By Joel Knudson and Jennifer O'Day, Photo: Liv Ames/EdSource, EdSource, February 7, 2022
As 2022 begins, educators, students, families and communities continue to navigate a state of prolonged and volatile crisis. The persistent spread of Covid-19 has compounded the challenge of ensuring safe and healthy learning environments. Meanwhile, too many students continue to suffer from the ongoing effects of the pandemic — academically, socially, emotionally and mentally.
Community schools may provide a promising strategy for addressing these challenges because they emphasize the holistic nature of both student needs and effective school improvement efforts. During the pandemic, many districts were in essence implementing a community schools approach when they and their partners worked to facilitate widespread and equitable access to meals, child care, computing devices, broadband connections and Covid-19 testing and vaccination while also creating learning opportunities that transcended school walls.
These actions recognize that students learn best when they feel safe and valued; that learning happens everywhere, not just in school settings; that families are instrumental to student success; and that organizations throughout the community play key roles in helping students to maximize their potential. At a time when educators are overwhelmed by personal and professional pressures, it is clearer than ever that school systems cannot do this alone.
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