Overview

Goal: Transform classroom spaces into centers of civic engagement by empowering students to  become active change makers in their community. By doing this, we aim to make the classroom a meaningful culturally/community responsive space to elevate the assets of the community and address the wants and needs of the students. 

Components: 

• Community-Based Learning (CBL) Projects: Classes utilize the data from the site maps and Needs & Assets Assessment (NAA) data to construct projects that elevate a community asset or address a community need. 

  • • Sustainability Projects (ex: Service Learning) - Classroom projects/work aimed at fulfill an ongoing program that needs labor. Ex: School garden, food pantry. Example

    • Community-Based Projects - Teacher identified project aimed at utilizing the assets of their students and community to fulfilling needs from the Needs & Assets Assessment (NAA) data. Example. 

    • Community Schools Process Projects (ex: Youth Participatory Action Research - YPAR) - Student driven project where students identify the issue, perform further data collection, clearly define the problem via root cause analysis, select and implement a solution, and evaluate the efficacy of the solution. Examples. Other Scaffold Support. 

• Community Schools Auxiliaries: Classes aid the Community Schools Team in one or more of the following components of the Community Schools strategy implementation on site or within the community. 

  • • Onboarding & Educating Campus about Community Schools

    • Community & Site Resource Mapping 

    • Needs & Assets Assessment Implementation 

    • Root Cause Analysis and/or Further Data Collection

    • Solution Identification & Implementation

    • Evaluation of Interventions & Solutions

Community Schools CBL Integration Framework

Community Schools Project Based Learning Integration: One of the main aims of Community Schools is to ensure that students and all educational partners are empowered to be active change makers in their lives as well as their community. Project Based Learning allows for the classroom space to become a space where teachers and students can actively utilize the time, skills, and resources to look to the needs of the community and work to address those needs. If you click on the "Community Schools Project Based Learning Integration" button, you will visit a page with resources to integrate Community Schools pedagogy (method of teaching) within your own classroom and align your classroom with meeting the needs of the community and using your classroom as an engine of change within your community. 

1. Onboarding/Rollout:

• ALL STAFF MEETING: Scheduled an optional all-staff informational meeting where the Community Schools Coordinator and the Site Coach present:

  • • • (1) - Already existing projects, work, and successes of Community Schools thus far. 

      • (2) - The final summaries of the needs and assets assessment (Listening Project) where the top issues/areas of growth are identified. 

      • (3) - Overview of what Community-Based Learning (CBL) is and examples of how class projects can elevate the assets of the community or address the needs of the community. 

      • (4) - Push out a google form for those in attendance to indicate how interested they are in (a) learning more about CBL, (b) getting support from the Community Schools Site Coach, (c) creating a CBL project, (d) attending the PBL Summer Institute to plan a cross-curricular project. 

• PBL SUMMER INSTITUTE: In partnership with the Career Technical Education (CTE) department, invite site teams to attend the PBL Summer Institute a 2 week project planning institute that happens every year. Aim is to intentionally recruit members from different academies, pathways, etc. to engage in project development that is reflective of the NAA. 

  • • Resource: Folder

    • Purpose: Have classes and students help take up the work of elevating community assets or addressing community needs that arose from the needs & assets assessment through the practices of project based learning. Aim is to have the academies intentionally integrate the NAA into their project planning for the following year. 

Community Schools - Public Health Advocacy Project

Overview: The Public Health Advocacy Committee is a student-driven community action and decision-making process. The student committee is charged with performing research, communicating their findings, and proposing recommendations to the larger Hoover Community concerning a specific issue affecting the stakeholders of our school.  This project (as well as the project documents below) follows the Community Schools model of issue identification as well as highlights community education and engagement in solution formulation. 

Essential Question: What should we do to make our community healthier? 

Products: 

1. Website

2. Presentation of findings

3. Graphic Organizers for the audience

4. Community Conversation Regarding Public Health Issues

5. Evidence of Solution Implementation 

Length: 1 Semester

A key component for