When people hear the words "community schools" they often think that the term simply refers to a "public school," but it means something much more than that.  It means partnership and teamwork among community residents, businesses, social service agencies and public entities, all working together to support their school, students, families, and community members.  

There are many definitions of this type of community engagement in schools.  Moreover, there is a wide range of terms that are used to describe community schools, such as "community education," "community-centered schools," and "full-service schools."  Sometimes schools are working closely with their community and implementing the community school model and are unaware that there is a term for this model of partnership.  The Federation for Community Schools believes that the underlying principles of community schools are what makes this model of educational successful, not the term applied to it. Here are the principles:

The ABCs of Community Schools --

      A = Align out of school time with class learning

      B = Bring communities, families and schools together

+    C = Coordinate resources for children and families

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Success for Students, Families, Schools and Communities 

THE COMMUNITY SCHOOL PARTHENON

The Federation for Community Schools, through its members work, input, and thought leadership, has identified the Community School Parthenon as the way to organize and depict community school work. Structured into community school programming pillars (academics, health, family, and community) and implementation foundation bricks (shared leadership, data-driven decision making, broader opportunities, leveraged resources, integrated learning, partnership, collaboration, and shared vision), the Parthenon provides a "road map" for community school transformation. Please click here to see the Parthenon and learn more about it.

For more information... 

Click here for a list of the community schools in Illinois.

Click here to hear Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on community schools.
 

Read the Federation's Press Release covering the Secretary's comments.