Connecting Families, Schools, & Communities

The Together for Students Initiative recognized 10 communities for plans bringing key community members together to support the needs of local students. Three national education-focused organizations created this opportunity: IEL (through its Coalition for Community Schools), Communities In Schools, and StriveTogether. Each of the 10 selected communities will receive approximately $150,000 to support the activities […]

In May, IEL’s Coalition for Community Schools hosted the largest ever National Forum for Community Schools. Almost 2,000 attendees gathered in Baltimore to partner for equity. There was LIVE podcast coverage from the show EdFix hosted by Michael Feuer, Dean of the George Washington Graduate School of Education and Human Development. Listen to the podcast

With multiple challenges facing our children and youth, including racial tensions and gun violence, we need to work together to counter these forces. This is why IEL’s Coalition for Community Schools, in partnership with the Afterschool Alliance, and American Federation of Teachers came together for March for Children & Youth Month, to support students in

Phi Delta Kappan featured an article that delves into why community schools serve as the hub of their communities. “It takes a community: Community schools provide opportunities for all” is authored by Reuben Jacobson and José Muñoz, who lead IEL’s Coalition for Commuity Schools, and Coalition Steering Committee leaders Lisa Villarreal and Robert Mahaffey. The

“Learning matters when it is personal and when students have an opportunity to use or share what they are learning and what they know,” wrote IEL senior fellow and former president Martin J. Blank in two blogs about the teaching of Judy Ellsesser and Cyndy Hykes at South Webster High School, in South Webster, Ohio.

The Learning Policy Institute and the National Education Policy Center recently released a report, Community Schools as an Effective School Improvement Strategy: A Review of the Evidence. The report concludes that well-implemented community schools lead to improvement in student and school outcomes and contribute to meeting the educational needs of low-achieving students in high-poverty schools.READ

IEL’s Coalition for Community Schools and partners came together on September 25-29 for the first Coordinators Appreciation Week. There were almost 1,000 #CoordinatorsRock tweets that reached over 700,000 people—from funny gifs and ice cream socials to flowers and heartfelt handwritten notes—that celebrated and thanked their community schools coordinators. READ MORE…

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