From putting out fires to building systems: A community schools lesson

My first few years as a Community School Coordinator (CSC) were, honestly, confusing. I had a sense of what I thought I was supposed to do–but in practice, I found myself working far more transactionally than transformationally. I was responding to immediate needs, jumping from crisis to crisis, and trying to help wherever I could, and I didn't always have a plan. Sometimes it was exhausting, sometimes it was frustrating, and sometimes I felt like I was moving two steps forward and one back at the same time. I knew I was being pulled in a lot of different directions and once thought that was the nature of the job. What I didn’t yet understand was how deeply that approach was burning out the very people we depended on while also not effectively supporting students.

I’ll share an example of what I mean. One day, I was sitting with the school psychologist, and we were both defeated. We were talking about the third major conflict that week involving students in crisis, and neither of us felt like what we were doing was actually working. At that moment, something clicked for me: I realized I didn’t really understand what the staff at my school actually did–or how their roles were supposed to function within a system of support. Who did what as part of their job description? Who did what because it needed to be done? How did we all work together to row the boat in the same direction? Were we working at cross-purposes or duplicating efforts? This realization surfaced a lot of questions.

I told the school psychologist that I assumed her role was to provide mental health support to students. She looked at me and said, “No–that’s not my primary responsibility.” Her role was to ensure that students with individualized education programs (IEP) received the services and accommodations they needed to be successful in school. Instead, she was being constantly pulled into crisis response. That pull wasn’t just unsustainable–it was taking her away from her core responsibilities and leaving gaps everywhere else.

I asked her a simple but transformative question:
“What do you need so that you’re not constantly being pulled away from your role and so students are able to access the support they need?”

Her answer reshaped our entire approach. She said, “We need a system of support–one where counselors, partners, and staff can work together to understand what supports we already have, what we’re using, and where the gaps are.”

That conversation became the foundation of our Coordination of Services work.

The urgency was real. Our school shared a campus with five pilot schools. Each school served roughly 400–500 students, and staffing was extremely limited. District-level supports could not meet the volume or complexity of student needs. Then the school psychologist shared a data point that stopped us all: we were averaging 25 students per year placed on psychological holds.

That number made it clear. This was not an individual failure. This was not the result of someone not doing their job or one student falling through a gap. This was a systems failure, and a pretty significant one.

Our team expanded intentionally. We brought together the school psychologist, school nurse, resource teacher, school police officer, and community-based mental health partners. For the first time, we weren’t reacting,we were mapping, coordinating, and planning together. We clarified roles, identified overlaps, named gaps, and created shared protocols for support.

The results were powerful. Through coordinated and collaborative efforts on behalf of school counselors, community partners, students, school police officers, school psychologist, school nurse, social workers, pupil and attendance services and the CSC; psychological holds dropped by nearly 90%.

But we didn’t stop there. Each year, we continued to strengthen the system and deepen shared ownership. We hosted an annual “Loves You Fair,” where students themselves took on responsibility for ensuring their peers knew what supports existed and how to access them. Care became collective, visible, and normalized.

So why does this story matter for your community schools implementation journey?

That is the heart of community schools development – moving your work and your teams’ work to a place of transformation. This work isn’t easy, which is why we at CSLX have designed a new workshop series aimed at helping new and experienced community school practitioners continue to build their capacities. These sessions focus on helping you grow and support teams and engage interest holders in different aspects of community school work. In our upcoming January session, we’ll focus on understanding systems and building trusting relationships and shared visions. We’ll examine the role data plays in all of this work, and dive into practical ways to bring new strategies to life in your sites and with your teams.

Registration is now open. Hope to see you there!

by Cristina Patricio

Cristina Patricio is a Community Schools Coach working out of the traditional lands of the Tongva, Chumash, and Tataviam Indigenous People in East Los Angeles and across L.A. County. She began her Community Schools journey 16 years ago, collaborating with school leaders and communities in South Los Angeles, Inglewood, the San Fernando Valley, and her hometown of East L.A. Today, she partners with district leaders across California and in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Cristina specializes in Community Schools implementation and development that elevates all educational partners while honoring lived experiences and culturally relevant approaches. She obtained her B.A. in Chicana/o Studies and History (2010) and her M.A. in Chicana/o Studies (2018) from California State University, Northridge, where she also serves as a part-time lecturer in the Chicana/o Studies Department.