First 45 Community Schools paired with partners

December 1, 2014 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Carmen Fariña, AP photo

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New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña and Deputy Mayor Richard Buery on Monday announced that the first 45 Community Schools launched under the de Blasio administration have been matched with 25 local community-based organizations and are approved to provide a slate of new services to help students develop and learn.

Several of the Community Schools are located in Brooklyn, including I.S. 096 Seth Low, Brooklyn Generation School, East Brooklyn Community High School, Brooklyn Gardens Elementary School, Brooklyn Lab School and P.S. 158 Warwick.

Under the $52 million four-year Attendance Improvement and Dropout Intervention (AIDP) grant administered in partnership with the United Way of New York, New York City will launch more community schools than any other city in the nation. Community Schools are a pillar of Mayor de Blasio’s and Chancellor Fariña’s education agenda, supporting social, emotional, physical and academic needs of students to support learning. The AIDP-funded community schools will include a specific focus on chronic absenteeism and drop-out prevention.

The research-based Community School model creates partnerships between schools and experienced community partners to provide social services, counseling and mental health support, targeted academic interventions, and to engage entire families and communities as part of a holistic approach toward elevating educational outcomes.

Each of the 45 community schools has been matched to a community-based organization and a full-time in-school Community School coordinator. The Community School coordinator’s role is to customize and organize the delivery of supports to students such as mentors, mental health professionals, academically enrichment services during and after the school day, optometrists and dental services, as needed.

“For our students to succeed they must be in school learning, and within the community school model, the whole needs of students are addressed,” Fariña said. “Not only can there be an eye clinic or additional guidance counselors to address the social and emotional needs of our students, but parent involvement and engagement happens every single day.”

Across New York City, Community School development is in full swing. Community School Coordinators are being hired this month to oversee school-by-school planning. Parent, staff and community forums to solicit input will begin early in the new year, with each school’s service plan developed in March and most services beginning subsequently. Some services such as mentoring for chronically absent students and on-campus counseling may begin by January 2015.

In addition to these first 45 schools, the city will launch another 83 Community Schools as part of its Renewal Schools plan to address historically low performing schools. Eleven of the newly designated AIDP Community Schools are also Renewal Schools.

The Department of Education is in the process of contracting with a third party evaluator for the AIDP Community Schools initiative and the administration is committed to studying the efficacy of the model over time.

For a full list of new Community Schools and to learn more, visit schools.nyc.gov/communityschools.

-Information from NYC Department of Education