Washington, D.C. - October 3, 2014
On Monday, October 6, over thirty Congressional and executive branch staff along with Coalition national partners will spend a day in Baltimore, MD learning about the city’s community schools initiative. Participants represent members of Congress on the House and Senate education and appropriations committees as well as four federal agencies (Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Justice). The study tour is co-hosted by the Coalition for Community Schools, Family League of Baltimore, Baltimore City Public Schools, and Elev8 Baltimore.
On the tour participants will deepen their understanding of community schools’ impact on students, families and communities, and better understand how federal policy and funding can support community school efforts. The community school strategy brings together leaders from many sectors to work toward student success, and participants will see this cross-boundary leadership in Baltimore. A thirty-plus member steering committee in Baltimore comprised of stakeholders from the public schools, community based organizations and city and state agencies comes together to ensure high-quality implementation and strong system-wide collaboration. Participants will also learn how Baltimore is working to scale up its 47 community schools while ensuring high-quality implementation at each site.
Community schools leverage the assets of the community to build strong school-community partnerships to benefit students, families, and their communities. Participants will hear from many community school partners on how they contribute to student success: Baltimore Medical Systems, Real Food Farms and Holistic Life will speak about their health, wellness and nutrition services; Patterson for Peace will discuss their efforts around nonviolence and a more peaceful school climate and neighborhood; and YMCA and other out-of-school time programs will share how they enrich students’ learning experiences beyond the school day. Finally, participants will learn how school construction and modernization provides the opportunity to design schools as community hubs as Baltimore City Public Schools is planning with its first phase of 21stCentury schools.
We have been pleased to see a continued investment in community schools in the 113th Congress, through the reintroduction of our three key bills (the bipartisan Full Service Community Schools Act, HR 5168; DIPLOMA Act, S. 2894/HR. 2237; and
Supporting Community Schools Act, S. 844/HR. 3873) and $10 million in the FY 2014 omnibus bill for the Full Service Community Schools program. We trust that this study tour will further highlight community schools as a powerful vehicle for educational equity and a strategy that brings school, family and community together for student success.
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About the Coalition for Community Schools
The Coalition for Community Schools, housed at the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL), is an alliance of national, state and local organizations in education K–16, youth development, community planning and development, higher education, family support, health and human services, government, and philanthropy as well as national, state, and local community school networks. The Coalition advocates for community schools as a strategy to leverage local resources and programs, changing the look and feel of the traditional school structure to best meet the needs of children and families in the 21st century.
About the Institute for Educational Leadership
For a half-century, the Institute for Educational Leadershiphas championed the need for leaders at all levels to shake off their institutional constraints and work across boundaries to address the needs of young people and their families. The work of IEL focuses on three pillars required for young people and their communities to succeed: Involving the broader community with public education to support the learning and development of young people; building more effective pathways into the workforce for all young people and supporting the transition to adulthood; and preparing generations of leaders with the know-how to drive collaborative efforts at all levels.
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