Community Schools Resources

Community Schools are focused on providing wrap-around services to students through school-community partnerships, and may include some services that may or may not be provided by traditional afterschool programs. The following resources are potentially helpful for planning and implementing Community Schools that include these valuable services.

Information on Community Schools

• The Children’s Aid Society’s National Center for Community Schools are the leading national experts on community schools and offer many valuable resources, including this thorough planning guide on creating a community school.

• The Coalition for Community Schools Blog provides many useful program examples and ideas for Community Schools.

• Scaling Up School and Community Partnerships by the Coalition for Community Schools is a helpful resources for anyone submitting linked applications for multiple Community Schools sites.

Resources on Wrap-Around Services

• Our guidebook on school-community partnerships includes a process for creating an effective school-community partnership and will have applicable resources for planning a community schools model as well as expanded learning time. Moreover, most community schools incorporate additional learning time in addition to other services and partnerships, so the time components will be relevant to many applications.

• The NYS Department of Labor’s CareerZone system can help bridge youth’s academics and afterschool activities to postsecondary education and career opportunities. Network for Youth Success partnered with the NYS Department of Labor to host a webinar on this tool recently, and a recording of the webinar can be accessed through the following steps:
  • Using Google Chrome, go to https://dews.webex.com
  • From the left side of the menu, select “Recorded Sessions”
  • Scroll to the webinar titled “CareerZone Training for NYSAN” and select the title
  • Click the “View” button and enter “career” in the Recording Password field, then select the OK button and the webinar will begin.

• Network for Youth Success and Hunger Solutions New York published a frequently asked questions document on the At-Risk Afterschool Snack and Supper Program, What Afterschool Programs Need to Know About… The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP): The At-Risk Afterschool Snack and Supper Program, which may be helpful in meeting expectations that applicants will leverage other funding sources such as this.

• For questions about School-Based Health Centers, contact Margee Rogers at the New York State Coalition for School Based Health Centers.

• The NYC Department of Education page on School-Based Health Centers has a lot of information on creating school-based health centers, and can be helpful for those creating centers in the rest of the state as well as in New York City.

• A new report by the Citizen’s Committee for Children of New York’s (CCC), A Prescription for Expanding Mental Health Services in New York City Public Elementary Schools, was just released on August 15th. Although New York City focused, it may be of use to anyone in the state looking to better understanding some of the financial and logistical issues to be considered around incorporating or expanding mental health services.

• The heart of the community schools model is a multi-service approach to meet the many needs of youth, families, and the community through the school. The Cradle to Career Alliance has expertise in coordinating services and systems-building across multiple systems in a neighborhood or community and is a point of connection for existing New York collective impact projects as well as national resources.

• The Literacy Zone is a reform initiative to close the achievement gap in urban and rural communities of concentrated poverty and high concentrations of families and individuals with limited literacy or English language proficiency. Literacy Zones provide a systemic approach to meeting the literacy needs of these communities, from birth through adult. Find the most recent Literacy Zone grantees here. They may be potential partners around literacy and family engagement.