IEL’s Family and Community Engagement (FCE) Network Spotlight is an opportunity for the FCE community to learn from their peers’ successes. In this interview, Allison Buzard, Equity and Diversity Coordinator at Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS), talks about her work with Equity and Diversity University (EDU), a professional development program for school professionals. Sessions cover […]

District Leader Landon Mascareñaz discusses his Family Empowerment Team in the Office of Family and Community Engagement in Denver Public Schools (DPS). He shares their mission of developing engaged and empowered parents who are academic partners at three levels, including the home, school, and district, and how they carry out their mission at each level.

IEL’s Coalition for Community Schools (CCS) highlighted evidence and inspiring stories of opportunity and support at its bi-annual Community Schools Awards for Excellence Symposium on June 5, 2017 at the National Press Club. This year’s community school initiative winners are Community Achieves (Nashville, Tenn.), and NYC Community Schools Initiative (New York). For the first time

IEL’s Coalition for Community Schools is working with community school initiative leaders to enhance local capacity to make schools and communities healthier places for all by bridging the gap between the health and education sectors. Leveraging Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) support with a focus on creating a Culture of Health, the goal of our

Now that states have the authority under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to determine how to improve struggling schools, many state chiefs are looking for a whole-child approach with deep community engagement to counter the more technical models required under the previous School Improvement Grants program. In response, the IEL’s Coalition for Community Schools released

Sometimes you need to see strong healthy living partnerships in action. IEL’s Coalition for Community Schools recently organized site visits for members of its Community Schools Leadership Network. Participants visited two Bay Area community schools to see how their partnerships focused on physical and mental health have positive impacts on students. These schools were Cherryland

IEL’s Coalition for Community Schools is working in conjunction with Communities in Schools and StriveTogether to leverage our national networks to better enable every student to thrive. This growing partnership will help us align our assets and expertise across networks, school districts, and communities. We are better together when we coordinate efforts to support children

IEL President Martin J. Blank reflects on the moving words of Khalil Bridges. The Renaissance Academy High School student from West Baltimore spoke at the 2016 National Forum for Community Schools. Khalil’s is the story of too many young people of color in disinvested communities across the nation. Blank reminds us that our society often

IEL’s District Leaders Network on Family and Community Engagement and the Family Engagement State Leaders Network convened a Learning Lab in Washington, D.C. A professional development opportunity for district family and community engagement leaders, the event featured a federal policy debriefing and listening session in conjunction with officials from the U.S. Departments of Education and Health

IEL’s Dr. Reuben Jacobson, deputy director of the Coalition for Community Schools, recently wrote a chapter in an important new book, Learning from the Federal Market-Based Reforms: Lessons for the Every Student Succeeds Act. The volume contains chapters by widely respected education researchers that address topics such as accountability, school choice, segregated schools, equity in

This June, IEL hosted the annual National Family and Community Engagement Conference in Pittsburgh. With over 1,200 participants from all 50 states, the event lived up to its theme, “Owning Our Movement, Maximizing Our Impact.” It was the IEL’s highest attended family and community engagement event to date. The impressive growth speaks to the mounting

With the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) returning significant authority over K-12 education to the states, it’s more important than ever for stakeholders at all levels—from educators to superintendents, state-level administrators to parents and the public—to be engaged and feel ownership over ESSA implementation. In an Education Week commentary, IEL president and Coalition for Community

This year’s Community Schools National Forum in Albuquerque, N.M., was the largest community schools convening yet. Co-hosted with the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Community School Partnership, the Forum attracted over 1,700 participants from 44 states and 9 countries. With the theme of “Rising Together: Learning across Family, School, and Community,” learning remained a focus throughout the entire

Broome County Promise Zone in upstate New York is one of the Coalition for Community Schools’ many partners and is working to build a countywide community schools network to support children, families, and neighborhoods. The Coalition spoke with Luann Kida, community schools director for Broome County Promise Zone, about the initiative’s partners and milestones, how

As co-chairs of the Coalition for Community Schools’ Superintendents Leadership Council, Teresa Weatherhall Neal from Grand Rapids, Mich., and Dr. Steven Webb from Vancouver, Wash., have seen the positive impact of community schools in their districts. They spoke with Marty Blank, president of IEL and director of the Coalition, about how community schools have helped

IEL’s Coalition for Community Schools recently released A Framework for More and Better Learning through Community Schools Partnerships. The framework begins with a discussion of community school learning principles and the conditions essential for better learning. Next, it articulates a learning framework for community schools that relies on results-based school and community partnerships to create health

For the last decade, advocates for community schools determined that it was necessary to renew a core American value—that our public schools should be centers of flourishing communities where everyone belongs and works together to help our young people thrive. This movement is still growing. In April, hundreds of community school leaders and supporters will

In the Lower Price Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, the community has transformed an abandoned row house that served as a crack house into a renovated early childhood center that supports the neighborhood’s youngest residents. This center, connected to the Oyler Community Learning Center, a Pre-K-12 school building, is part of Cincinnati Public Schools’ district-wide

This summer, the House and Senate passed their separate bills to replace No Child Left Behind of 2002, the current federal education law.  Education stakeholders are hopeful Congress will finish a bill this year to replace what most agree is a broken law. The Senate’s bill contains several wins for the community schools movmement, including

In June, over one thousand educators, parents, community-based partners, and fellow stakeholders in education convened at the second annual National Family and Community Engagement Conference to discuss the role of family engagement in K-12 education. This idea of family involvement in schools has recently begun to receive national attention due to the overwhelmingly positive results

The Coalition for Community Schools honored two initiatives and five schools from Baltimore, Md., Chicago, Ill., Salt Lake, Utah, and San Fernando, Calif. The Community Schools Awards for Excellence were followed by a policy briefing on Capitol Hill. The award winners and local community school leaders met with their senators and representatives to advocate for

Many people agree that the current federal education law No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is broken, but Congress is having trouble agreeing on how to fix it. These next few months are seen as the crucial window for updating this troubled law during President Obama’s tenure. IEL and its Coalition for Community Schools are working

Every day, teachers—especially those in our poorest communities—are asked to address their students’ multiple out-of-school needs, including healthcare, social support, housing, and nutrition, while still achieving high academic success. Thankfully, many teachers no longer need to stand alone. IEL’s Coalition for Community Schools recently sat down with Menlo Park Elementary School Principal Kellie Burkhardt and

IEL’s Coalition for Community Schools organized a study tour for 25 Capitol Hill, executive branch, and association staffers to Baltimore to learn about the city’s community school strategy and how it is driving outcomes for young people, families, and communities.The tour highlighted key stakeholders: Family League of Baltimore, Baltimore City Public Schools, and Elev8 Baltimore.