A Community School is a strategy for organizing community resources around student success.

These are public schools that provide services and support that fit each neighborhood’s needs, created and run by the people who know our children best—all working together. 

• Integrated Student Supports

• • Supports programs to address out-of-school learning barriers for students and families, such as mental and physical health services.

• Expanded and Enriched Learning Time and Opportunities

  • After-school, weekend, and summer programs provide academic instruction and individualized support.

• Active Family and Community Engagement

  • Educational opportunities for adults, and family members to share their stories and serve as equal partners in promoting student success. 

• Collaborative Leadership and Practices

  • Parents, students, teachers, principals, and community partners build a culture of collective trust and shared responsibility.

A 2017 research review examined more than 143 studies, finding that well-implemented community schools led to improvement in student and school outcomes, including:

• Attendance

  • Improvements in attendance rates and declines in chronic absenteeism are typically among the earliest outcomes of community schools.

• Academic Achievement

  • Decreases in dropout rates and increases in graduation rates often follow, along with improvements in grades and test scores.

• School Climate and Discipline

  • An improved school climate is associated with positive relationships, greater school safety, greater engagement with school, and reduced disciplinary incidents and suspension rates.

In fact, the federal Full-Service Community Schools grant program was increased to $150 million in fiscal year 2025 appropriations. 

Mercer Street Friends is the lead Community School Agency in the state of New Jersey.

• Decreasing Chronic Absenteeism

• • At B.C. Gregory Elementary School, their rate of chronic absenteeism saw one of the greatest decreases across the state of New Jersey

    • SY22-23: 50.3% of students chronically absent

    • SY23-24: 37.7%

    • SY24-25: 21.3%

• “Love of Literacy” Reading Intervention Program

  • Retired educators meet with small groups of students through a high-impact tutoring model to help them reach grade-level reading proficiency

    • SY23-24: 0% to 41% on grade-level

    • SY24-25: 22% to 64% 

    • SY25-26: 17% to 58% 

Our mission is: nourishing minds and bodies; empowering families and communities.

• Food-Focused

  • As the Feeding America Food Bank for Mercer County, Mercer Street Friends serves as the backbone of the local hunger-relief network, distributing food that provides over six million meals annually through a coalition of more than 100 partner pantries, meal sites, and community organizations.

• Community Schools History

  • Since 2015, Mercer Street Friends has served as the lead agency for the Community Schools initiative in Trenton, first at Luis Muñoz-Rivera Elementary School and then at B.C. Gregory Elementary School and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School. Over 10,000 lives– students, families, and the community have been impacted by the Community Schools program. 

• Senator Shirley K. Turner Champions $2 Million State Grant

• • This transformative grant allowed the expansion of Community Schools from 3 to 6. Senator Turner believes that, "expanding this approach is critical to ensuring that more children in New Jersey have the support they need to succeed in the classroom and beyond.” 

• THE Mercer County Community School Coalition

  • This coalition was formed by Trenton Public School District, Hamilton Township School District, Ewing Township School District, the Princeton Area Community Foundation, and Mercer Street Friends.

• Governor Mikie Sherrill's Action Plan

  • New Jersey’s future depends on investing in our kids and their education, so the Governor is committed to fully funding public schools so every child, regardless of ZIP code, has access to a high-quality education that prepares them for success.