Full-service community schools: A strategy-not a program

What are "full-service community schools," and what do they have to do with youth development? Community schools are those that have been intentionally transformed into neighborhood hubs and that are open all the time to children and their families. In these buildings, a range of support services is provided by community agencies to help overcome the many barriers that schools face in producing successful students. What makes these schools different is that they are operated through partnership agreements between public schools and community agencies. They are not to be confused with charter schools, which operate outside the formal school system. These are regular public schools that are undergoing transformation within the system. Advocates for full-service community schools believe that today's schools cannot possibly take on all the problems of today's children and their parents. The pressures from No Child Left Behind are enormous, draining teachers' energy and demoralizing administrators, who recognize that there is more to education than testing. Schools need other agencies to share some of the responsibility. By their very nature and definition, community schools are a perfect strategy for promoting positive youth development because they dramatically increase the developmental assets available on a regular basis to young people and their families. (Contains 1 note.)