Bringing Communities and Schools Together

The best schools have always had close, productive ties to their communities. Educators and students working in cooperation with parents, the business community and civic leaders have built schools that are a source of pride and identity for their neighborhoods and cities.

Connections between schools and community have been tested and sometimes fractured in recent times. Children no longer walk to the schoolhouse down the street, but more often commute across town or into a different community. Families with a wide range of education options develop loyalty to different schools that sometimes compete for the same resources. In some cases, a growing emphasis on test scores and concern over student achievement have dampened confidence in schools' performance.

We believe that schools and communities must renew and strengthen the ties between them to ensure students receive the learning opportunities they want and schools have the support and resources they need. With the 2020 Forecast calling for schools to become "centers for protection and rejuvenation in a bio-distressed world," those within schools and those around them must share responsibility for creating schools of the future.

We help bring communities and schools together through:

Community engagement that ensures all voices are heard.
P-16 councils that bring communities together to address the entire education pipeline.
School designs that are forward-looking and incorporate community needs.

Ideas and Innovation

Improving the community-school relationship

Kettering Foundation in Dayton explores practices that can help the public regain a sense of ownership over their public schools.

What others are doing

The Children’s Aid Society operates 21 community schools in New York City that combine the best educational practices with a wide range of vital in-house health and social services to ensure that children are physically, emotionally and socially prepared to learn.

Cincinnati Public Schools is creating Community Learning Centers that act as hubs for community services, providing access for students and families to health, safety and social services, as well as recreational, educational and cultural opportunities.

A shortage of school nurses?

A USA Today analysis of census data from 2005 to 2007 suggests that Ohio students have less access to school nurses than other states. Nationwide, a school nurse cares for 971 students on average. Ohio's student/nurse ratio is 2,377 to one, and only eight states had a higher ratio.