Community Schools

Community schools are a model of rural school reform that involve community members in every aspect of school planning. A community school has a network of invested community partners who pair with teachers and students to identify student and community needs, and work together to meet them. The critical elements of a community school (as outlined by the Coalition for Community Schools) are:

• community and school working together to identify needs
• ongoing partnerships
• integrated focus on academics and wellbeing of all parties,
• curriculum based on and influenced by the needs and wisdom of the community
• schools as hubs of community activity

Examples of programs include student service projects, apprenticeships, and opening up the school to serve the community through evening courses, community dinners, and clothing drives.

The MVU community and staff are already so giving and kind, that I believe this model would work well to shape the direction of our school, and help address some of our most pressing school and community concerns around achievement and lack of opportunity due to rural isolation. During my Rowland Fellowship, I will coordinate the first steps for transitioning to this model, by identifying and bringing together community partners, and creating a structured environment for students, teachers, and community members to identify needs and wants, learn about the benefits and costs of various school reforms, and collaboratively plan a transition to an integrated community learning center.

The partner network will be in place for the following school year and will ideally will include key categories of community members: Abenaki representatives, business owners, farmers, senior citizens, veterans, Missisquoi alum in college, local officials, local artists, state representatives, elementary school teachers and classes, law enforcement officers, tech workers, health care workers, and others. This network will be our students’ personalized learning village, and a learning resources for all students through interviews, authentic audiences, forums, and service projects.