Beginning in the 2015-2016 school year, the Community School initiative represents a $100 million investment in 130 schools. 94 of these schools are also Renewal Schools, the City's key strategy for rapid academic improvement in struggling schools. Read more about Community School Policy here. For more, access Mayor de Blasio’s Strategic Plan. This Strategic Plan serves as both an update on the work to date and a roadmap for moving forward. The document outlines the Community Schools Initiative within the context of the Mayor’s larger agenda for children and families, summarizes the planning and operational work that has occurred over the past year, and outlines the key system-building efforts that will be implemented over the next three years.
The NYC Community Schools launched as part of an Attendance Improvement and Drop-Out Prevention (AIDP) grant in partnership with the United Way NYC. 700 schools were eligible (had a higher than average rate of chronic absenteeism and lower than average rate of attendance), 400 schools applied, and 45 were selected to partner with a CBO for direct services and support in the process of becoming a fully developed Community School.
Mayor de Blasio announced that the Community Schools model would be central to the City's ambitious efforts to support 94 Renewal Schools (schools that were identified as Priority or Focus schools by the State DOE, demonstrated low academic achievement for each of the three prior years (2012-2014), and scored "Proficient" or below on their most recent quality review. In addition to receiving the Community School supports, Renewal Schools benefit from additional interventions focused on improving classroom instruction and boosting academic achievement.
