Community Schools

Making schools a community focus

Community schools represent a place-based school improvement strategy that partners schools with community agencies, families, and local government to provide an integrated focus on academics, health and social services, youth, family and community development, and community engagement.

As an evidence-based strategy for equitable school improvement, National Education Policy Center and Learning Policy Institute researchers identify four key features that we promote:

Integrated student supports
Expanded learning time opportunities
Family and community engagement
Collaborative leadership practices

Community schools engage their neighborhoods, and organize and align community resources to foster student success.

They ensure children get a quality education in a safe, nurturing, youth-development-focused environment. And they provide support services for youth, their families, and neighbors after school.

In fact, community schools are the hub of their neighborhoods, providing residents supports to succeed.

Better education starts with community engagement

While classroom-based reform is important, it cannot, on its own, solve educational challenges our country faces.

For kids to succeed, reforms must be paired with family and community engagement, as well as genuine efforts to improve a school’s climate for learning.

That’s what community schools do.

In this strategy, community services that students and their families may need are available through the school. The services can include:

Mental, dental, and basic health care
Extended-day learning activities
Tutoring and mentoring
College and career prep
Preschool learning
Adult education
Parent engagement programs

They bring community partners together to ensure students and families get the supports they need to help their children with learning, graduate from high school, and enter the world prepared for college and careers.

Community schools bring community partners together to ensure students and families get the supports they need.

Partners in the community school movement

IUPUI's program is one of four satellite, replication sites of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania. The work draws upon decades of campus/community schools engagement on the Indianapolis Near-Westside and Near-Eastside, including three U.S. Department of Education Full-Service Community Schools projects since 2008.

Since 2012, IUPUI has collaborated with area schools in developing community councils, and also facilitates the Indiana Community Schools Network of stakeholders statewide in sharing best practices, advocating for community schools, and promoting related policy interests.

We also help schools:

Implement Community Councils
Create agendas that support school community goals
Review relevant data
Identify student and family needs
Secure access to support within their neighborhoods to address identified needs