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Community Schools Collaboration 

Description

Community Schools Collaboration exists to provide children and youth with opportunities to succeed in school, to develop high aspirations, and to create a better world. CSC creates a pipeline of support to students in K-12 from the Tukwila and Highline School Districts, of which more than 87% are students of color, 40% are refugees or immigrants, and more than 70% are low-income. We provide expanded learning, family engagement and health services & education in collaboration with schools, families and communities.    

Mission Statement
CSC exists to provide children and youth with opportunities to succeed in school, to develop high aspirations, and to create a better world. Our vision is that all children and youth reach their full potential and realize their dreams.
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Community Schools Collaboration
137 SW 154th St 
Burien 
WA
98166 
(206) 901-2503 

Deborah P. Salas 
Executive Director 

Programs

Community Schools Collaboration Programs

CSC offers its “full-service” community school model at 20 schools in South King County’s Tukwila and Highline School Districts, enabling them to be more effective at their most important mission: educating children. CSC serves elementary, middle, and high schools to offer students a pipeline of support from kindergarten through twelfth grade.

Our team works with school staff to develop targeted outcomes and identify students needing support.  We also reach out to parents/caregivers to encourage family involvement in the schools, develop parent leadership, and provide referrals to community resources as needed.  We provide students with the following:

  • Expanded Learning:  CSC coordinates with community partners to provide academic support, promote college readiness, encourage youth development, and offer enrichment activities that include cultural groups, community service, visual and performing arts, sports and more.
  • Transition Support:  CSC provides students with support for the transition from elementary to middle school and middle to high school, so that at-risk youth succeed in the upper grades. Through this work, CSC is a lead partner in The Seattle Foundation’s school/community partnerships initiative.
  • Health Services:  In partnership with local health providers, CSC offers health services in the schools so that students are healthy and ready to learn. Services include physicals, immunizations, dental and vision care, and health education on nutrition, fitness, and the prevention of high-risk behaviors.

Recent Successes and Current Challenges

A recent success has been to bring hot meals to students after school in CSC programs.  We worked with Highline School District to begin switching from serving a snack after school to a full meal in five of our schools.  In South King County, where nearly 42,000 students are enrolled in the federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program (more than twice the amount enrolled in Seattle and more than three times as in East and North King County), students are at risk of going to bed hungry. Knowing that hunger impacts health and a students ability to learn, this is an issue that has been important for us to address.

Our continued need is to provide academic support, access to health services & education and family engagement at a time in which resources are diminishing. At all 20 of our school sites, we have waiting lists of students who are seeking after school learning opportunities. We are developing strategies to dramatically increase support and investment in our programs, so that many more youth can succeed in school and prepare for a promising future.

Evaluation


The Community Schools Collaboration is grounded in the research-based “full-service community schools” model, which builds partnerships within public schools to create conditions in which all students can thrive. Many efforts to serve public school students and families struggle to have lasting impact due to the lack of coordination and to “siloed” public funding streams that narrowly define program eligibility. Through a site-based, collaborative approach that is supported by local cities, school districts, and a wide range of community partners, CSC is able to effectively address need, design and broker programming that responds to the needs of students and their families.

Proven Success
In 2010-2011, teachers at partner-schools reported that 69% of at-risk students participating in CSC programs improved their academic performance, while 66% of CSC students improved their class participation.

More than 80% of all participating students report that CSC helped them improved their academic performance in all categories (homework completion, motivation and grades).

Collaboration
Because of the dearth of services for youth in South King County, CSC plays a critical role in both delivering and coordinating services with complimentary organizations. As the lead nonprofit partner for the Tukwila and Highline school districts, CSC serves as the liaison between its 20 partner-schools and more than 60 community-based organizations that provide services to local students. This not only helps the districts manage a wide range of external partnerships, but also ensures that services are non-duplicative and targeted to the students who need them the most.

CSC site-based staff participates in professional development programs with teachers from partner schools to build stronger connections between school-day and out-of-school time programming.

Sustainability
CSC has a history of diverse revenue streams due to its support from government (state, county, city, and school district), foundations, corporate funders and individuals. In an ongoing effort to reduce its reliance on grant-funding, the organization’s staff and board are working to expand CSC’s base of individual and corporate support. CSC has increased its investments in development and marketing in response to shifts in revenue streams, and in 2011 reduced expenses by 22% by streamlining its management structure.

Grant History with The Seattle Foundation:

Grants Awarded through The Seattle Foundation Grantmaking Program:

DateAmountPurpose
6/10/2012 $15,000.00support general operating expenses.
6/10/2011 $20,000.00support general operating expenses.
12/10/2008 $25,000.00support general operating expenses.
12/12/2007 $150,000.00to support the replication of the Community School model at Chinook Middle School and Tyee High School complex.
10/5/2006 $20,000.00support general operating expenses.
3/18/2004 $21,500.00support general operating expenses.

Financials

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