Community Schools Resources

Stronger Together: How Community Schools Help Students, Families and Neighborhoods Thrive

Stronger Together explains how community schools help students, families and neighborhoods by connecting public schools with community resources such as healthcare, family support, after-school programs, and creating space for real partnerships. The guide highlights key community school practices, positive impacts on attendance, achievement and well-being, and examples from New York, Boston and New Mexico showing how schools can become centers of support and opportunity for their communities.

Community Schools: Case Studies of What Works

- Albuquerque, New Mexico (2016)
- Baltimore, Maryland (2018)
- Chicago, Illinois (2021)
- Minnesota (2021)
- St. Paul, Minnesota (2016)

AFT American Educator Community Schools Articles

Read articles on Community Schools published in American Educator, including Building Community with Community Schools and Counting on Community Schools in New York's North Country from Summer 2021.

Is My School a Community School? A Checklist for Teachers and School Staff

This checklist outlines the essential components of a community school to help you conduct an inventory of what your school has set in place and what may need to be addressed based on your school community needs assessment. If your school isn’t a community school yet, this inventory will help you identify areas you need to develop. (2017)

Successful and Sustainable Community Schools

This brief aims to offer a lens through which local and state unions can define their roles in advancing the community schools strategy in their school districts and states, as well as the crucial role members can play in advocacy, planning and implementation. (2017) Currently under revision.

What is a Community School?

Too many students come to school with needs that impede their ability to thrive academically. If we really want to close the achievement gap, we must supplement their regular coursework by addressing factors that are beyond the control of teachers and schools, but still have a direct effect on student outcomes. Important factors such as healthcare, social services and parental involvement are too often divorced from school life, although they are critical to student success. Community schools can be the vehicle for addressing these needs. Learn more about this strategy and how you can play a role in helping advance this work in your community. (2016)