the parent and school community, after-school providers should be well situated to serve as a crucial catalyst for community schools. After-school providers’ expertise in developing the whole child and connecting schools with community and families can play a major role in bridging the inside school and outside school components of a child’s life. After-school is in a central position with students at the interface of in-school academics, academic support, enrichment, parents, behavioral health, health education and preventive health, etc. By taking a holistic approach, after-school programs have supported children to become more engaged in school, more motivated, and to plan for a positive future. After-school programs can play an important role in promoting the community school agenda and supporting such efforts on the ground at school sites and with district and community service providers.
OFCY should focus its support of community schools on integrating existing in- and out-of-school time activities at the school site. Prior OFCY investments in after-school, OUSD’s focus on complementary learning, and California’s Healthy Start program provides a foundation at the school site for building a community school. ASES and OFCY funding has built an infrastructure of after-school programming run by fulltime after-school coordinators at nearly all schools in the district. OUSD’s complementary learning program has identified community schools as their key strategy moving forward. By taking a thoughtful approach to integrated funding strategies, OFCY can play a catalytic role in the integration of existing programs that are currently operating in discrete silos at the school site – building on the foundation of its existing after-school programs.
Community Schools – the Foundational Building Blocks
Community schools address the needs of the whole child through four main elements:
1) Emphasizing Family and the Community Involvement
While schools take different approaches to integrating programs, community engagement (and student power at the high school level) plays a vital role in driving the collaboration between the school, providers and families. The integration of services shouldn’t simply serve the needs of professionals but rather the needs of the students and families they serve. Community schools fundamentally change how schools are engaged with their communities. Community schools:
- Strengthen families and communities so they are better able to support student success
- Bring parents, faculty, CBOs, public agencies and other partners together to achieve student academic success with mutual accountability for results
- Ensure that all stakeholders address challenges to student success and take mutual responsibility for achieving results
2) Accountability to Students, Families and Community
Community Schools typically operate into the evening hours so that they can provide services and supports for parents, families, and community – extended hours respond to the real needs and time constraints that families face and promote maximum accessibility. After-school providers are already expanding the time that schools are available to serve children, and these are the logical providers to further enhance this extended use of school facilities to serve the larger community. By linking with after-school and evening programs, specialized service providers, such as health clinics, counseling, dental services, adult education, employment and training, can reach a wider population of students, parents and community.
3) Integrated Services
Efforts to implement a community schools approach must focus on the integration of in-school and out-of-school time activities. Increasingly, a variety of services are based at school sites: after-school programs, farmers markets, academic supports, benefit enrollment, health clinics, counseling, and tax preparation and so on. However, the benefits of this co-location can only be fully realized when school principals and faculty are involved in collaborative formal planning to integrate programming at the school site. A fully-realized community school is more than a service or set of programs. It is an integrated system whereby all partners operate based on common goals and are purposefully working together as a team to achieve those goals.
4) The Five Conditions of Learning
The National Coalition for Community Schools has identified Five Conditions of Learning as the core principles of Community Schools. They are:
- The school has a core instructional program with qualified teachers, a challenging curriculum, and high standards and expectation for students
- Students are motivated and engaged in learning both in school and in community settings, during and after school.
- The basic physical, mental and emotional health needs of young people and their families are recognized and addressed.
- There is mutual respect and effective collaboration among parents, families and school staff.
- Community engagement – together with school efforts – promotes a school climate that is safe, supportive and respectful and connects students to a broader learning community.
There are many ways in which after-school programs enhance the ability of a school to achieve the five conditions of learning – for example, through academic support, connection to the in-school day, high expectations, support for emotional and physical needs, promoting respectful relationships between students, parents, families, and faculty, and supporting a positive school climate. Often after-school staff are uniquely positioned and qualified to promote these principles because their mandate has greater flexibility – focusing on enrichment, youth development, and parent relationships as well as academic outcomes.
Conclusion
The Community Schools approach in Chicago led to outcomes that map to OFCY’s desired outcomes.
Chicago Community Schools Outcomes
- Students in community schools demonstrated an improvement in grades and performance on standardized tests.
- They also showed improved performance across several other domains including quality of homework, class participation, and class behavior.
- In addition, they consistently demonstrated much lower numbers of serious disciplinary incidents compared to other schools with similar demographics.
-From “Chicago Public Schools: Community Schools Initiative”
OFCY Outcomes
- Children and youth succeed in school and graduate from high school
- Healthy development of young children
- Prevent and reduce violence, crime, and gang involvement among children and youth
- Youth transition to productive adulthood
- From OFCY Eligible Services- Section 1301.
OFCY should focus its support of community schools on integrating existing in- and out-of-school time activities at the school site. Most after-school providers are well situated to serve as the foundation and hub for a community school approach. Efforts to implement a Community Schools approach must focus on the integration of in-school and out-of-school time activities. Approaching community schools development as simply adding a new program will only result in a dilution of resources and the power of the community schools approach. Community engagement (and student power at the high school level) plays a vital role in driving the collaborative between the school, providers and families.