Answer to Stronger Schools? Community.
Community partnership models are many: collaboration, coordination, coalition, and co-location to name a few. Yet so so many fail to fully meet their mission. Below we share one of our big success stories and our 5 keys to success. Keys that have now been applied across many collaboratives.
The Problem:
We hear about it too often: high-poverty, low-graduation rates, behavior problems, changing demographics, failing schools. Under this mountain of issues, we found a glimmer of hope. Honestly, it was more of a firework.
It started with a spark and then snowballed. In 2008, Keith Lester, the Superintendent of Brooklyn Center Schools asked…
Two seemingly simple questions:
- How do families learn about resources before it’s too late?
- If schools are paid for by the community, how do we open our doors to welcome the community?
Keith had been reading about the full-service community schools model. Where schools and organizations work as one to improve communities. He realized that with the hundreds of organizations and leaders in the area committed to serving youth and families, we were swimming in possibilities. Problem was, these array of services were so difficult to navigate for professionals – not to mention individuals and families.
We sat down to consider the issues. Graduation rates were dismal, juvenile crime was up, locals were scared and confused by new immigrants. We knew there were dozens of organizations with solutions to many of these issues. We knew we had to better connect problems to solutions — and that’s how Brooklyn Center Community Schools was born. One by one we spoke with different organizations, government, businesses, and faith leaders. Special care was taken to gain feedback from students, teachers, parents, and community members.
In just a few months, we gained the trust of diverse stakeholders. When we were ready to formalize the effort, over 100 organizations and partners eagerly joined our full-service community schools initiative. We immediately started to see dramatic results. These spanned from academic, to health outcome, to community safety. Not all wins were by design, but as we experienced, when the tides rise, all boats rise.
Are you celebrating with us yet? Wondering how we did it? Here are 5 key elements:
1. Genuine Connections
We started with dozens of one-on-one meetings with different leaders, community members, and organizations. In each meeting we kept an open mind of what’s possible. Exploring shared visions to better serve children, families, and community. A whirlwind of needs, ideas, services, and resources were shared in these meetings. We formalized these insights into a formal report. This became our foundation. Tracking community needs, services available, and how different services connected (or didn’t connect) to one another. Starting here allowed us to build with virtually no new funding. We focused on working together to make all existing resource more accessible and effective.
2. Participatory Planning
We then had formal planning meetings with community members, potential partners, school staff, and students. Quickly we achieved consensus on a shared vision: improve youth outcomes through a trifecta of academics, enrichment, and wellness. The top four priorities identified were: coordinated services, a community clinic, a childcare center, and a recreation center.
3. Structured for Action and Agility
I’d like to tell you that we had a clear action plan before we started implementing. Thing is, Keith is that type of leader, visionary, that believe so much that things are going to happen that people become so motivated to jump in and help fast and furiously. That’s where I came in — a disciplined orchestrator — planning, tracking, connecting, contingency planning, and system building. A formal infrastructure of multiple committees each tackled a key goal. Then from each group we had one representative who served on the executive committee. Services were connected, facilities were built, and programs evolved.
4. Implementation and Oversight
Overseeing this massive project of over 100 partners and their staff (plus educators, students, families, funders, and the broader community) was quite the juggling act. I learned quickly Keith and I couldn’t do it alone. The key was to find strong partners, who we called “anchor partners” representing each of our priority areas. This shared leadership was especially important when the time came to make tough decisions or determining how to share and allocate resources. I was impressed that our partners consistently prioritized shared needs over their own agency agendas. Reflecting back, it’s because we were all truly committed to the shared missions, not just our own agency missions.
5. Putting into Policy
From day one, we wanted this to stick. First, we knew this was different, bigger — not just a program or strategy. Second, we didn’t want to compete with existing missions. Instead, we were looking for synergy. Strategically, we communicated at the district, state, and national levels. Keeping each informed of our progress. Asking for their general interest and support in our initiative. We passed policies at the school board level. Ensuring continuity of Community-Schools even when there was a change in leadership (we knew Keith would be retiring soon). The Department of Education shifted from being critical of us to upholding us as a model district. After many years, the State has allocated funds to support the development of more Community-Schools. We’re recognized nationally. The continued ripple effect nation-wide is another lasting win.
Bonus: When the Rubber Meets the Road
With the level of buy-in we had, building the initiative was relatively swift. In reality, one of our toughest hurdles came after the official launch. Training direct service staff and teachers to have a more holistic mindset. The initiative was based on a holistic, wrap-around support model. This impacted program referrals, unconventional partnerships, sharing facilities and events scheduling, data-sharing across agencies, and coordinated evaluation/reporting. We overcame as we went but upon reflection it’s the 5 keys listed above that kept us on track.
What we did is sustainable and replicable. The good news is you can do it too. It does require the right people with the right mind set. It doesn’t require an influx of new funding at the get-go. Depending on your mission, it’s up to you define your who, but we’ll leave you with the how. Full-Service Community Schools Resources is a long-standing player and resource for education reform through community partnerships. Comment below if you know of more community partnership examples, resources, or tips!
Post-note:
It has been almost 10 years since Keith and I launched Community Schools. We have both moved onto new ventures, but there is nothing more fulfilling than seeing the foundation we built continue to thrive. Graduation rates have improved dramatically, high school behavioral incidents have been cut in half, and the once struggling after school program now has 80% of students in the district participating. The Police Chief attributed a decrease in juvenile crime to the after school programs that were developed.
In a recent tour, the district has undergone strategic building remodels to increase student safety and formalize rooms for community-schools programming. It is no longer an initiative of the school district. It is a core part of the districts identity.
