Dive Brief:

• The new "By All Means" plan, conceptualized by Harvard University Graduate School of Education professor Paul Reville, aims to help schools in six U.S. cities deal with local challenges that thwart student success.
• The program's goal is to heighten community involvement in schools, with the hopes of dismantling systemic inequality. Consultants will be hired in each city to serve as liaisons between local mayors, school superintendents, teachers and parents.
• Oakland, CA; Louisville, KY; Providence, RI will participate, and the towns of Somerville, Newton and Salem, MA will also take part.

Dive Insight:

The trend of community schools has been on an upward swing in the U.S, and the new "By All Means" plan contributes to the momentum. The Coalition for Community Schools says 5,000 community schools are already serving two million American students.

Rochester, NY, is home to a “Beacon” school where coordinated social services, including free healthcare and meals are offered to students alongside traditional education. In California, the Hayward Unified School District is also using a more holistic approach that provides health and social services to students and families. 

Last December, teachers from the union Education Minnesota expressed support for the expansion of community schools that adopt holistic, whole-child approaches to education by wrapping social services like health care, legal aid and even employment help for parents under the school's purview.

These kinds of schools have achieved excellent results thus far, but their high costs can be a barrier to implementation. That's why collaboration of the sort suggested by the By All Means plan is key. Support from nonprofits and local business and governments can make community school ventures more accessible for districts to operate.