A full-service community school (FSCS) in the United States focuses on partnerships between a school and its community. It integrates academics, youth development, family support, health and social services, and community development. Community schools are organized around the goals to help students learn and succeed and to strengthen families and communities. Full-service community schools extend the goals of traditional public schools further. They are centers of their communities that provide services to address the needs of student learners and build bridges between schools, families, and communities. They are schools that did not only promote academic excellence, but they also provide health, mental health, and social services on the school campus. The "school emerges as a community hub, a one-stop center to meet diverse needs and to achieve the best possible outcomes for each child."Dryfoos and Maguire 2002, p. 4.
Description Samberg and Sheeran (2000) define community schools as "both a set of partnerships and a place where services, supports, and opportunities lead to improved student learning, stronger families, and healthier communities."Samberg & Sheeran 2000, p. iv. Community schools transform traditional public schools into partnerships for excellence by being a place where partnerships between educators, families, community volunteers, youth development organizations, and business, health, and social agencies, can come together.
The following definitions are attempts to clarify some terminology used in discussions around FSCSs. Linked services involve collaborative strategies, in which partners can share a vision, establish goals, and use resources to implement and deliver the services. School-linked services involve coordination with schools, families, and agencies located at or near the school. School-based services are more directly linked—physically and fiscally—to the school campus. The school becomes the vehicle to mobilize its surrounding community. The concept of full-service schools comes from Florida's 1991 innovative legislation, which called for the integration of educational, medical, and social and/or human services in a way that meets the needs of youth and their families on school grounds or in easily accessible locations.Dryfoos & Maguire 2002, p. 19.
According to Dryfoos and Maguire (2002), community schools include certain elements: "open all the time, run by a partnership, providing access to an array of services, responsive to the family and the community, and focused on overcoming barriers to learning."Dryfoos and Maguire 2002, p. 18.
The five conditions of learning The Coalition for Community Schools (2003) has identified five conditions for learning that are essential for every child to succeed: The school has a core instructional program with qualified teachers, a challenging curriculum, and high standards and expectations for students. Students are motivated and engaged in learning—both in school and in community settings, during and after school. The basic physical, mental, and emotional needs of young people and their families are recognized and addressed. There is mutual respect and effective collaboration among parents, families and school staff. Community engagement, together with school efforts, promote a school climate that is safe, supportive and respectful and that connects students to a broader learning community.
In addition to focusing on the needs of students inside the school, the majority of these conditions focus on students' needs outside the school, with community support being an essential component.
Components of FSCSs Given the five conditions of learning mentioned above, FSCSs can bring together a package of different components and services:Dryfoos & Maguire 2002, pp. 20-23. Case management – Outside agencies, like Communities-in-Schools, can work with local businesses to bring in a range of services into schools, including mentoring, after-school programs, mental health counseling, career counseling and employment programs, and community service opportunities. Primary health clinics – These facilities, operated in school buildings by outside health agencies, can provide primary health care, emergency care, dental examinations, mental health counseling, and health education. Youth development programs – Some community schools put together a number of different youth activities, including mentoring, substance abuse counseling, sports and recreation, community service learning, and pre-employment services. Family resource centers – Community schools can offer services for parents, such as parenting education, literacy, employment assistance, immigration information, housing help, food, clothing, case management, health services, and early child care. Early childhood development – Early childhood programs, such as Head Start, can relocate into schools and can provide services including, all-day child care, after-school and vacation care, and family support and guidance through a home visitation program. Referrals – School-based health centers and family resource centers can be the link that ensures that students and families' needs are met. After-school programs – After-school programs are important for the effectiveness of schools by providing school-age children with academic and nonacademic support.
Community school examples A number of community school models have sprung up around the country. Dryfoos & Maguire (2002) list a number of them:Dryfoos & Maguire 2002, pp. 18-20.
Beacon community schools bring nonprofit community-based organizations (CBOs) into schools to make use of extended school hours for youth development and community enrichment. Beacons, introduced in New York City through the Department of Youth and Community Development, are heavily involved with community service projects to help enhance the neighborhood.Dryfoos & Maguire 2002, pp. 18-19. County Cullen, a Beacon community school operated by the Rheedlen Centers in New York City, offers youth leadership opportunities, participates in a neighborhood beautification projects, and facilitates forums on community issues.Dryfoos & Maguire 2002, p. 55.
The Children's Aid Society (CAS) has created community schools that are built on a close relationship between the school system and outside agencies and address both school restructuring and the provision of one-stop services. CAS also nationally provides technical assistance to community schools.
In university-assisted community schools, university faculty members work with teachers on curriculum and with administrators on school restructuring. The University of Pennsylvania's West Philadelphia Improvement Corps is an example of a full-fledged community school, with extended hours and a range of one-stop services.
The Elizabeth Learning Center in California is an example of a pre-K through Grade 12 community school, which has child and family support services integrated into the educational restructuring. It is a "collaborative effort between Los Angeles Unified School District, the teachers' union, a variety of community partners, and the New American Schools Development Corporation.Dryfoos & Maguire 2002, p. 51.
Community Schools in Boston (CSIB) is an example of a model in which all Boston public schools are a part of this community schools vision. "The goal is to build a systemic approach to furthering and sustaining school-community ties and building strong partnerships within specific schools, communities and clusters (groups of schools)."Dryfoos & Maguire 2002, pp. 26-27 One difficulty that is mentioned with this approach is attempting to balance centralized planning with decentralized relationship building.
Partnerships and governance At the school site, the partnerships exist between principals, teachers, other school staff, and multiple community partners. Their goal is to create learning opportunities and services to help students develop academically, emotionally, physically, and socially. Additional partners with school site personnel are volunteers from public agencies, local government officials, non-profit agencies, community-based and faith-based organizations, philanthropies, businesses, and higher education personnel. Schools are the center of the community, and the shared resources lead to improved student learning, stronger families, and healthier communities. In many districts, partnerships develop greater community support for local schools by gathering resources, bringing in outside expertise, and providing services that the district cannot provide itself.
The school is the primary player in the partnerships and collaborations, and the principal may act as the leader. Alternatively, the principal can act with a full-time coordinator who works for another agency. Out of the collective of partnerships between the school and community agencies, a lead agency often emerges, usually to extend the hours of the school and the scope of services provided.Dryfoos & Maguire 2002, p. 25.
History of full-service schools In the early 1900s, children living in poverty in the U.S. were predominantly from immigrant families. In 1889, Jane Addams established a Hull House in Chicago, which brought health and educational services to working families in immigrant neighborhoods. Addams's work, based on an English model, was founded on "the theory that social ills are interconnected and must be approached holistically." John Dewey was influenced by Addams's work and adapted the social change philosophy to schools. Dewey stated, "The conception of the schools as a social center is born of our entire democratic movement." By the early 20th Century, many cities began to recognize schools as social centers, and many states enacted legislation to allow communities to use school facilities more widely (e.g., as art galleries, movie theaters, local health offices).
During the Great Depression, schools were seen as an investment and school facilities continued to be used for multiple purposes. In 1934, Leonard Cavello, an Italian immigrant living in East Harlem, established Benjamin Franklin High School and used the school community to address social problems, which was the first attempt to make the school the coordinator of social services.
After World War II, the community school movement continued to expand, especially with the work of Charles Mott around bringing to youth recreation and school-linked health and social services to the school campus. Psychologists, school nurses, and social workers became an increasing part of the public school system between 1930 and 1960. President Johnson's Great Society initiatives focused on the country on the less fortunate, and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 increased the federal government's role in education and education programming for the country's neediest students. The rise of the Head Start Program in 1965, "was a tacit acknowledgement by the government that schools alone are not enough to address the underlying problem of social poverty." The passage of federal legislation in the 1970s—including the Community Schools Act of 1978—paved the way for state governments to focus legislative efforts on the creation of more community schools, which continued through the 1980s and 1990s.
In the mid 1990s, several non-profit parties entered the political arena around full-service schools, including "Coalition for Community Schools (CCS), Communities in Schools (CIS), Schools of the 21st Century (an initiative of Yale University), the National Community Education Association (NCEA), and the Children's Aid Society (CAS). These entities worked with agencies and state governments to provide more services at local schools, gain further legislative support around community schools, and convert public schools to community schools.
Federal legislation