Initial Community Schools Site Assessment
Redwood City
The following document outlines preliminary findings by the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities (JGC) at Stanford University of a two-month data collection process to assess the progress of four Redwood City schools in their efforts to become full-service community schools. These schools are:
· School 1 (K-5)
· School 2 (K-8)
· School 3 (6-8)
· School 3 (K-5)
COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
At their best, schools can be central institutions where the interests of diverse community constituencies converge and are able to reach the broadest cross-section of a community’s young people. Every school has the potential to take on the role of an influential community catalyst, providing ample and focused opportunities for social connection and civic engagement among youth, their families, and neighborhood institutions, such as public agencies, CBOs, businesses, and others while at the same time, providing the high quality instruction schools can provide. Strong community schools move beyond a model of more easily accessible enrichment and support services to a vision of the school as a powerful source of youth leadership on community issues, and community leadership on youth issues.
Taking cue from the Children’s Aid Society’s definition of community schools, we view these as:
“Educational institutions that combine the rigorous academics of a quality school with a wide range of vital in-house services, supports, and opportunities for the purpose of promoting children’s learning and development. The community school unites the most important influences in children’s lives – school, families, and communities – to create a web of support that nurtures their development toward productive adulthood.”
ASSESSMENT TIMELINE
This community schools assessment was requested by the four participating schools in March 2003 after meeting to revisit the mission of the school-based family centers and focus on more fully integrating the centers with the school. Having many of the community school design features outlined below already, school principals and family site coordinators sought to have a fuller assessment of where they were on the community schools spectrum. School personnel expressed an interest to make a concerted effort to strengthen their family center and school integration, with the potential for the Gardner Center to provide support along the way. During the months of May and June 2003, staff at the Gardner Center conducted an assessment process to identify the strengths and areas for growth at each site on their path to becoming full-service community schools. During the month of July, data were analyzed and the report that follows was developed. The Gardner Center conferred on an ongoing basis with Mary Lairon (Redwood City School District -RCSD) and Karin Kelley-Torregroza (Redwood City Family Centers-RCSD and Redwood City 2020) to assist in the design and implementation of the assessment.
METHODOLOGY
At the request of RCSD Superintendent Dr. Ron Crates, the assessment was conducted in a relatively short amount of time. The Gardner Center approached the assessment in a manner that was deemed feasible and convenient to potential informants; as well as providing solid preliminary information on where each school was situated on the community schools spectrum. Interviews were conducted with at least four informants at each school and at least eight informants citywide who could provide information regarding broader community-wide efforts. Most informants were referred by administrators at each school and were selected to provide as many diverse perspectives as possible. Additional information was obtained via school and district websites, community reports and pre-existing evaluations.
FRAMEWORK
The framework used to develop this assessment was mainly conceived by the Gardner Center, with background tools and information from sources such as the Children’s Aid Society and the Coalition for Community Schools. Although community schools have been in place for decades, little has been done in the field in terms of assessing a school’s readiness to become a community school or concrete indicators for schools to know they have reached that point. Thus, this Redwood City assessment is serving as a unique and useful framework for other communities. Taking research literature identified by our staffers, the JGC has outlined the following as key design features of a community school.
COMMUNITY SCHOOL KEY DESIGN FEATURES
SHARED LEADERSHIP: Involving a diverse team of community leaders that holds a common vision for creating community schools, shares decision-making power, and coordinates local efforts.
COMPREHENSIVE FAMILY AND YOUTH RESOURCES: Comprehensive and coordinated services for families and youth. Most services are co-located at the school. When services cannot be co-located, they are streamlined, with easy procedures for accessing them.
ACADEMIC SUPPORTS: Activities that complement students’ classroom experiences and are explicitly designed to promote a range of positive development outcomes.
YOUTH ENGAGEMENT: Young people have access to a set of developmental supports and opportunities that allow them to build new competencies and skills as they actively contribute to school and community life.
Together, these activities serve to support and complement the community school in helping it provide the quality instruction that every school works to achieve.
Below are the threshold conditions we have identified as the first step in developing a community school:
GENERAL THRESHOLD CONDITIONS
1. Communities have a history of seeking and incorporating youth voice and operate with a philosophy of youth-adult collaboration that values youth participation in the improvement of school and community life, including a willingness to build links between education and community youth development practices in before, during, and after school programs
2. Communities understand the basic community schools model and its relevance to the local community and are willing to develop or hold a common vision for a community school that includes a full range of youth and family services as well as a full range of academic supports
SHARED LEADERSHIP
Individuals and institutions that:
3. are willing to invest time, energy, and resources in long-term planning, implementation, and evaluation processes for the community school
4. have a history of working collaboratively to address community concerns and have a willingness to work collaboratively towards the common goal of community schools
5. provide/commit a dedicated individual and point person to support a community school plan
6. are willing and seek the involvement and representation of multiple actors including but not limited to school staff, parents, community at large members, neighborhood associations, diverse age, language and cultural groups
COMPREHENSIVE FAMILY AND YOUTH RESOURCES
Individuals and institutions that:
7. see value and need for coordination and integration across services/resources and are willing to designate a coordinator responsible for overseeing partnerships or co-location of services.
8. have access to a diverse group of service providers in the nearby vicinity
ACADEMIC SUPPORTS
Individuals and institutions that:
9. see value and need for coordination and integration across services/resources and are willing to designate a coordinator responsible for overseeing the partnerships or co-location of activities.
10. have access to a wide range of enrichment activities
YOUTH ENGAGEMENT
Adults and youth who:
11. are willing to co-create opportunities for young people to influence, design, manage, and evaluate the programs and institutions that affect their lives.
PRELIMINARY FINDINGS BY SCHOOL
SCHOOL 1 / Assets / ChallengesGeneral Threshold Conditions:
1. History of seeking and incorporating youth voice, philosophy and value of youth participation in school and community improvement
2. Understand basic community schools model/ holding a common vision for it / ·
Shared Leadership
3. Willingness to invest in community schools process
4. History of working collaboratively
5. Commit an individual to a community school plan
6. Willing to seek involvement of multiple actors / ·
· / ·
Comprehensive Youth and Family Resources
7. See value and need for coordination and integration -willing to designate a coordinator
8. Have access to a diverse group of service providers in nearby vicinity
Academic Supports
9. See value and need for coordination and integration
10. Have access to a wide range of enrichment activities
Youth Engagement
11. Willing to co-create opportunities for youth to play active role in programs and institutions affecting them / ·
With over 500 students enrolled, this school has a consistent and growing history of involving community residents and organizations in its activities and has made great gains to continue this effort through various efforts in the community. (continue with a brief summary with examples of school community strengths and challenges)
SCHOOL 2 / Assets / ChallengesGeneral Threshold Conditions:
12. History of seeking and incorporating youth voice, philosophy and value of youth participation in school and community improvement
13. Understand basic community schools model/ holding a common vision for it / ·
Shared Leadership
14. Willingness to invest in community schools process
15. History of working collaboratively
16. Commit an individual to a community school plan
17. Willing to seek involvement of multiple actors / ·
· / ·
Comprehensive Youth and Family Resources
18. See value and need for coordination and integration -willing to designate a coordinator
19. Have access to a diverse group of service providers in nearby vicinity
Academic Supports
20. See value and need for coordination and integration
21. Have access to a wide range of enrichment activities
Youth Engagement
22. Willing to co-create opportunities for youth to play active role in programs and institutions affecting them / ·
With over 500 students enrolled, this school has a consistent and growing history of involving community residents and organizations in its activities and has made great gains to continue this effort through various efforts in the community. (continue with a brief summary with examples of school community strengths and challenges)
SCHOOL 3 / Assets / ChallengesGeneral Threshold Conditions:
23. History of seeking and incorporating youth voice, philosophy and value of youth participation in school and community improvement
24. Understand basic community schools model/ holding a common vision for it / ·
Shared Leadership
25. Willingness to invest in community schools process
26. History of working collaboratively
27. Commit an individual to a community school plan
28. Willing to seek involvement of multiple actors / ·
· / ·
Comprehensive Youth and Family Resources
29. See value and need for coordination and integration -willing to designate a coordinator
30. Have access to a diverse group of service providers in nearby vicinity
Academic Supports
31. See value and need for coordination and integration
32. Have access to a wide range of enrichment activities
Youth Engagement
33. Willing to co-create opportunities for youth to play active role in programs and institutions affecting them / ·
With over 500 students enrolled, this school has a consistent and growing history of involving community residents and organizations in its activities and has made great gains to continue this effort through various efforts in the community. (continue with a brief summary with examples of school community strengths and challenges)
SCHOOL 4 / Assets / ChallengesGeneral Threshold Conditions:
34. History of seeking and incorporating youth voice, philosophy and value of youth participation in school and community improvement
35. Understand basic community schools model/ holding a common vision for it / ·
Shared Leadership
36. Willingness to invest in community schools process
37. History of working collaboratively
38. Commit an individual to a community school plan
39. Willing to seek involvement of multiple actors / ·
· / ·
Comprehensive Youth and Family Resources
40. See value and need for coordination and integration -willing to designate a coordinator
41. Have access to a diverse group of service providers in nearby vicinity
Academic Supports
42. See value and need for coordination and integration
43. Have access to a wide range of enrichment activities
Youth Engagement
44. Willing to co-create opportunities for youth to play active role in programs and institutions affecting them / ·
With over 500 students enrolled, this school has a consistent and growing history of involving community residents and organizations in its activities and has made great gains to continue this effort through various efforts in the community. (continue with a brief summary with examples of school community strengths and challenges)
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Redwood City Community Schools – Site Assessment 08-22-03