Vancouver School District

Include the community at every step of the planning process.

Students and their families are essential voices in the FCRCs: Their needs help determine which resources are offered, and they serve as advisors to staff and site coordinators. VPS relies on Parent and Family Leadership Advisory Groups, including representatives from each school with an FCRC, to guide site-based decisions. By district estimates, at least half of these parents are native Spanish speakers.

VPS conducts annual school-community needs assessments that determine priority areas of focus for the FCRCs based on input from families and school personnel, as well as published data about health, housing, food, education, and other services. They look at:

• population-level data;
• regional trends (e.g., Vancouver’s housing scarcity spurred partnerships with the local housing authority);
• observable student/parent needs (e.g., ESL classes are offered for non-native speakers); and,
• accessibility of resources by school neighborhood (e.g., location and times when food pantries are open).

This process has evolved over 17 years with abundant input from the community.

Make a commitment at the highest level to support the community’s vision.

FCRCs are not the superintendent’s vision or the school board’s vision. They are the community’s vision. The FCRC concept originated from strategic visioning and planning processes conducted by VPS over the past three decades, most recently in 2008 and 2013. During that time, the VPS board of directors and leadership team have committed to building community partnerships as a long-range strategic goal. This formalized commitment has given district staff the mandate and the resources necessary to plan and implement the FCRC initiative.

Pointer

A strong commitment at the board and executive levels empowers school districts and their partners to make strategic investments into community schools despite limited resources and competing priorities. Constant communication and authentic engagement with stakeholders are essential to sustain and grow this commitment.

Determine criteria to pilot the project in the highest-need schools.

VPS established its own criteria for which schools would host FCRCs. Schools were prioritized first by their Title I status and then by the percentage of students qualified for free/reduced-price meals. The district created a “full service” FCRC and community school at one site in 2002 and began the expansion to other sites in 2008 based on stakeholder input into the strategic plan and community partner interest. The initiative grew to 18 school-based FCRCs and two mobile FCRCs.

Pointer:

• Go slow to go fast. When scaling up a community schools initiative, it’s important to ensure the district has capacity such as staffing and financial resources to do it well. It’s equally important to ensure community partners also have the resources they need. Begin with schools where stakeholders truly want a program. Small wins will help districts scale up in the future.
• Internal partnerships are equally critical. Prioritize and align strategies to school improvement plans in order to leverage human resources. Identify and celebrate evidence of community school strategies already in place and build upon those tactics.
SUPPORTING RESOURCES
Action Plan for School FCRCs to Complete
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Know your key indicators.

The  goals of the FCRC initiative were generally to improve the circumstances of students outside a school day to allow them to focus and achieve and grow in their academic setting. To operationalize this vision, VPS made its metrics of success visible to all. Key indicators have included the following:

Parent and community involvement:

• Number of parents participating in school-based academic events
• Number of parents participating in school-based enrichment events
• Number of community volunteer hours served in the school or FCRC

Safe and supportive environments:

• Share of children who attend school consistently
• Number of children with improved attendance
• Number of children and families assisted (basic needs, transportation)
• Number of children identified as eligible for mental health services who are accessing services
• Share of children with stable housing

Student learning

• Share of children entering kindergarten ready to learn (according to data from DIBELS/Dynamic Indicators of Early Literacy Skills and/or WaKIDS/Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills)
• Share of children meeting academic expectations at the 3rd-, 6th- and 9th-grade levels and on-time graduation rates

VPS makes hiring decisions and partner agreements based on their fit within the key indicators, which ultimately align with the district’s strategic plan.

Set a vision, and figure out who is needed to get it done.

Districts must consider the goals they are trying to achieve, who they need to bring in, and at what capacity. In some Vancouver schools, resources already were in place but were underutilized or not connected (e.g., school nurse, counselor, etc.). In other instances, skill sets and programs were needed and could be provided through partnerships or new hires.

VPS maintains strong partnerships with nonprofit organizations, faith-based communities, public agencies, businesses, and volunteer groups. The district also convenes the Strengthening Neighborhoods Coalition, a cross-sector group that meets quarterly to tap into the expertise and capacity of each organization to best facilitate access to resources.

The district also ensures its partners have students’ best interests in mind. When a food pantry partner began requiring government IDs for service, for example, VPS staff knew undocumented students and families no longer would feel safe at that organization. The district stood by its families and told the pantry they would stop referring all families if they continued to require IDs.

VPS funds FCRC personnel (first as a Title I-funded initiative and now through an operating levy). Across the districts’ FCRCs, the district employs a technical assistance coordinator, community outreach and engagement coordinators, family-community resource and engagement coordinators, mobile family-community resource and engagement coordinators, and a partnership coordinator.

Pointer:

• Perfection is the enemy of good. Do what’s possible with the given resources, even if it’s not a perfect replication of something that’s already showing success. Empower the people in charge at each school to be the connecting point for community partners, volunteers, and families. Welcome discussions that allow for continued growth and improvement.
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Build sustainability for the future.

The Foundation for Vancouver Public Schools—a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that raises money to support academic enrichment and achievement for VPS students—has aligned its fundraising efforts to support FCRCs. In marketing and outreach materials, the Foundation for VPS consistently mentions that it supports basic needs for students in the district to ensure they’re prepared for learning in school. The foundation has launched the silent phase of a major campaign, “Community Schools for a Brighter Vancouver,” to raise several million dollars to support FCRCs.

The mobile FCRCs were also an effort to grow the initiative in a sustainable way. Ideally, VPS would like to have an FCRC in every school. For now, the district operates two mobile FCRCs that serve schools that don’t have site-based centers.