A grant program is not a strategy

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If you’re reading this, I’m betting that you’ve recently received a CA Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP) grant. So, let me first say CONGRATULATIONS! It’s very exciting that you and your community have decided to create the time and space to figure out how to ensure students can thrive in your school community. I hope you do some serious celebrating.

If you’ve already gotten your happy dance over and done with – and if you haven’t, this playlist will help – you’re probably thinking about what to do next. But before you enter “how do I start a community school?” into Google, it’s really important to have some grounding. What do I mean by that?

For one, it’s important to understand that receiving a community school grant is NOT the same thing as having a community school strategy. A grant program doesn’t dictate the way you build trust with your community. A grant program doesn’t tell you what your students and families are excited about. A grant program doesn’t tell you who the champions within your community are. A grant program doesn’t do this work; the relationships do this work.

NOW is the time to figure out what it means to plan your community school. What does this grant mean for your community? What does it mean for your team and leadership? What are the implications for staff? What do you need to know that you don’t know now?

Last fall, our team visited six counties across California to host our in-person CS Fundamentals Workshops. It wasn’t until we made it to our last workshop in Orange County that we realized, hey, wait, we can break a lot of this content down into smaller, bite-sized chunks and host ‘em online.

And that, friends, is the reason I’m writing to you today.

In a few short weeks, CSLX will host the Community Schools Basics Virtual Workshops – two, 1.5-hour sessions aimed at helping you lay the groundwork for your CS strategy. And to reach more people, we’ll offer the training twice – one on the first two Wednesdays in May, and the other on the last two Tuesdays in May.

CS Basics is for district, school, COE, and community partner teams who have recently received California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP) planning or implementation grants. I see you principals, community school coordinators (or those who might soon hold that role), family engagement partners, and personnel people!

Signing up means getting CS orientation from people who have been working in community schools for decades. Across both sessions, you’ll get:

• A more nuanced understanding of what a community school is and what it is not;

• Help conceiving the CCSPP as part of an embedded, whole-child strategy, not just a one-time grant program;

• A breakdown of the enabling conditions of successful community schools; and

• A preliminary grasp of core community schools practices, systems, and structures (e.g., needs assessment, advisory councils, and the role of the community school coordinator).

I hope you’ll join us. I’ll be the one in pajama pants.

Hayin

This event has ended. Contact us if you'd like to bring offerings like CS Basics to your district or county.