About this conference
This year the Coalition for Community Schools joins with California community school leaders and advocates to convene a diverse group of stakeholders committed to better results for young people across the nation. The 2012 National Forum will engage a broad audience of policymakers, administrators and practitioners who want to learn how to put together school and community assets to support student success.
Scaling up School and Community Partnerships: The Community Schools Strategy is this year’s theme. We are consciously seeking to encourage school and community leaders to develop long-term systemic approaches to community schools implementation – approaches that are consistent with our belief that community schools are fundamental to education reform. Scale up efforts are particularly important at a time when there is growing discussion about the influence of non-school factors on student achievement. The emphasis on scaling up also connects community schools to strategies such as Promise Neighborhoods, Choice Neighborhoods, P-20 initiatives, and cradle to career approaches.