Project Name: / Trenton Community Schools Initiative
Project Contact: / Dr. Shannon M. Mason
Executive Director
(609) 396 – 1506
Mailing Address: / 151 Mercer St., Trenton, NJ 08611
School District: / Trenton Board of Education
Project Sites: /
- Luis Munoz Rivera Middle School (6 - 8)
Partners: /
- YMCA of Trenton and Mercer County
- Mercer County Family Support Organization
Project Services: /
- Family engagement
- Mentoring and youth development
- Assistance to students that have been chronically absent, truant, suspended or expelled
- Activities to support increased access to social services
- Mental health services
Total (5-Year Funding): / $2,217,867.00
Project Summary:
Trenton Community Schools Initiative (TCSI) will implement evidence-based programming for the following five core services: 1) assistance to students who have been chronically absent, truant, suspended, or expelled; 2) family engagement, including parent training and parental involvement activities; 3) mental health services; and 4) mentoring and other youth development programs; and access to other community-based social service programs.
TCSI will complete program planning and capacity building activities during year one and will begin service delivery in the fourth quarter of year one. The goal is to improve educational outcomes for children by providing comprehensive academic, social and health supports in a full-service community school model. Key expected outcomes include improvements in attendance and retention rates; improved parenting skills; reductions in stress among adults; positive changes in behavior among children; and increased access to supportive services for students, family members and community members. An external evaluator will implement an evaluation plan to provide outcome information for data-driven decision-making. The Children’s Aid Society National Center for Community Schools will provide technical assistance to ensure the process adheres to best practice standards.
TCSI envisions a community that uses the public schools as hubs from which to build inventive, enduring relationships among educators, families, volunteers, and community partners to result in greater student success, stronger families, and healthier communities. This grant will enable TCSI to establish the operational, financial and infrastructure capacity to incorporate project purposes and activities into long-range plans to replicate this model in other low-performing middle, elementary and high schools throughout the district.