What are the benefits of a
CLC for different groups of
stakeholders?
Who are Stakeholders?
• Students themselves, as well as their families and
teachers.
• Other school staff, community business owners,
police, faith-based institutions, universities and
colleges, local health departments, health and
mental health service providers, dentists,
emergency medical services, educators of first-aid,
departments of health, justice, education and
social services, and other agencies that serve
families have stakes in the well-being of the
student population and school staff.
Student Benefits
• Research in Quebec: improvement in student literacy,
participation & motivation in schools, self confidence, social
skills, artistic and sports-related talents and academic
competencies.
• Research in US: Parent involvement linked to higher student
test scores & graduation rates; increased attendance,
motivation and self-esteem; lower suspension rates and drug
and alcohol use; decreased instances of violent behaviour;
and greater enrolment in post-secondary education.
Parent Benefits
• Parent communication and relations with
students and teachers improves.
• Improvement in parent attitude toward school
personnel.
• Parents can improve their own self-esteem and
levels of education through participation in their
children’s schools.
• Increase communication with teachers to better
communicate and provide community support.
Community Benefits
• Community agencies and organizations that
provide services to children and families often
gain a more visible profile when they become
partners with schools.
– Community is stronger – improved safety and connections
among people.
Reciprocal Benefits
• Schools have stronger staff and parent
relationships, improved school climate and
greater community support
• Businesses, the justice system, community
health and safety systems, and others may
benefit from a healthier population.
Our Synthesis of Community
Schools
Community Learning Center Coordinators
By The MAG 7:
Kim, Sue, Phylicia, Valencia, Christian,
Anthony & Clair
What are the principal characteristics
of a CLC?
• It allows for ALL children regardless of their
economic, racial or family circumstances to be
exposed and have access to an array of
opportunities that more well off families provide
to their children.
• It allows schools to re-engage the broader public.
• It helps young people learn, stay in school and
prepare for life.
What are the benefits?
• Expanded learning opportunities for students,
parents and community as a whole.
• ….
What are the services in a Community
Learning Center?
• Adult education and workforce preparation
• Community-based learning (service, civic,
experiential)
• Community building
• Comprehensive services: health, mental health,
prevention services and family support
• Early child development
• Family and community engagement
• Increased learning time (after school, enriched
learning opportunities)
What are key factors that make a
community school strategy successful?
• Stable leadership and long-term financing methods are
vital to sustaining and expanding preschool-community
initiatives.
• Diversified funding, careful site selection, visibility and
organized constituent support are also important.
• Ensuring guiding principles and transforming schools,
their partner institutions and neighborhoods.
• Successful expansion requires clear goals, good timing
and sufficient funding and support to maintain
essential program features during periods of rapid
growth.
What are key factors that make a
community school strategy successful?
• Community schools are designed to do a better job for
children and families by using existing resources as
efficiently and effectively as possible.
• Source: Learning Together: The Developing Field of
School-Community Initiatives by Atelia Melaville.
• For additional information on the role of Community
Leadership see, Growing Community Schools: The Role
of Cross-Boundary Leadership. This resource highlights
community schools work in 11 places.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
• "We tend to put considerations of family, community,
and economy off-limits in education-reform policy
discussions. However, we do so at our peril. The
seriousness of our purpose requires that we learn to
rub our bellies and pat our heads at the same time." –
Paul Barton, Facing the Hard Facts in Education Reform.
• “The goal is open minds, not closed issues”
• “It takes an entire village to raise a child”
CLC’s
By: Gina, Pervana and Cynthia
What is a Community School?
A community school is both a place and a set of
partnerships between the school and other
community resources. Its integrated focus on
academics, health and social services, youth and
community development and community
engagement leads to improved student learning,
stronger families and healthier communities.
Schools become centers of the community and
are open to everyone – all day, every day,
evenings and weekends.
Using public schools as hubs, community schools
bring together many partners to offer a range of
supports and opportunities to children, youth,
families and communities. Partners work to
achieve these results:
What is a Community School?
Children are ready to learn when they enter
school and every day thereafter. All students learn
and achieve to high standards.
Young people are well prepared for adult roles in
the workplace, as parents and as citizens.
Families and neighborhoods are safe, supportive
and engaged.
Parents and community members are involved
with the school and their own life-long learning.
Benefits of a CLC to Stakeholders
Benefits of CLC to Stakeholders
• Research has shown that the relationship
between parents and teachers can improve both
children’s behavior and their academic
achievement. When parents actively participate
in their child’s school and interact with their
child’s teacher, they gain a greater understanding
of the expectations that schools have for students
and learn how they can enhance their own child’s
learning at home, according to a study of 1,200
New England urban students.3
Benefits of CLC to Stakeholders
% families reporting positive interactions with the school
• Families feel more capable of contributing to their child’s
education when his/her school makes efforts to build
cooperative, respectful relationship between the school’s staff
and families. Studies show that when the school frequently
communicates with parents and offers them meaningful
opportunities to be involved, parents feel more connected to
their child’s school. In one such study, each of nine middle
schools showed that a school’s sense of community is
strengthened when a principal acts as an effective leader and
when teachers communicate effectively with parents about
their students’ progress.4
Benefits of CLC to Stakeholders
% teachers reporting positive interaction with
families
• Student success also relies on the positive
interaction of teachers with students’ families. A
study by Larueau showed that teachers tend to
have higher expectations of students whose
parents are more involved in schools; the same
study also found that children whose parents are
more involved tend to earn higher test scores.5
Benefits 1
• Collaborating with the community leads to the
development of partnerships with selected community
organizations and agencies. These partnerships
promote the sharing of information and resources that
are helpful to students and families. Community
groups, cultural organizations, volunteer organizations,
businesses, senior groups, and religious organizations
can provide cultural, recreational, and extracurricular
opportunities so that children's lives are enriched.
• A broad base of community involvement contributes to
awareness and support for the activities and learning
taking place in the school.
Benefits 1
• The success of the action team's efforts to develop familyinvolvement strategies is a barometer of whether the
school climate welcomes parent participation in other
decision-making roles. For example, the school can
encourage families and community members to participate
in decision-making activities through representation on
various committees or local school councils. Families and
community members can share ideas and help make
decisions on school policies related to the budget, teacher
and principal hiring, schoolwide plans, and parent
involvement activities.
• Parent and community involvement in school-based
governance makes the school more accountable to the
community.
Benefits 2
• "This vision of school improvement compels us to create a new
conception of the appropriate relationship between the school and
its community, parents, and families. Pedagogically, as we have
come to know the importance of rooting learning in children's real
lives, we can no longer tolerate the artificial boundaries between
the classroom and the home. Politically, as we move the authority
for decision making down to those closest to children, we cannot
afford to exclude parents and community members from the
process of crafting new schools. Nor can we avoid being held more
directly accountable to the immediate community constituency for
decisions made at the school site. Practically, schools have no
chance of enacting the fundamental changes on the reform agenda
in the absence of whole-hearted support from the entire
community--parents, citizens, and business.”
Benefits 2
• By taking a collaborative approach to the development of a
family-involvement program, schools can form successful
partnerships with families and community groups to
improve the educational achievement of all students. The
synergy resulting from such partnerships creates greater
benefits than each group working individually.
• With frequent interactions between school, families, and
communities, more students are more likely to receive
common messages from various people about the
importance of school, of working hard, of thinking
creatively, of helping one another, and of staying in school.
• As a result, school-family-community partnerships enable
students and families to produce their own successes.
Services Provided
• Community partnerships also can help schools address
family concerns. Because growing numbers of children
come from households in which all the adults are employed
outside the home, families may be looking to schools for
assistance with child-care needs.
• Community organizations can provide child care, afterschool programs, assistance with homework, and parenting
education programs. Often the living conditions of families
are so severe that they must be addressed before parents
have the time or energy to devote to school concerns.
• Partnerships with community agencies can make health
and social services, such as medical care and counseling,
available to students and families through the school.
Services
Key Factors that Facilitate Success
• Developing a vital capacity to organize and
leverage resources to achieve shared goals on
behalf of their clients—students, families and
communities.
• CLC’s are bringing together public and private
resources to meet the needs of the whole
child. Through partnerships, hundreds of
community schools are aligning and integrating
strategies to support students, strengthen
schools, engage families and help build entire
communities where learning can happen.
The Best Powerpoint about CLCs Ever
Made
By Nancy, Sabrina and Natasha 
Why the Success of a CLC?
• CLCs offer an integrated focus on academics, health and social
services, youth and community development and community
engagement leads to improved student learning, stronger families
and healthier communities. Schools become centers of the
community and are open to everyone – all day, every day, evenings
and weekends.
• Students become more engaged in their schools and community.
• Parents are better able to support their children’s activities while
maintaining their schedule. Parents also have the opportunity to
become involved in myriad of activities that promote educational
and healthy initiatives.
• Increased interest in learning (both academic and life-long.)
What can you “C” at a CLC?
• Adult education
• After school activities
• Community
development
• Community
engagement
• Early childhood
services
•
•
•
•
•
Family involvement
Family support
Mental Health
Physical Health
Youth Development
CLC Testimonials
• Through their community partnerships and public
services, CLCs can address the needs of their
families in ways that traditional schools can not,
to ensure that students are prepared to perform
to their full potential.
“My son never used to want to go to school, but
now that he has karate class to look forward to,
he begs me to get to school faster. I’ve seen a
real improvement in his whole attitude.” – Mary,
mother of 5th grader
CLC Testimonials
• A 2002 article in the American School Board
Journal linked school vandalism to
estrangement between students and their
schools.
• “After our CLC developed the school’s Murale
Project, vandalism and graffiti decreased by
90%.” -Principal
Credit: Coalition for Community Schools
Community Schools
Characteristics:
A community school is both a place and a set of partnerships between
the school and other community resources
Benefits:
Children are ready to learn when they enter school and every day
thereafter. All students learn and achieve to high standards.
Young people are well prepared for adult roles in the workplace, as
parents and as citizens.
Families and neighborhoods are safe, supportive and engaged.
Parents and community members are involved with the school and their
own life-long learning
• Services:
Community Schools or Learning Centers all vary in
their approach in enhancing the community in
which they operate. Services can range from
health and social awareness, to providing after
school programs (perhaps tutoring, or sports).
There is no ‘specific’ model for these centers.
They all operate differently with whatever
resources they have available. Look at the
following examples:
Chicago
• Minimum of 12 hours of after school activities
and usually run from 5pm-6pm. These activities
focus around parent programming and health
and social services
• Counteract the effects of a range of negative
factors that contribute to students’ lack of
opportunities and underachievement.
• Summer school activities to help reduce the
drop-out rate of urban youth and reduce the
phenomenon known as ‘summer learning loss’
Achievement Plus Schools, St-Paul
Minnesota
• It is a public-private initiative that involves
three schools in the region which are all
located in the poorest region of St-Paul
• Achievement Plus applies a three-prong
approach: rigorous academics, afterschool
learning opportunities, and “learning
supports,” or non-academic services
Children’s Aid Society Community
Schools, New York
• Each full-service CAS community school partnership includes a core
instructional program,
• afterschool learning opportunities that are integrated with the
school-day curriculum,
• Saturday and summer programs, health and mental health services,
adult education,
• and community events. The CAS Bronx Family Center provides
students in the area
• with preventative and acute health care, dental services, and onsite
family counseling and
• therapy. CAS also brings community members into the school by
hosting large communitywide
• events such as the Dominican Heritage Celebration in Washington
Heights.
Key Factors in making YOUR CLC
awesome!
• Have an awesome coordinator. If you do have an
awesome coordinator, fire the one you have, and hire a
more awesome one.
• Partner with local organizations whose mandate it is to
offer services to the community and it’s populace.
Bribe them if need be.
• Judging by my awesome research, the coordinators of
these centers/schools have great support from the
Principals and the community organizations and from
the different levels of governments. Often, other
organizations will join in after programs have begun as
to not feel left out and sad.
Key Factors will inhibit YOUR CLC’s
success
• Not having an awesome coordinator
• Apprehension and fear of change (or spiders)
from staff members and members of
community organizations.
• Money. Creative ways of offering services
must be thought of (by your awesome
coordinator)
What are the “Key Factors” that
facilitate success?
Stable leadership and long-term financing methods are vital to
sustaining and expanding preschool-community initiatives.
Diversified funding, careful site selection, visibility and organized
constituent support are also important.
"Going to Scale" depends not only on increasing the number of
sites but also on ensuring that the initiative’s guiding principles
penetrate and transform schools, their partner institutions and
neighbourhoods.
Successful expansion requires clear goals, good timing and
sufficient funding and support to maintain essential program
features during periods of rapid growth.
“Key Factors”
•
•
•
•
•
Foster strong partnerships -- Partners share their resources and expertise
and work together to design community schools and make them work.
Share accountability for results -- Clear, mutually agreed-upon results
drive the work of community schools. Data helps partners measure
progress toward results. Agreements enable them to hold each other
accountable and move beyond "turf battles”.
Set high expectations for all -- Community schools are organized to
support learning. Children, youth and adults are expected to learn at high
standards and be contributing members of their community.
Build on the community's strengths -- Community schools marshal the
assets of the entire community -- including the people who live and work
there, local organizations, and the school.
Embrace diversity -- Community schools know their communities. They
work to develop respect and a strong, positive identity for people of
diverse backgrounds and are committed to the welfare of the whole
community.
What kinds of services do CLC’s
provide?
•
•
•
•
•
Quality education - High-caliber curriculum and instruction enable all children to
meet challenging academic standards. The school uses all of the community's
assets as resources for learning and involves students in contributing to the
solution of community problems.
Youth development - Young people develop their assets and talents, form positive
relationships with peers and adults, and serve as resources to their communities.
Family support - Family resource centers, early childhood development programs,
coordinated health, mental health and social services, counseling, and other
supports enhance family life by building upon individuals' strengths and skills.
Family and community engagement - Family members and other residents
actively participate in designing, supporting, monitoring and advocating quality
programs and activities in the school and community.
Community development - All participants focus on strengthening the local
leadership, social networks, economic viability and physical infrastructure of the
surrounding community.
…SERVICES
The array of specific services that individual community schools offer
varies extensively depending on the local environment and their
needs. Some of the following services are provided by community
schools;
•After School
•Community Development
•Community Engagement
•Early Childhood Services
•Family Involvement
•Family Support
•Mental Health
•Physical Health
•Youth Development
•Adult Education
Community Schools
What are the key factors that inhibit
success?
What Not to Do!
• Don’t assume you know everything your
school needs just when you walk in.
• Don’t try to be the super coordinator. You
can’t do everything alone.
• Don’t duplicate pre-existing services thinking
yours will be more effective.
• Don’t take all the credit. There is a whole
community behind you.
• Don’t try to start off with a bang. You will be
more successful by taking small steps and
developing slowly.
• Being too vague in your goals are, will not
allow you to receive tangible results.
• Don’t fight the system. Find ways to work
around any perceived obstacles.
What are the principal
characteristics of a CLC?
COMMUNITY
SCHOOL
PARTNERSHIP
FAMILY
CHARACTERISTICS OF A CLC
• Community Learning Centres are partnerships that
provide a range of services and activities.
• The activities offered often go beyond the school day.
• Community Learning Centres help meet the needs of
learners, their families, and the wider community.
• Their aim is to support the holistic development of
citizens and communities.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A CLC
• Community Learning Centres integrate learners, their
families, and the wider community.
• CLC’s need safe and supportive conditions (school
board, partners, MELS, community, families, students,
etc).
• Set of partnerships between the school and other
community resources.
• Long term sustainability.
• Develop partnerships with community groups to serve
student, school and community needs.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A CLC
• Collaborates with the quality of life of students
and their families.
• Leads to the improvement of students learning,
stronger families and healthier communities.
• Schools become centers of the community and
are open to everyone – all day, every day,
evenings and weekends.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A CLC
• Using public schools as hubs, CLC’s bring together
many partners to offer a range of supports and
opportunities to children, youth, families and
communities.
• A CLC makes families and neighborhoods feel safe,
supportive and engaged.
• In a CLC, parents and community members are
involved with the school and their own life-long
learning