Article by: Cynthia Howell of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette
Little Rock School District and city leaders joined with Dunbar Magnet Middle School students and staff Monday to celebrate the expansion of the Community Schools program by two campuses, bringing the number to eight schools that provide "wraparound" support services to students and their families.
Dunbar Middle and McDermott Elementary schools are the newest additions to the network that is jointly funded by the City of Little Rock and the school district.
Since 2019, the Little Rock Community Schools program has pulled together staff, community members and families at selected campuses to provide resources during the school day and after hours all to promote student health and learning.
Speaking to an assembly of Dunbar Middle School students, Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. praised what he called the committed partnership between the city and school district that was born out of the state control of the school system in 2015 to the end of 2020.
At a time when state officials were deciding how to return all, or maybe just parts, of the capital city district to a locally elected School Board, Scott said the city wanted to be involved, to play a more strategic role, in what was and continues to be the separately run city school district.
Education and the economic development of a community are connected, the mayor said.
"We can't grow (as a city) if Little Rock School District doesn't grow," he said.
The city and district worked together at that time to bring the Community Schools concept used in other states to Little Rock.
Scott said the Little Rock partnership is now a model to other cities and schools systems in Arkansas.
Little Rock's eight participating schools have been selected because they serve students in neighborhoods in which there is poverty affecting availability of regular meals and health care, or there are families who may be non-native, struggling English speakers or there is high student absenteeism and poor academic achievement.
A needs assessment is done for each school -- using surveys and focus group conversations -- to identify specific needs so that the wraparound school services can be customized.
Each selected school has a Community School coordinator to manage the services and community partners, be they student tutors, food pantries, clothes closets, campus vegetable gardens, resource fairs for parents and haircuts for students. Two schools -- Chicot and Washington -- elementaries have on-site health services that are available to families at each of the eight schools.
Still another feature are the "community cafes" in which whole families are invited to the schools every few weeks for a free, wholesome evening meal and a program, as well as the opportunity to learn about and sign up for helpful resources.
Steven Juain Young, community school coordinator at Mabelvale Middle School, said the initiative is about providing equity for students and promoting understanding among different cultures that come into schools. The ultimate goal is changing the trajectory of what have been academically struggling schools.
"The one thing we do that connects us all is the work we do from the heart," Young said about those in the Little Rock Community Schools program. " We work from the heart to reach the heart. So we do heart work."
Jennifer Glasgow, the chief education officer for the city of Little Rock, said the local initiative is governed by a memorandum of understanding between the city and school district that calls in part for each entity to provide $500,000 of either cash or in-kind services. The money goes in part to the salaries of the community schools coordinators, who are being celebrated this National Community School Coordinator Appreciation Week.
The community schools and their coordinators are:
Chicot Elementary & Early Childhood Center, Kaila Davis.
Dunbar Magnet Middle, Valerie Rasul.
Mabelvale Elementary, Tara Kindle.
Mabelvale Middle, Steven Juain Young.
McDermott Elementary, Schuyler 'Sky' Brower.
Stephens Elementary, Marthelle Hadley.
Washington Elementary, Angelia Johnson.
Watson Elementary, Sabrina Mills.