Dive Brief:
- The New York City Department of Education identified 94 “renewal” schools in 2014, chosen from the city’s lowest achievers, and required their improvement efforts be done in concert with community partners.
- In a lengthy analysis of the program and its outcomes, The Hechinger Report writes these renewal schools have gotten a significant infusion of cash to lengthen the school day and provide wraparound services at the core of the community schools model, but management and implementation have crippled the possibilities of success for some schools.
- New principals were named at the last minute and only belatedly connected with community partners, wraparound services didn’t start until months into the school year, and a confusing chain of command meant schools were getting mixed signals from district departments, all making supporters of the model worry it will be blamed for the rollout problems caused by the school district.
Dive Insight:
The community schools model has been identified as a powerful way to overcome all of the barriers that concentrated poverty presents for educational attainment. Schools operating under this model exist all across the country, sometimes with extra cash from their districts to make it work and sometimes not. Either way, committing to a community schools model can mean making sacrifices with other budget priorities.
In New York City, for example, the Riverdale Avenue Community School, invests in a partnership with social service agency Partnership With Children, which offers mental health services to students and professional training for staff members. It also coordinates a range of external supports for families. This expense limits the school’s ability to offer a comprehensive after-school program or have a computer lab, but the principal and school staff continue to think that tradeoff is worth it.