Could Community Partnership Schools be the Answer?

Despite what many readers might think, I much prefer to write about the success stories in public policy than the failures. This week, I visited Manatee Elementary to get a first-hand look at the "Community Partnership School“ model it is implementing and was genuinely impressed by what I saw. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it was the most impressive attempt to address the challenges of a title 1 school that I’ve come across.

Title 1 schools are determined by the percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch, as that socioeconomic marker correlates with many challenges that are unique to people living in or near poverty. If you look at a map of Manatee County schools that are designated title 1, you can trace a nearly straight line through the urban corridor of Palmetto and Bradenton.

Manatee Elementary has 100 percent economically disadvantaged students. A full 93 percent are minorities and nearly a third of its students are English Language Learners. Ask any public education administrator to wager a bet as to whether a school of that composition would be failing and you’d likely only get takers on one side, no matter the odds.

One of the most frustrating aspects of attempting to combat generational poverty in a specific community by improving public education is the fact that so many of the ways that being on the bottom end of the socioeconomic spectrum impede educational success are beyond the reach of traditional education. And that is the very challenge that Community Partnership Schools are designed to address.

The Community Partnership Schools model was born of a collaboration between the Children’s Home Society of Florida, Orange County Public Schools, and the University of Central Florida. The three entities originally came together to design and implement this model at Evans High School in Orlando. There have since been many other schools to adopt the model, although Manatee Elementary was the first and so far only such school in Manatee County.

The main idea of Community Partnership Schools is to leverage a long-term commitment between a school district, a university, a community-based nonprofit organization, and a healthcare provider, as well as other potential contributors so that a more holistic approach to the challenges I described earlier can be taken. The results, in general, have been promising, and, at Manatee Elementary, they’ve been particularly encouraging.

The partnership for the school includes USF Sarasota Manatee, the Children’s Home Society of Florida, the Boys & Girls Club of Manatee County, and MCR Health, with several other notable organizations in our community like Take Stock in Children, the Manatee Community Foundation, United Way Suncoast, Unidos Now and others serving in supporting roles.

The first thing that intrigued me was the presence of MCR Health, which has three on-campus clinics. Access to healthcare is one of the most common "non-classroom“ challenges for students at Title 1 schools, but by offering families an easy and convenient way to get their children care, the school has been able to bolster attendance and productivity.

"Many of these families face numerous challenges if their child needs to go to a doctor’s appointment,“ said Lourdes Gonzalez, Principal of Manatee Elementary. "The family might only have one car and, in most cases, both parents are working, so if a child has to go to the doctor, they would usually be missing an entire day.“

Gonzalez, who was hired as principal in April of last year, explained that instead of coming to get the student at school and having to transport them elsewhere, parents only need to make one trip to the school in order to attend the appointment and then have no incentive to have the student miss the rest of the day. In fact, if that parent cannot leave work, the student can be chaperoned to the appointment by a staff member, and then medical staff can communicate to the parent via phone.

The health services component includes dental and vision and ultimately expanded to include the invaluable addition of mental health services that can be accessed by students or parents, addressing another unique challenge that so often goes underserved. The school has been able to extend its school day and families can access not only the aftercare program but also drop their students off as early as 7 a.m. to accommodate parents with difficult work schedules. Summer camp programs extend learning opportunities and many activities focus on life skills aimed at making the students better prepared for the out-of-class challenges ahead.

Funding comes from a combination of public and private dollars, as well as the in-kind donation of many services from the partners. Early literacy, VPK, tutoring services, clubs, and mentorship are all integrated into the support system for students. Meanwhile, families benefit via parental support groups, an on-campus food pantry and clothes closet, English learning support, other parent classes, and more. The results have been undeniable. Manatee Elementary has improved notably in just about every major metric, including what is seen as the most important: proficient grade-level reading by the 3rd grade.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of the community dynamic is the way in which the model reverses the traditional relationship between parents and the school at Title 1 institutions. Instead of the school and its administrators being viewed as an extension of a monolithic bureaucracy that is so often confusing, intimidating, and even punitive in their experience, the school becomes an extension of and even the primary foundation of the community of people it serves, something closer to a church or civic group in that regard.

When it comes to solving the question of how we attempt to even the educational playing field so that all of our community’s children have a similar opportunity to fulfill their potential, there are no easy answers. However, I haven’t seen anything in the public school model that better attempts to address the challenges that have always been seen as beyond a school’s reach. You cannot fix failing schools without fixing the broken communities they exist in, and the Community Partnership School model is the best idea I’ve seen to date when it comes to doing just that.

Dennis "Mitch" Maley is an editor and columnist for The Bradenton Times and the host of ourweekly podcast. With over two decades of experience as a journalist, he has covered Manatee County governmentsince 2010. He is a graduate of Shippensburg University and later served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. Clickherefor his bio. His 2016 short story collection, Casting Shadows, was recently reissued and is availablehere.