Ideas for Adapting this Content to Your Site

Although the eight full-day multi-site quarterly sessions are one way to work with sites, we believe this content can be used in a variety of ways to support community schools. Based on the experience of JGC, CCSP, and NTACCS, we have compiled a list of ideas that we think may be helpful in adapting and tailoring this content. As previously discussed, we do recommend that users match their use of the toolkit with their reflection on the stages of community school development.

The following is a list of ideas to get you started in customizing this resource to meet your needs following your initial orientation to community schools and after you have agreed on a purpose for coming together with your stakeholder group.

If you want to introduce partners to the concept of community schools:

• Pull out essential introductory pieces as part of an initial orientation to community schools: The overviews and presentations for each session are intended to provide the user with core introductory content to community schools in each area. These tools can be used in initial convenings of potential or current stakeholders and partners to explore the concept of community schools, and can serve as a precursor to a more in-depth reflection on the stages of community school development before launching into a more comprehensive effort.

• Shorten or break up the sessions to fit current opportunities: Many schools and organizations have times set aside for professional development or other learning opportunities. Agendas from ACSD could be adapted into shorter sections to fit into one hour or half-day sessions and incorporated into regularly scheduled training opportunities. This method may help schools to make the connection between the work they’re currently doing and how a community schools approach can help move their work to the next level in a specific area.

If you are ready to implement a comprehensive community school effort:

• Consider planning a multi-year Academy for just one site: ACSD was designed for five sites to come together eight times over three years. However, one site could consider pulling on the most useful elements in the agendas to explore with their supporting partners. Schedule time for these partners to come together for a set number of sessions over a period of time, with implementation activities and tasks between sessions.

• Change the order and allow for more or less time between the sessions: The more that the timing and sessions are customized the more useful they can be. Consider which sessions will be the most useful to a given site and rearrange the sessions, process, and content as needed. There are clear advantages to extending the meeting time between sessions in order to promote a deeper exploration of a particular topic and more time for reflection and implementation.

If you want to enhance your existing community school efforts:

• Ask site participants on which areas they’d like to focus: If you have a standing network of community school partners, you can explore areas they identify as needing improvement. Staff leaders can then review the toolkit and identify the most useful tools to conduct follow up technical assistance or training.

• Implement a “train the trainer” model: This method is recommended for sites in a maturing or excelling stage. ACSD was facilitated by staff from three intermediary organizations and used directly with staff and partners at local school sites. However, this content could also be used with other intermediary organizations, technical assistance providers, or existing community school staff ready and willing to take on a greater capacity-building role with their sites or others in their community.

• Plan a multi-day retreat or conference: While there are clear advantages to having time for reflection and action between sessions, some sites may be interested in exploring all of the content in a more immersive setting by planning a retreat or conference where all of the resources are explored and planning for implementation can take place.