As we welcome a new school year–and as our community school initiatives mature–one truth is clear: community schools only become “the way we do school” when we strengthen and align our systems to hold the work together.
With more districts scaling up, the charge is urgent: systems must work in concert to realize a shared vision and embed community school into everyday practice. As California’s state and federal community school grants wind down, sustainability, buy-in, and alignment are non-negotiable. This is not a temporary project – it’s the core of how schools operate.
And here’s the key: community schools are not a program. They’re a strategy–essentially just schooling, done well. Making that shift requires broad participation at ALL levels of the district —from department and central office leaders, to the cabinet, school sites, partners and even the board. When people feel included, aligned to the mission, and united around shared outcomes, collaboration becomes second nature. That’s the foundation of coherence.
Coherence looks different at the site level and at the district level. At the site level, it means everyone at the site–partners, staff, families–is rowing in the same direction. It can look like:
Working with partners whose knowledge aligns to your priorities, and meaningfully including them in regular partnership meetings.
Connecting student and family engagement to the school’s academic and school climate goals, rather than treating engagement as an isolated activity.
Ensuring collaborative leadership teams regularly review data, refine strategies, demonstrate consistency, and integrate initiatives to develop aligned and synergistic environments.
Designing coordinated systems for outreach, so that family communication is proactive and connected–not just one-off calls home, from any number of school staff.
At the district level, coherence means that the central office is fully engaged—not as a bystander, but as an active driver of the community school vision. That includes:
Budget Office: Preparing early to contract with CBO partners so services are ready on day one.
Human Resources: Streamlining the hiring process for new community school positions.
Facilities: Anticipating after-hours or weekend access needs for partners and families.
Curriculum, Counseling, SEL, Restorative Justice, Expanded Learning, Family Engagement: Ensuring initiatives are integrated under the community schools umbrella with shared goals, events, and data outcomes. That departments are not siloed at the district-level which translates to them being disconnected and less impactful at school sites.
Principal Supervisors: Reinforcing coherence in site leadership and accountability and lifting up promising practices across their networks.
District alignment requires setting the stage early–meeting with key departments, clarifying their role, and connecting their success to the success of the community school strategy–and continuing to engage people and teams as your community school work grows.
If you are a community school leader, here are some of the strategies I have seen to be effective in practice, in a range of different site and district settings.
Schedule 30 minute meetings with each key partner or department before the year begins or early in the year to get you started on the right foot together. During this meeting, ask strategic questions to understand their vision, challenges, and priorities for the year and identify potential for shared goals and alignment.Talk through ways different departments see their work as an integral part of community school development.
Consistently frame community schools as the umbrella strategy for the district and for sites—not a side project or grant. Whether it’s in meetings with other departments at the district level, or in professional learning communities with principals or teachers, or with community partners, consistently connect different teams’ goals and priorities with your district’s community school transformation.
Ensure that community school development is a core part of your district’s LCAP and of the sites’ SPSAs. The goals from your CS implementation plans should reflect your district’s LCAP and your sites' SPSAs. Engage interest holders in developing each plan and strive to have some consistency on the teams developing each so as to support alignment (check out this blog for some guidance: Aligning your LCAP, SPSA, and Community School Plans: The why, how, and when).
Coherence isn’t just about logistics–it’s also a feeling; it’s about relationships and belonging. Here’s what we mean: It’s not just scheduling and holding the meeting, it’s about making intentional invitations to collaborate, involving every department in the vision of success, and communicating openly with internal and external partners. By proactively maintaining relationships through regular touchpoints, celebration of each other's work and open communication, you create the ownership and engagement needed for everyone to see themselves and their work reflected in the strategy. And hopefully that results in a more positive, collaborative and thriving school ecosystem.
By investing the time and energy into taking these steps towards coherence, you’ll see some tangible payoffs, including:
Stronger connections and true collaboration
Greater buy-in and ownership
Opportunities for collective impact
Champions for community schools across the system
All of these aspects are foundational to community school development and sustainability. On the other hand, not investing in creating coherence within your site or your system comes with risks – specifically, being seen as just another “program” or “grant” instead of the enduring way we do school. The difference between a fading initiative and a sustainable movement comes down to whether the system itself is aligned to carry the work forward. True transformation happens not with an initiative or a program but with a movement that everyone is connected to and invested in.
That’s how community schools move from being “something we do” to becoming who we are.
Further Reading and Additional Resources:
State Technical Assistance Center’s 2025-2026 Coherence and Sustainability Webinar Series
Managing Up, Down, Sideways, and Out: A Holistic Approach to Workplace Communication
Design for Belonging by Susie Wise
Ali comes to CSLX with over 25 years of experience leading community school efforts in organizations, cities and school districts across the Bay Area. Most recently, Ali served as the Community School Leadership Coordinator for Oakland Unified School District, where she led Collaborative Leadership Practices and Integrated Supports for 77 Community School Managers across the district, managed the implementation of California Community School Partnership Program (CCSPP) at 53 schools, and coordinated the expansion of Community Schools to meet OUSD's strategic plan to become a full-service community school district. Previous to working for OUSD, Ali was the Associate Director of the San Francisco Beacon Initiative and a Program Manager for San Francisco Unified School District's ExCEL After School Program.
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