Community Schools

Ferrara and Jacobson go inside community schools across the country to explore the different roles that make this collaborative education reform work. This book provides practitioners, policymakers, family members, youth, and local leaders a greater understanding of the different roles that make up a community school and tools for action. Built on years of practice, research, and continuous improvement, community schools are an innovative, effective, and grassroots strategy for bringing schools and communities together in order to improve outcomes for students, families, and communities. This education reform is growing as school site, local, and state leaders seek collaborative solutions to our schools’ most persistent challenges. The contributors, experts in the field, represent a diverse group of people with longstanding commitments to the community school strategy. From principals to family members, from community partners to teachers, this book illustrates how together, we all have a part to play in the development of successful community schools.

Dedication

Foreword: Dr. Jeannie Oakes, Presidential Professor of Education Equity Emeritus, UCLA, and Senior Fellow in Residence, Learning Policy Institute

Acknowledgements

Introduction

JoAnne Ferrara and Reuben Jacobson

1. The Community Schools Movement: Emergence and Growth Trends

Reuben Jacobson

2. The Imagineers of Community School Leadership

Lynda Tredway, Institute for Educational Leadership, Matthew Militello, East Carolina University

3. Community School Teacher Leaders Enhance Learning

Ellen Pais, Sarah Hurst, Deborah Lowe, Jessica Wadle, Jennifer Carey Rosenbaum, Los Angeles Education Partnership, HAAT

4. Re-imagining Teacher Preparation: The Role of Community Schools

JoAnne Ferrara and Diane Gomez, Manhattanville College

5. The Community School Coordinator: Connecting Hearts and Mission

Lissette Gomez, Children’s Aid Society

6. Transformative Family Engagement in Community Schools

Megan Hester, New York University Metro Center,

Natasha Capers, NYC Coalition for Educational Justice

7. The Voices for Equity: Youth Leadership in Oakland Community Schools

Kendra Fehrer and Aurora Lopez, Stanford University, Oakland Unified School District

8. Community School Partnerships and Continuous Improvement

Adeline Ray and Carl Enger, Chicago Public Schools

9. The Role of the School District

Alison McArthur, Tony Majors, and Kelly Noser, Metro Nashville Public Schools