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    A message from Cora Watkins, Director Community Schools Initiative

    LA Unified Community Schools deliberately and collaboratively use a social justice theory of action to address the economic and social barriers that are the underlying cause of opportunity and achievement gaps so that all students can reach high levels of academic success in order to be ready to thrive in college, career, and life.

    The LA Unified Community Schools Initiative will improve student outcomes through addressing students’ academic, cognitive, physical, mental, and social-emotional needs. Needs of children and youth will be met by building a positive school climate and trusting relationships, along with providing rich and rigorous learning opportunities that prepare all students to be ready for the world. The question is, how do we identify the work that needs to be done? How do we identify the "right" supports?

    The starting point is the "ANA".  Each of our Community Schools has been engaged this entire year in a deep Assets and Needs Assessment (ANA) process.  The goal is to reach 75% to 100% of each school's interest-holder groups: students, parents, staff, faculty, and community partners, in order to go deep into discovering what is working well at the schools and what may need to work better. 
     
    How this gargantuan task is best accomplished is through school teams led by the Community Schools Coordinators.  The work of gathering this data is done through multiple means, including surveys, using existing data like the School Experience Survey(SES),1:1 empathy interviews, as well as taking into account street data, amongst other things.  The data compilation will lead, potentially, to more questions, but will also help the school community to identify priorities related to each of the four Community Schools Pillars: Integrated Student Supports, Collaborative Leadership and Practices, Expanded and Enhanced Learning Opportunities, and Active Family and Community Engagement. These priorities must then be looked at within the context of available resources.
     
    What sets Community Schools apart from "traditional schools" is the extent to which this ANA process should, can, and does influence budget development and resource allocation. When we get down to the nitty-gritty of "social justice," it simply means the fair and equitable distribution of all resources to those within the ecosystem. ANA is the best process by which we get to a socially just budget.
     
      - Cora
     
     
     

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    L.A. Unified Definition for Community Schools


    A community school addresses issues of structural poverty and racism by providing a learning environment where all children can learn and thrive. This includes an integrated wraparound education that transforms the school into a community center coordinated by a partnership between the school site, civic leaders, and community-based organizations with a shared purpose to accelerate student achievement, 100 percent graduation, college and career readiness. This approach evolves the school site into a hub for the community where families access health, socio-emotional, mental health, and enrichment support for students during and following normal school hours. All partners work in partnership building relational trust, building strong communities with restorative practices, offering quality engagement opportunities for families, and leading all efforts through shared ownership and responsibility.

    LAUSD Community Schools demonstrate the characteristics of the Community School’s evidence-informed, school improvement framework centering on four pillars, which together create the conditions necessary for students to thrive:

    1. Integrated Student Supports - Removing barriers to school success by connecting students and families to service providers or bringing holistic programs and services into the school to help families meet their basic needs so students can focus on learning.

    2. Expanded and Enriched Learning Time and Opportunities - Ensuring there are before- and after-school learning opportunities that augment traditional learning, including summer instruction, mentoring, and out-of-school learning experiences.

    3. Family and Community Engagement - Incorporating strategies that cultivate clear communication among all stakeholders and embracing community organizing for school and District improvement.

    4. Collaborative Leadership and Practice - Strengthening processes so stakeholders with different areas of expertise work together, share decisions and responsibilities, with mutual accountability toward a shared vision.

     

  • LAUSD Community Schools Initiative History

    In 2017, The Los Angeles Unified School District passed the board resolution Embracing Community Schools Strategies in Los Angeles Unified School District, which established a Community Schools Implementation Team (CSIT) comprised of business, education, community, and civic partners to develop a roadmap for the implementation of a community school program in the District. As part of that effort, L.A. Unified and UTLA, as signing partners in the L.A. Compact, brought forward a recommendation to the Stewardship Group to endorse community schools as a priority strategy for the collective impact initiative. L.A. Compact Stewardship Group members—which includes representatives from L.A. City and County government, First 5 LA, the LACCD and CSU systems, United Way, L.A. Unified, LACOE, and labor partners –provided feedback to the L.A. Unified Community Schools Implementation Team (CSIT) on their recommendations to support and expand community schools in Los Angeles.
    The CSIT’s belief that “every child is entitled to a quality public and district operated school in every neighborhood” and that a comprehensive community school model had great potential to advance shared goals that all students: 1) are healthy and ready to succeed in school; 2) graduate from high school; 3) complete postsecondary education; 4) acquire skills and knowledge for career success; and 5) thrive socially emotionally and contribute positively to the community. The group endorsed the following strategy as 1 of 8 priorities in 2019-2020:


    Expand a comprehensive model for prek-12 community schools and the coordination of wrap-around support services for students from early childhood through college countywide.

    As part of its new contract agreement with UTLA, L.A. Unified agreed to fund:

    • $150,000 per school for up to 20 schools selected in Cohort 1 (2019-20) to undergo a community school designation process
    • $150,000 per school for up to 10 additional schools (total of 30) to participate in Cohort 2 of the Community Schools pilot
    • $250,000 per school for Year 2 of selected Cohort 1 (2020-21) & Cohort 2 schools (2021-22)


    Additionally, the agreement outlined each organization’s ability to nominate 8 members to the initiative’s agreed upon steering committee and to jointly designate 2 co-chairs. LAUSD and UNITE-LA were identified as co-conveners of the CSSC. 

    With a planning grant ($10k) from the Stuart Foundation, the CSSC organized convenings, which grounded school teams in the history, principles, and successes of the community school model. The sessions also provided a framework for developing a strong needs and assets assessment with extensive community input. A key outcome from these convenings was the creation of a clear list of benchmarks, developed by the CSSC to guide school teams through the Community Schools designation process.
    A key lesson learned from these large convenings was that schools needed more regular and very targeted assistance to advance their efforts once they understood the basics of the Community School model. As a result, in Nov. 2019 the CSSC developed a new structure that included the establishment of subcommittees to help hone in the work and advance the initiatives efforts. The committees developed are:

    Community School Professional Learning Community (CSPLC): Led by one staff from LAUSD and one staff from UTLA, the CSPLC aims to support Community School Coordinators (CSC) and other stakeholders to successfully achieve the Community School designation benchmarks. L.A. Unified and UTLA convene the CSCs bi-monthly through centralized and regional workshops, assisting these leaders with information on general job duties, crisis response, trauma informed practices, and meeting community school benchmarks. Additionally, through one-on-one meetings the CSCs receive support in developing a more personalized school-based plan to ensure deep engagement of a broad base of stakeholders in the leadership team, comprehensive mapping, and preparation of the needs and assets assessment.

    The CSPLC leaders are also tasked with synthesizing and sharing the professional learning needs identified across the pilot schools with another advisory group, the Community School Assistance and Action Team (CSAAT).


    Community School Assistance and Action Team (CSAAT): Composed of CSSC members and other stakeholders with professional expertise in community schools, the CSAAT reviews learning needs that emerge through the CSPLC and helps address broader professional development needs that cannot be solved immediately by the CSPLC. The CSAAT assists in the development of training curriculum on identified needs that emerge from the CSPLC as well as mobilizing leadership to address administrative barriers or needs within the district. Examples could include partnership agreements with external organizations, budgeting and classification issues with the community schools coordinators, and ensuring cohesion between the Community School pilot and other district initiatives and priorities.

     

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