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Role Group Strategies:
Policymakers
Create policies that allow schools to access community services on site and limit the bureaucratic hurdles for community members to support schools.
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John A. Johnson Achievement Plus Elementary
Great Schools by Design
http://www.archfoundation.org/aaf/documents/JAJ.DiscussionGuide.pdf
This document highlights how renovations at John A. Johnson Achievement Plus Elementary in St. Paul, Minnesota lead to increased student achievement and transformed the school into a center of community. The discussion guide, together with a video describing the innovations at this school, is intended to engage education stakeholders and community members in conversations about creating schools that are centers of communities. It includes a discussion outline and extensive advice on how to effectively facilitate and follow up on these community conversations.
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For Generations to Come: A Leadership Guide to Renewing Public School Buildings
21st Century School Fund
http://www.21csf.org/csf-home/Documents/Organizing_Manual.pdf
This "how-to" manual is designed for individuals interested in modernizing or building new public school facilities in their neighborhoods. Modeled after an innovative public-private development partnership, this tool details the importance of school facilities and community involvement, then explains the five basic steps to planning a new school or renovating an existing building: assessment, envisioning, planning, development and implementation. The school assessment section of the manual (pp 25-33) includes a detailed description of steps that community members must take to assess their own strengths and weaknesses, needs of the school, building needs, financial needs, etc. This section includes an checklist of elements to look for during an assessment process and explains how to present assessment results in meaningful ways that lead to action.
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National School Boards Association School Health Programs
http://nasbe.org/HealthySchools/Health_Policies.html
To assist policymakers and others in the school community to make informed decisions, NSBA has developed the School Health Resource Database, an ever-expanding source of up-to-date information and materials, including sample school district policies, journal articles, research summaries, fact sheets, and more. This resource includes information related to school health professionals and support personnel.
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Schools as Centers of Community: A Citizen’s Guide to Planning and Design
Bingler, S., Quinn, L., and Sullivan, K. (2003).
http://www.21csf.org/csf-home/publications/Schools_Centers_Community_Nov2003.pdf
The authors examine the challenges and opportunities related to building and renovating schools for the growing number of children in America. They advocate the idea of schools serving as centers of community interaction and emphasize that the process of designing and planning schools should involve the community. The paper enumerates design principles, shows those principles in action thirteen different schools, and explains how to develop and implement a plan to improve school facilities and how to involve different members of the community in that process.
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Policymakers
Provide sufficient resources and support for school tutors, family specialists, mental health professionals, nurses, psychologists and social workers.
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Sustaining School Improvement: Resource Allocation
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning. (2003).
http://www.mcrel.org/PDF/LeadershipOrganizationDevelopment
/5031TG_resourcefolio.pdf
This document outlines the key elements of school budgeting and resource allocation, offers strategies that school leadership teams can use to monitor and support responsible resource allocation within a building, provides a rubric for evaluating resource allocation, and shares a ‘success story’ from Huntington Elementary School in Lincoln, Nebraska.
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(Re)Designing Learning Environments
The George Lucas Educational Foundation
http://www.glef.org/redesigning/html/case.html
This site includes a set of diverse case studies from the George Lucas Educational Foundation highlighting a diverse group of schools across the country which have designed innovative learning communities that help kids learn. Interactive case studies provide background, timelines and strategies for creating or renovating school communities and facilities that work for multiple partners.
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Rx for School Nursing
Smolkin, Rachel. (2003). The School Administrator
http://www.aasa.org/publications/saarticledetail.cfm?ItemNumber=181
8&snItemNumber=950&tnItemNumber=951
This article reports on the essential role played by school nurses and creative ways of ensuring that students have access to health personnel. Most solutions involve enlisting help from the community, either in training at the district level or through students in health-related fields who volunteer in schools.
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