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Item Closing the Gap between School & Community Partnerships, A Needs Assessment in Indianapolis, 2021(MCCY, 2021-01) Education Action Team, Early Intervention Planning CouncilOur children spend a significant amount of time in school – and success in school sets the foundation for successful careers and contribution to our communities. However, in recent decades, we have seen what the disinvestment to public education has done to individual schools and school systems. The past year, during the Covid-19 global pandemic, schools have faced even more challenges, navigating school closures, virtual learning, and hybrid models. Research clearly connects multiple external factors and academic success. With a global pandemic layered onto limited funding and capacity, schools continue to struggle to provide the supports students and their families need to address the challenges and struggles reflected in the classroom. In 2018, the Education Action Team of Marion County’s Early Intervention Planning Council launched an assessment to identify the issues impeding student success from the perspective of school personnel. Additionally, we sought to identify barriers to building stronger partnerships with community resources. Marion County, Indiana is resource rich but systems poor – our community lacks a cohesive network of community services for schools to tap into, thus teachers and staff navigate a fragmented system. Through an online survey, three community conversations, and key informant interviews, we were able to identify key findings that can inform strategic actions moving forward to strengthen the ability of schools to meet student needs – whether they develop within the classroom or not. Our findings show some of the top issues impacting student success are challenges that all exist outside of the school building: • Social and Emotional Health • Trauma and Violence • Mental Health • Chronic Absenteeism • Social Media and Internet School staff are often left trying to address the symptoms of these complex, adaptive challenges, yet they do not have the capacity to fully tackle the root causes nor should they be expected to do so alone. This emphasizes the need to build strong partnerships with community resources, in addition to building the capacity of school personnel to carry out effective solutions inside the classroom. Moreover, schools realize that family engagement is a proactive strategy to support students and building trust with families is paramount. Stronger school-community partnerships and networks will more effectively work towards the systems change necessary to support learning. The recommendations put forth in this report work across multiple levels to provide holistic solutions to the complex problems discussed in our findings from the assessment. Schools and community organizations can join us in taking the necessary steps to building supportive community networks around our schools and advocating for the investment needed to create safe, healthy learning environments for our children.Item Leading Community Schools Takes Finesse & Style(Partnership Press, Children's Aid Society, New York City, 2015-11) Grim, JimAdaptive leadership takes on particular importance when it comes to heading Community Schools. The sharing of leadership and decision-making with community partners can be a daunting undertaking – even for some seasoned principals – but is imperative among a multitude of competencies necessary to successfully lead a Community School. What the Coalition for Community Schools identified in Growing Community Schools, The Role of Cross-Boundary Leadership more than a decade ago continues to lie at the heart of authentic Community Schools: Cross-boundary leadership from multiple organizations collaborates to create a culture of support for continuous improvement in Community Schools, developing student physical, social, emotional, moral, and civic competencies in addition to academic abilities. A principal must be comfortable with shared leadership or the necessary fit most likely will not materialize and potential social return on investment may be no more than lost opportunity. Given the landscape, America’s public school communities can little afford wasted opportunities for children and their families.Item An Overview: Midwest Region Discusses Transformational Partnerships in First Convening(Institute for Educational Leadership Coalition for Community Schools, 2023) Grim, JimItem Perspectives from the Midwest: University-Assisted Community Schools Engagement(Netter Center for Community Partnerships, University of Pennsylvania, 2020-09) Grim, Jim; Medina, Monica A.; Oglesby, Nicole Y.Connecting the dots and engaging in community partnerships is nothing new to Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). For decades, IUPUI has played an integral role in supporting urban schools and revitalizing urban communities through authentic collaboration that notably represents university-community engagement on multiple fronts and levels of commitment. A promise to equity education in public schools is evident in authentic approaches to collaboration with community partners that embrace shared leadership supported by community based action research and inquiry-supported practices to strengthen school communities. Through forging powerful community partnerships, IUPUI supports programs and services in community schools, advancing an advocacy and policy agenda that sustains the spirit of community schools throughout the state (Medina, Murtadha, & Grim, 2020). IUPUI has provided school communities professional development and technical assistance focused on the development of community schools through partnerships facilitation and community council development. The university has a history of preparing students to work among K-12 school/university partnerships to address issues in school climate and socialization as impacted by differences in culture and leadership through interdisciplinary understanding (Murtadha-Watts, Belcher, Iverson, & Medina, 1999). This vibrant example of scholars working alongside practitioners in assessing program standards, questioning vexing contradictions, and addressing the pestilence of bias in low-income school communities is what makes this work unique and a model for other urban districts (Medina, Murtadha, & Grim, 2020). A university-assisted community school, by definition, features an anchor university partner that provides a significant and intentional role in implementing the strategy in collaboration with school community stakeholders. Founded on John Dewey’s theory that the neighborhood school functions as the core neighborhood institution, this approach provides comprehensive services, engaging community institutions and groups to solve the immense and complex challenges schools and community confront in a rapidly changing world (Harkavy, Hartley, Hodges & Weeks, 2013). Two decades ago, renowned scholar Joy Dryfoos, citing the work of Penn and the Netter Center, concluded that the work of university faculty and students, along with principals and teachers, can transform the public school into a community center and neighborhood hub. For example, in university-assisted community schools, college student-led youth art projects become attractive murals that decorate hallways, and students and staff perform theatrical events that trace the local history of the community (Dryfoos, 2000). IUPUI’s response to the urgent call for academic achievement gains has centered on community-engaged initiatives and a steadfast commitment to equity education in public schools. Through the university-assisted community school model, the aim has been to foster new and authentic approaches to collaboration with community partners, embracing shared leadership sustained by community-based action research and inquiry-supported practices that strengthen school communities. This article describes the history of university-assisted programs, brief descriptions of example programs and services, and a research strategy that highlights IUPUI’s commitments