Community Schools: Hearing from the Community

Posted by City of Philadelphia on July 18, 2016

Last week, the Mayor’s Office of Education (MOE) released a public outreach report, Community Schools: Hearing from the Community, highlighting feedback gathered from Philadelphians about the City’s new community schools initiative.

Community schools are public schools where a full-time coordinator engages with the entire school community – students, parents, teachers, administrators, service providers and neighbors – to identify its most pressing needs, and works with service providers and City agencies to bring targeted resources directly into the school. Community schools aim to become neighborhood centers with increased access to programs and services for students, families and neighbors. The City has committed to creating 25 community schools over the next four years.

More than 750 individuals gathered at town hall forums, roundtable discussions, group meetings and conferences to learn more about the program, and share ideas about how it can help address the issues that our children and communities are facing. They also lent insights on the factors that MOE and the School District of Philadelphia should consider when determining which neighborhood schools will be selected to become community schools.

“Over the last six months, my team asked the public to weigh-in on how the community schools strategy should work in Philadelphia,” said Otis Hackney, the City’s Chief Education Officer. “We’ve received valuable feedback from a diverse group of stakeholders and this is just the beginning. We’re going to continue to work with the community each step of the way as this initiative grows.”

Download the report to view the public feedback about community schools.

https://gallery.mailchimp.com/48732a6251c09f25e0086d47a/files/Community_Schools_Hearing_from_the_Community.pdf