Educator inspired. Asset focused. Outcome driven.
The community school model is built upon a single profound truth: students cannot reach their full potential until their fundamental needs are met.
To meet those needs, community schools place a full-time community school director within the school building to work shoulder-to-shoulder with a team of principals, teachers, parents, and community members. Together, they identify the unique obstacles faced by their students and forge partnerships with community-based organizations to help overcome those obstacles.
The result is that the school becomes a community hub—a welcoming place where problems are solved and barriers to learning are eliminated so teachers can do what they do best: teach.
Our proven approach builds upon the community school model, elevating the role of the Community School Director and Advisory Board. It goes beyond the traditional focus on nutrition and health, providing services and supports across six pillars, including educator support and parent engagement. It embraces community wisdom and strength, and it strives to create long-term change that outlives our team’s involvement.
How We are Different
We know public schools.
Established by one of the nation’s largest teachers unions—the United Federation of Teachers—we know teachers, we know schools, we know education, and we know how to put it all together to work for students. This is why our program is enthusiastically supported by teachers, who are at the heart of our successful approach to improving education.
We embrace the community and its wisdom.
Our schools carefully assess their own challenges and strengths in order to deliver supports and services targeted to their own unique assets and needs. Collaborative teams comprised of staff, parents, and community partners determine programming and even have the final say in the Community School Director selection process.
We build capacity.
Our goal is to give schools and communities the tools to succeed on their own for years to come. Therefore, we deliver high-quality, customized professional learning not only to our Community School Directors, but also to the members of our school-based Advisory Boards and the educators in our schools.
Our Pillars of Support
Our supports and services are organized around six programmatic areas.