Empower Community Schools

Photo of teacher standing outside on a sunny day on a playground surrounded by elementary school students paying attention to a demo garden bed.

Effectively Shape and Execute Community School Strategy with a Partner Invested in Your Success

Community schools bring together educators, students, families, and local communities to meet the needs of the “whole child” and achieve transformative outcomes. As school and district leaders, get support from our team in shaping and executing a strong community school strategy that invites community members in, nurtures trusting relationships, and encourages decision-making for the betterment of young people.

Partners in School Innovation works side by side with community schools to co-create optimal conditions and resources for continuous improvement, collaborative leadership, and community-connected curriculum that address the unique goals of the neighborhood.

Key Community School Practices We Support

Our approach strongly complements multiple community school frameworks and closely aligns to Community Schools Forward’s “Framework: Essentials for community school transformation,” created by the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution (CUE), the Children’s Aid National Center for Community Schools (NCCS), the Coalition for Community Schools (CCS) at the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL), and the Learning Policy Institute (LPI).

"Partners as a team have really helped us to transform our systems and our structures. It was really important that everybody understood that there’s a role that they play on the team."

Principal, San Jose intermediate school, CA

Top-down photo of two Black elementary school students seated at a desk, one is looking right up at the camera and smiling. The other student is looking forward and has a worksheet in front of her.

Root the Foundation and Growth of Your Community School Strategy in Continuous Improvement Processes

Successful community schools actively adapt priorities to meet the continually-changing needs of their communities and ground decision-making in relevant data. Adopt continuous improvement processes to effectively deploy key practices, track progress of your community school strategy, and support a more inclusive system that is responsive, of high quality, and transformative.

Partners in School Innovation’s coaching and guided implementation of Results-Oriented Cycles of Inquiry (ROCI) for community schools directs you to set goals, plan, act, assess, and reflect and adjust for greater impact of your collective work. Leverage our resources and collaborative support to refine your community school’s development, no matter what stage you’re in.

Photo of a smiling Black man standing up in a room where other adults are seated. He appears to be reacting positively to an unseen speaker.

Activate the Exponential Impact and Power of Collaborative Leadership and Shared Voice

Compelling community schools embrace the inclusive power of shared voice from educators, students, families, partners, and community members. Learn how to integrate collaborative decision-making and communal accountability in your community school strategy to ensure collective trust, effectiveness, and sustainability.

Partners in School Innovation helps community schools build cultures of open collaboration and co-creation between educators, students, families, and community members to achieve shared goals of equity in education. With our support, shift the agency to affect change into the hands of those most impacted and experience greater student outcomes (e.g. improvements in attendance, grades, and completion rates).

Photo of an elementary school student at the front of a classroom writing on a whiteboard that has a projected worksheet on it. The other students are paying attention. The Asian teacher at the front is watching the student write.

Raise the Caliber of Classroom Instruction and Deepen Connections Between Community and Learning

Competent community schools thoughtfully and deliberately blend unique student needs with high quality classroom instruction, enriched content and skills development, and real-world learning opportunities. Connect learning meaningfully to students’ lived experiences and remove systemic inequities that previously hindered their abilities to learn and fully engage.

Partners in School Innovation develops educators into equity-focused change agents who become more skilled at attending to students’ growth, driving transformative initiatives for deeper and more rigorous community-connected learning, and engaging the whole child. Get support in leveling up your community school’s resources and professional development.

"[Partners] helped me clarify my vision for the school and think purposefully about what I’m doing."

Principal, West Contra Costa Unified District elementary school, CA

Getting started with Partners in School Innovation:

  • 1) Full system evaluation

    After you contact us, we’ll work together to understand what stage of maturity your community school is in, identify objectives and challenges, and engage stakeholders that are critical to the future success of your community school.

  • 2) Plan customized to your needs

    Together, we’ll develop a working theory of action improvement to address unique challenges and root causes for your community school, prepare to engage in future cycles of inquiry around actionable plans, and establish measures to track progress.

  • 3) Implementation support

    Our team of improvement partners guides deployment of the plans we’ve designed together, including developing the necessary skills and capacities of your community school team to manage complex change.

Let’s work together on your community school strategy.

Explore more Partners in School Innovation resources.

  • Take the “Leading Improvement Cycles” course

    Learn how to develop and use effective improvement plans that address inequities through continuous improvement, using data and team collaboration.

  • Access our “Theory of Action Guidance” resource

    Understand what a theory of action might look like in various contexts with help from this resource that outlines requirements, presents novel considerations, and shares samples to learn from.

  • Access our “ILT Overview” resource

    Learn more about how effective Instructional Leadership Teams (ILTs) can help lead school improvement efforts with explicit goals of raising overall levels of student achievement.

  • Take the “The Power of an ILT” course

    Understand the role of an Instructional Leadership Team (ILT), explore the ways by which you can cultivate a high-functioning team at your site, and develop your vision to lead transformation efforts.

Districts usually face more than one challenge.
Here are more ways we support community school initiatives:

  • Turn your vision into actionable change

    Transform the vision for your school or district into real, day-to-day progress. We’ll help you uncover the root causes of persistent challenges and co-create a clear, strategic plan that leads to sustainable improvements and lasting success.

  • Lead school or district change with confidence

    We help education leaders cut through noise and take focused, strategic action on transformative initiatives. By working closely with our coaches, you’ll confidently lead change that sticks and overcome the challenges holding your school or district back.

  • Offer and lead more effective professional development

    Our team of instructional experts and coaches can support your school or district at the individual, department, and site levels with implementing professional development for educators and K-12 leaders that leads to lasting change.