More than one-half of all institutions of higher education are located within or just outside urban areas. These colleges and university can offer rich resources to provide stability to a city and to improve the quality of life and learning in their communities and schools. The authors describe the university-assisted community schools model that…

A recent report points to the potential of the community school movement to concentrate resources in impoverished rural schools and build effective partnerships between the community and school. According to "The Rural Solution: How Community Schools Can Reinvigorate Rural Education," community schools might be the most economically feasible way…

An urban community has forced the issue to get the school that it wants and that its children rightly deserve. The indispensable feature of successful schools in a functioning democracy include creating an authentic community capable of identifying obstacles and opportunities, setting standards and expectations, and deciding how best to provide…

Personal contact is the key to one principal's success. Effective administrators make their school community a family, expand on their administrative style for dealing with people, develop a community theme, return phone calls from colleagues and parents, save bad news for Monday, and have fun. (MLH)

The Lawrence (Kansas) Public School District has a federally funded, three-site 21st Century Community Learning Center (including two elementary schools and one junior high school.) that offers academic, cultural, social, and recreational activities during after-school hours. Staff receives training aligned with students' diverse needs and…

Full-service community schools combine three concepts--mind, body, and building--into an integrated approach placing quality education and comprehensive support services at one site. The DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund is helping schools and communities replicate 4 such programs at 60 sites in 20 U.S. cities. (MLH)

A large portion of the general public, including senior citizens, feels disconnected from local schools. Some seniors see little reason to support tax increases to provide public education's programs and services. Highland Park Learning Center, in Roanoke City, Virginia, has brought retirees back with an innovative program that teaches basic…

Molly Stark School in Bennington, Vermont, is a year-round community school that offers a range of education, health and social services benefiting the students, community, and parents. Five successful initiatives (after-school, birth-to-5, mentoring, health and wellness, and parent literacy and involvement programs) are described. (MLH)

Students attending a Minnesota school in a middle-class neighborhood are finding that cooperation, conflict resolution, and civic values are creating a safe haven from the stresses of family and neighborhood life. Students have two innovative programs (Continuous Progress and Discovery) to choose from. Highlands Elementary nurtures its students…