Dive Brief:
- Hayward Unified School District in Oakland, CA, is utilizing a holistic “community schools” approach that encompasses providing health and social services to students and families.
- The Coalition for Community Schools says that 5,000 such schools already serve 2 million students in the U.S. and that the concept is spreading quickly in California.
- Key to implementation is the fact that districts have added flexibility with their resources under the Local Control Funding Formula, reports Ed Source, meaning they have more control over the reform conversation and can more easily form necessary partnerships with local government and nonprofits.
Dive Insight:
Community schools that serve low-income students are a growing trend, and successful implementation is happening in states outside of California. In Rochester, NY, a “Beacon” school also offers social services on top of education, coordinating services to students and community members alike that include free healthcare and meals. These “wraparound” services mean that the school becomes a central hub for the community, and therefore community schools require more funding that their traditional counterparts.
That’s why collaboration is key. Without support from nonprofits and local governments, community school ventures could potentially become too expensive to operate.
“District leaders said that despite the support of a wide network of community and government organizations, they do not have enough funding to fully implement their vision,” Ed Source reports, which is why the the district “plans to create full-service community schools in its highest-poverty neighborhoods, offer key services in all schools, and turn a former elementary school into a central hub that will provide a full range of services.”
Another version of this approach is The Primary School, a new charter launched by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan. The venture blends healthcare and education, also adopting a holistic approach similar to that of community schools.