All Blog Posts (57)

Youth Perspective on School Post COVID-19 - Norma Puente

Question and Answer Interview with Norma Puente, senior in Margaret Ling Wisdom high school in Houston, Texas

Q: Tell me about the demographics of your school.

A: Latino community school, low income, high income, our school has done food distributors throughout the week. We communicate through twitter, Instagram, we have also been doing chrome distributions

Q: What has your school been doing to deal with COVID-19?

A: They are passing hotboxes for students without…

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Added by Liz Capparelli Thacker on May 28, 2020 at 10:40am — No Comments

Coordinator Spotlight - Kevin Martinez

Kevin Martinez: Los Angeles Educational Partnership (LAEP)- Morningside High School

Interviewed by: Aqsa Rashid

Before Kevin Martinez became a community school coordinator, Morningside High School was experiencing tremendous student turnover. In one year alone, 16,000 students dropped to 8,000. Morningside is one of two high schools…

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Added by Liz Capparelli Thacker on April 28, 2020 at 2:52pm — No Comments

Staying Connected: WFH Playlist

As we all Work From Home (WFH) far more often than we otherwise would it's can  be a challenge to feel connected to your core work group, school site, and partner network!  There are so many ways to connect, and I'm sure you've been on all of them.  Perhaps a way to connect that is purely about being a spirit booster is creating a WFH playlist!  There are a bunch of ways to do this, and I wanted to share one I created on Spotify with you all!…

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Added by Jaymie Lollie on April 20, 2020 at 6:00pm — No Comments

Coordinator Spotlight - Stacy Darga

When Stacy Darga first moved to Sun Prairie, Westside Elementary had its share of challenges. Of the nine elementary schools in the city, Westside had the highest number of students on free and reduced lunches then, and it still does today. It is a school of high poverty and many have unreliable access to transportation as there is currently no public transit system within Sun Prairie. For some of these reasons, with initial grant funding obtained, Westside Elementary became one of the first…

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Added by Liz Capparelli Thacker on March 26, 2020 at 4:13pm — No Comments

Life's Short... Make Everyday Count!

With the death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna today; the question presented to us all is, “What would you do today, if you knew there was no tomorrow?"  What project would you end, or start? Is there a relationship that you would cultivate? Is there a goal you would to work harder towards? What conversation would you make sure you had?  To whom would you say, "you're important"?

While in the grand scheme of things, the work that we do pales greatly in…

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Added by Jaymie Lollie on January 27, 2020 at 2:30am — 1 Comment

Coordinator Spotlight - Emily Mallozzi

Written by Justine Mariscal

Built on the foundation of collaborative leadership, the Pawtucket School Department and the Pawtucket Teachers’ Alliance have worked together to promote the community school model in the city over the last three years. Pawtucket’s efforts are supported by the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals (HRFTHP) along with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), who have partnered with the Pawtucket community schools team on establishing…

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Added by Liz Capparelli Thacker on January 24, 2020 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Coordinator Spotlight - Gregory Wright

Written by Justine Mariscal

When the Mayor’s Office of Education (MOE) in Philadelphia partnered with the School District of Philadelphia to implement Community Schools, Edward Gideon Elementary School was part of the first cohort to make the shift in 2016. The school, which serves K-8th graders in North Philadelphia, is now entering its fourth year as a Community School and its Coordinator, Gregory Wright, has been with the school throughout the whole process.

In order to best…

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Added by Liz Capparelli Thacker on December 19, 2019 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Coordinator Spotlight - Justin Hunt

Written by Justine Mariscal

When taking on his role three years ago as coordinator for Fort Worthington Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore, Maryland, Justin Hunt was faced with challenges of having to merge three different school cultures and communities into one building. This was an intricate task in a city where the culture of each community changes from block to block. When an overflow of three hundred students showed up on the first day, Hunt knew that he had to do some…

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Added by Liz Capparelli Thacker on November 25, 2019 at 12:00pm — No Comments

#CoordinatorsRock

Thank you for a successful Coordinators Appreciation Week! With your help, we celebrated the amazing work Community School Coordinators do for their schools and their community on social media by using #CoordinatorsRock. Here are some of our favorite post shared this year highlighting the positive impact and influence that coordinators have.

1. Mayor's Office of Education Video of Coordinators receiving thank you letters…

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Added by Liz Capparelli Thacker on October 15, 2019 at 11:29am — No Comments

Coordinator Spotlight - Alma Arango

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…

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Added by Jennifer Masutani on September 16, 2019 at 1:37pm — No Comments

Coordinator Spotlight - Reyna Guzman

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…

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Added by Jennifer Masutani on August 19, 2019 at 9:08am — No Comments

The Journalistic Superpower in Amplifying Voices

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…

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Added by Jennifer Masutani on June 17, 2019 at 8:30am — 1 Comment

Changing the Status Quo with Skateboards and Wellness



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…

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Added by Jennifer Masutani on May 21, 2019 at 7:49am — No Comments

Dismantling Rural School Stereotypes

By Alisha Torres

Community schools across the nation are well known and growing in urban areas. While some may think that community schools are unsustainable in rural communities, there’s one coordinator who says they’ve got it all wrong. With a total of 930 residents in her community, representing King Elementary School with King Pride from the Gateway to Chippewa Forest in Deer River, Minnesota, and recipient of the Coalition’s 2018…

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Added by Jennifer Masutani on April 20, 2019 at 10:00am — 1 Comment

One Community School Coordinator, 35 Community Partners, and 1,000 people at the 1st ever “Ready 4 School” Event!

By Alisha Torres

Tucked away in the farthest northern corner of New York, bordered by Canada and a nearby Native American Reservation, you will find the village of Massena. Massena is a town of wonders. From fighting to keep Alcoa alive and putting a priority on excellent education, Massena, and its people, has shown what is possible when you leverage a community and its resources.

If you stop in at one of the schools, you may notice the slogan “Our Kids, Our…

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Added by Jennifer Masutani on March 18, 2019 at 6:00pm — No Comments

Health Programs Coordinator at Community Partnership School

Hello everyone,

I was grateful to a colleague who sent me the link to this Community School Coordinators Coalition site. I've already spent time reading fantastic discussions that have inspired me in my future planning. Ours is a Title I Elementary School, in central Florida, like many, who have a low socioeconomic level, high absenteeism, low grade school. The neighborhood/community has changed over the years, and has little parental/family/caregiver engagement with students. We are…

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Added by Jane Coyle-Hart on February 27, 2019 at 10:12am — No Comments

Coordinator Spolight - Spohia Domeville

By: Xue Lin Wang

Sophia Domeville wears many hats. She is a Community School Director, the School Operations Manager, and a Haitian American Abstract Expressionist. Domeville’s career at Belmont Runyon Community School has allowed her to channel her interests to create a platform to…

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Added by Jennifer Masutani on February 13, 2019 at 4:00pm — No Comments

Coordinator Spotlight - Savanity Davis

By Xue Lin Wang

While some community school coordinators prefer smaller sized schools, Savanity Davis does the opposite—she seeks larger sized schools. At P.S. 19 Marino Jeantet, a Community Learning School, Davis has served as the Community School Director for over 2,000 students for the past three years.



Located in Queens, New York, P.S. 19 Marino Jeantet is the nation’s largest public elementary school. P.S. 19 serves grades kindergarten to 5th, with…

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Added by Jennifer Masutani on January 11, 2019 at 11:00am — 1 Comment

Coordinator Spotlight - Amani Coker-Warren

By Xue Lin Wang

“I want to establish a system and support with the staff and team where they can be self-efficient,” says Amani Coker-Warren, “to the point where I am out of a job.” Parents do not have a handbook for schools and Coker-Warren believes her role as a Community School Coordinator is to support parents and connect teachers and staff to the community. Coordinators are the connectors and the ones who assess the needs of the staff, students, and families and…

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Added by Jennifer Masutani on December 12, 2018 at 5:30pm — No Comments

Coordinator Spotlight - Kendra Berry

By Xue Lin Wang

In the valleys of Knox County, TN, Kendra Berry enters Vine Middle School every day with the motto “Coordinate, not do.” Between building a successful soccer program from scratch to establishing positive relationships with community partners and families, Berry’s motto, which was instilled in by a veteran colleague, has carried…

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Added by Jennifer Masutani on November 16, 2018 at 11:46am — No Comments

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