How Building with Community Can Transform Public Education - Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly

"Community schools integrate education with local resources, fostering reciprocal support between schools and their communities. Today, there are roughly 5,000 of these schools nationwide. (To give a sense of scale, there are about 7,800 US charter schools.) Community schools address students' social and emotional needs while engaging families and community partners. They also provide extended learning opportunities, culturally relevant curricula, comprehensive support services, and adult education, such as English-language classes for parents."

"Too often, 'school reform' has focused on creating one unique shift that will somehow make schools more effective. But these reforms rarely holistically tackle the question of what makes a good school. By contrast, focusing on collaborative problem-solving rather than implementing a single top-down solution, community schools seek to build good schools from the ground up. A 2025 report by our organization, Partners for Dignity & Rights, titled Community Schools and Co-governance: Lessons from Los Angeles and San Diego details some of the key issues"

United Teachers Los Angeles struck in 2019 seeking transformation of the city's school system to serve teachers, students, and the broader community through community schools. Community schools integrate education with local resources and reciprocal supports, with roughly 5,000 nationwide. They address social and emotional needs, engage families and partners, offer extended learning, culturally relevant curricula, comprehensive support services, and adult education such as English-language classes for parents. Many practice collaborative decision-making among educators, administrators, students, families, and community organizations. The approach emphasizes collaborative problem-solving and intersectional, reciprocal solutions over single top-down reforms. A 2025 report by Partners for Dignity & Rights outlines key implementation issues.

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