By Anna Lenihan

At Hawthorne Elementary School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Community School Coordinator Alma Arango recognized a specific issue that needed to be addressed. Arango, along with her community school council, identified the challenge that chronic absenteeism was presenting and came up with an initiative to increase…

By Anna Lenihan

Before taking on the role of Community School Coordinator, Reyna Guzman worked as an advocate for detained youth who had recently arrived to the country. She fought to ensure that the youth knew their rights and found them legal representation. However, she noticed that the youth she advocated for continued to struggle after being released, due to a lack of resources. This led her to Public Service Community School, a high school in South Los Angeles, where…

By Alisha Torres

Five years ago, Whitsitt Elementary School was categorized under priority status as one of the lowest performing schools in Tennessee. Fast forward to the present day, this school has experienced major growth under Principal Justin Uppinghouse’s leadership and turnaround team and ever since joining the Metro Nashville Public Schools District-led Community Achieves Initiative. Prevailing through all the community’s ups and downs lies Community…

By Manasa Chilakala

San Francisco has long been an epicenter of revolutionary movements from being a catalyst for LGBTQ+ rights to the groundbreaking technology of Silicon Valley. In this bustling city is Sunny Zhang, an innovative and progressive educator who has been the Beacon Director at Aptos Beacon Community School in San Francisco since the…